CHEPSTOW horse rider and ME victim Gill Suttle plans to saddle up on Thursday to ride from Dorset all the way to Scotland to help fellow sufferers – foot and mouth restrictions permitting.
"We have a team of riders and several horses, but what we would really like is local people to come and join us for a spell as we pass through their area," said Gill, who will cross the Severn Bridge on her Akhalteke horse Kann and travel along the Wye Valley.
She and Kann hope to be at Chepstow Racecourse on March 10, after which they will call in at the Happa rescue horse centre near Brockweir the next day, then the Society for the Welfare of Horses in Monmouth.
She is joining in the 2001 Horse Odyssey to raise funds for research into ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), a disease which leaves victims with long-term fatigue among other symptoms.
"We will have able riders with us too, so that ME sufferers like me can do as much as we can and then they can help us along the rest of the way," said Gill.
So far as the foot and mouth outbreak was concerned, plans to make the ride along bridleways had been scrapped and they now intend to make the journey on public roads to keep away from farm stock.
Hartpury College has donated £75-worth of short courses to be raffled to support Gill's cause.