SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — This is not your average cross-country road trip. Utah native Jake Harvath started this journey out west last September, traveling from his home in Utah to New Jersey on horseback.
"It was always a lifelong dream of mine to see the country this way and to travel horseback a long distance," said Jake Harvath.
He calls this trip 'the year of the Mustang,' and clearly, he isn't talking about the car.
"These two guys here, they're both mustangs, which means they were both born in the wild, and they're rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management," added Harvath.
This isn't a vacation with his two pets, Eddie and Denver.
"Those horses will live out the duration of their lives in government holding if they don't get adopted so to avoid that and to spread awareness and get more people interested in adopting mustangs," explained Harvath. "We're out here trying to show the world how fantastic a working horse they can be, that they can be partners for life, and once trained, they can be really handy little horses."
From Great Salt Lake to the East Coast, Jake would not be able to complete this journey without the help of people like Deb Gogno of Pottsville. Gogno let Harvath and his horses spend the night to get some much-needed rest
"I'm very passionate about it. I appreciate the horses. I do appreciate the Mustang because my very first horse was a Mustang. Smileyohtool, and he lived to be about 30 years old," said Gogno.
A cross-country road trip to raise awareness for a majestic animal made possible by people willing to lend a helping hand.