An Australian adventurer making her way across Canada on horseback says southern Manitoba has already exceeded her expectations, not just for the landscape, but for the people she’s met along the way.
Tasmania native Stef Gebbie is currently travelling west through southern Manitoba as part of a years-long journey across the country using horses, kayaks, and plenty of determination.
“Well, I’m in the process of crossing Canada,” Gebbie explained. “Originally, I was planning to do it all on horseback, but a couple of things happened.”
Her journey began two years ago when she rode from Canada’s east coast to Manitoulin Island on horseback. Last year, she kayaked from Manitoulin Island to the Manitoba border.
Now, she’s back in the saddle and heading west once again.
Inspired by adventure
Gebbie says her love of travel, horses, and the outdoors inspired the ambitious trek.
“I think long riding is just a great way of putting those three things together,” she said.
The idea first took shape after she completed a horseback journey across Australia in 2019.
“I rode east to west across Australia and had a really great time and thought, ‘Let’s cross another continent.’”
Canada quickly became the obvious choice.
“People are great, most provinces speak English, and it’s really easy for Australians to get quite long visas to visit,” she said. “But also, of course, what a stunning place to explore on horseback.”
Manitoba hospitality leaving a lasting impression
After only a week and a half travelling through Manitoba, Gebbie says the kindness of Canadians has been overwhelming.
“Canadians are possibly some of the friendliest and most hospitable people on the planet,” she said. “I feel like I’m just rolling along from community to community.”
She says strangers have offered food, snacks, route advice, overnight accommodations, and help caring for her horses.
“People are hosting us, giving us food, giving us snacks, giving us route advice, letting people know that we’re coming, giving me contacts, making phone calls,” she said. “It’s something incredible.”
Prairie riding “ideal horse country”
While the scenery across Canada has constantly changed, Gebbie says she had been especially looking forward to reaching the Prairies.
“The prairies have really exceeded my expectations,” she said. “It’s kind of like ideal horse country, it’s flat, there’s grass. What more could you want?”
Her route avoids major highways whenever possible, relying instead on quieter backroads and advice from locals she meets along the way.
“We’ve had some pretty unpleasant experiences out east just because those roads are much more windy and there’s more traffic,” she explained.
Challenges along the journey
Despite the adventure, the journey has not been without hardship.
Gebbie described difficult weather, traffic dangers, and personal challenges while being far from home.
“The world’s really not designed for horse travel anymore,” she said.
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She also spoke candidly about dealing with family tragedies while travelling abroad.
“That was really, really challenging to deal with whilst being on the other side of the world,” she said.
Encouraging others to explore
As she continues west toward the Rocky Mountains, Gebbie hopes her story encourages others to pursue their own adventures.
“I hope maybe people can be inspired to get out and do the things that they want to do,” she said.
She also pointed to what she called “mean world syndrome," the idea that consuming too much negative news can make the world seem worse than it really is.
“Hopefully maybe stories like this could be a little bit of an antidote to that,” she said.
For Gebbie, the journey across Canada has ultimately reinforced one thing above all else: the goodness of people.
“It’s such a stunning place,” she said. “Hopefully some people can be a little bit inspired.”
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