Friends Jo Treweek and Ali Zuend completed a 1200-mile ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End earlier this month, raising more than £30,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK in the process.
The pair, who was inspired to take on the challenge after Alzheimer’s affected both their families, set out from John O’Groats on Friday 1 May aboard their horses, Bonny and Poppy, and arrived in Land’s End 93 days later.
“It just felt epic. It was such a huge thing, and we had been building up to it for so long. Then it all unfolded in the most incredible way. I felt really privileged to have had the chance to do it,” said Jo, who is an ecologist.
Jo and Ali, a Parelli trainer, initially set out with a fundraising target of £2,000, but had raised more than £30,000 at the time of writing.
A cause close to their heart
“One of the reasons we were raising funds for Alzheimer’s Research was because my mum had it, and Ali’s father had it as well,” said Jo, whose mum Penny sadly passed away during the ride.
“Mum had it for 12 years. I wouldn’t have gone on the journey if she’d still been aware of who I was. She wasn’t aware of very much. It wasn’t a surprise when she died, but it was still hard to deal with. I paused the ride to go to her funeral.”
Jo and Ali, who are both based in Devon, started planning the trip more than two years ago. As well as organising the route they also had to get the horses physically fit and ensure they could deal with things like crossing bridges and rivers and had tack and packs that fitted well.
“Once we were on the route, we had to adjust constantly depending on where we finished each day, as well as information from local people and local bridleways officers about closed routes and diversions,” said Jo.
“Mostly, though, we relied on the generosity of people offering us places to stay. We’d put calls out on Facebook a couple of weeks in advance, and so many people volunteered to put us and the horses up.”
The kindness of strangers
“Most of the volunteers who helped us along the way had been touched by dementia or Alzheimer’s in some way and simply wanted to help. They shuttled our kit trailer with feed and our camping stuff from place to place, and some of them we never even met,” said Jo.
“They were incredibly kind. They’d leave us gifts, food and horse feed. People’s generosity was just incredible. It was really heartwarming.”
Jo’s horse Bonny is a Thoroughbred x Irish mare who completed the ride barefoot and in a bitless bridle. Ali’s horse Poppy is a seven-year-old Lusitano x Hanoverian x PRE homebred mare.
“The horses seemed to enjoy the ride so much. It was obviously a big challenge, but they came through it looking amazing. Bonny isn’t really impressed with being in the field now. She’s waiting at the gate wanting to go somewhere,” said Jo.
Avoiding the heat
Jo and Ali often got up at 4am so they could be out riding by 5am to avoid this summer’s hot weather.
“We rode as much as we could early in the morning, as fast as we could, and then got to where we needed to be so the horses had more time off before we set off again the next day,” said Jo.
Inaccessible bridleways
As well as the heat, Jo cited the main challenges of the ride as finding water for the horses while on the trail, erratic driving and poorly kept bridleways.
“We had several instances where we had to give up on a bridleway because, although we carried secateurs, a saw and equipment to clear vegetation, you could have been there for weeks trying to clear them,” she explained.
“We just had to give up, turn around and go back. A lot of farmers plant crops over bridleways and don’t really tell you. It’s just not clear where you can go, and you have to give up. A lot of bridleways clearly aren’t used, which is sad. They look like they’ve become overgrown because nobody is using them anymore.”
Jo also said they encountered hardly any other people on horseback during the ride.
“We saw 26 people on a horse during the entire journey, which surprised us. We thought, ‘where is everybody?’ I know we’re only passing through at one moment in time, but you’d have thought we would have encountered the odd person. Given that we were trying to stay on bridleways and off the road, we thought we would have seen more riders,” said Jo.
The green green grass of home
For Jo, the highlights of the ride were the chance to explore the British countryside and the kindness of strangers.
“We got to see the landscapes of Britain all the way down the country in one go, at horse pace. We were basically seeing the best bits that are still there and that you can take a horse through. It was just really beautiful,” she said.
“It was also heartwarming how generous people were. It was quite moving how much people wanted to help and make the journey possible, and how they helped get us to the end. It felt like they were all coming along the journey with us.
“I was feeling a bit depressed before I went off about the state of the country and politics. I was feeling a bit down in the dumps.
“It’s hard to feel that way when people are so great and it’s such a beautiful country. I just passionately want people to be able to continue riding in it and for horses to still be part of it in the future.”
Jo and Ali documented the ride on their Facebook page, Adventure B4 Dementia 2026. Click here for their JustGiving page.
Images © Jo Treweek/Ali Zuend.
