Young Briton puts final touches to historic India-Pakistan-China ride

WASHINGTON: Stephen McCutcheon, a young Englishman, will begin a historic ride from India to China through Pakistan in a few days to raise money for rural schools in Pakistan, India and China.

He told the Daily Times from New Delhi, where he is making his final preparations for his marathon equestrian journey, that he also wants to raise awareness about the real Pakistan, India and China with their depth of culture, values and heritage. He also wants to work for humane and caring treatment of horses in each country that he travels through. “I am going to live my dream of riding a horse along this route. But anybody else who wants to ride with me, or be a part of this adventure, is welcome to come along for a while. I am trying this out as I ride through various parts of India.”

McCutcheon said he also wanted to promote good relations between India, Pakistan and China. He explained, “In the process of formalising my ride and justifying it to a sceptical world unwilling to just ‘give,’ I would need the help, good wishes and encouragement of people everywhere.” He said he has friends in Pakistan but he wants more people to know about his ride. His Pakistani friends are not many in number, he said, and they are doing all they can to help, but he wants more people to be involved. He said a story run on his historic undertaking in Daily Times had resulted in a great deal of enthusiasm and expressions of support for his mission. “But I want more people to get on board,” he added.

He said he had been told by a friend in Lahore that Arif Rasheed, head of the Lahore Race Club, was keen to help. He had sent him an email through his friend but had yet to hear from him. He said he would like to set out from Delhi between 22 and 25 October. Taking Highway 1, he would ride from the old quarter of the Indian capital to Sonipat (40 km), on to Panipat (45 km), Panipat to Karnal (34 km), Karnal to Kurukshetra (83 km), Kurukehstra to Ambala (42 km), Ambala to Ludhiana (109 km), Ludhiana to Phagwara (58 km), Phagwara to Jalandhar (25 km), Jalandhar to Amritsar (85 km) and Amritwar to Attari (35 km). He will thus be covering a distance of between 450 and 500 km from Delhi to the Indian border with Pakistan. The date of his entry into Pakistan is not certain at this point as it depends upon what day he leaves Delhi and how he fares along the way. McCutcheon’s website can be accessed at where messages can also be posted. khalid hasan

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