Texas man quits job to ride horse from Austin to Seattle
Cyril Bertheau shares his adventure riding a horse over 2,300 miles from Austin to Seattle after quitting his tech job to follow in a ‘family tradition.’
A Texas man is following in a family tradition with his own "great big adventure" riding on horseback from Austin, Texas to Seattle, Wash.
Cyril Bertheau joined "Fox & Friends" Tuesday to discuss where the idea to travel by horse came.
"It's a family tradition for each one of the oldest sons of my family on my dad's side, the Bertheau, to do a great big adventure. And it's kind of a rite of passage, if you will," Bertheau said.
"So my great-grandfather started it, and then my grandfather, then my dad, and then now it's me. So I combined that with my love for horses and horsemanship that I've been riding for years and just went for it."
Bertheau quit a six-figure tech job to prepare for his adventure, which he plans to do in 100 days. He also bought his horse Shiok on Craigslist ahead of the trip.
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Cyril Bertheau and his horse SHiok join Fox & Friends after beginning the over 2,300 mile journey from Austin, Texas to Seattle, Wash. (Fox News)
"[The employers] did say unlimited PTO, but no, I quit my job and just went full all in and started training and started preparing. And now I'm making the big leap."
On Sunday, the horserider had a sendoff at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. He plans to ride through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho before arriving in Seattle where he will stay for about a week before making the trip home.
Pulling from his passions, Bertheau chose to ride horses since he had been riding since he was little. His father, who is from Holland, chose a different adventure for his "rite of passage."
In 1984, Bertheau's father Eric journeyed around the world for three years which was inspired by his father's travels and exotic postcards. He traveled through a variety of different transportation methods, seeing regions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and the U.S.
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"I took a backpack and asked my mother to bring me to a certain point, not far from home on the way to a job," Eric told FOX 7 Austin. "She put me there, and I put up my thumb, and that's how my trip started."
Since beginning his journey earlier this week, Bertheau has already endured some wild experiences.
"I had ridden through some muddy paths and some rocks had gone into [Shiok's] hooves. So I hopped off and started taking the rocks out and I slipped and fell on him, which spooked him a little bit. And then as I'm trying to reach back to get him, it spooked him even more. And I couldn't reach the reins in time. And he just took off," Bertheau said.
"So I started running down the street and I see this Mini Cooper come up and this lady comes out says, 'Hop in. My husband's going to drive you.' And so we run down and I just opened the door and stopped my horse."
Bertheau shared his optimism and excitement for the journey, specifically how he hopes to learn more about his country and the people that live across the U.S.
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"I see this as a challenge. Mental, physical, spiritual," Bertheau explained. "So I think I'm going to learn about myself. I think I'm going to learn about the country I live in, the people I live with. I'm going to have what seems like insurmountable challenges ahead, and I'm just going to be ready to face them."
"I think people go to university and I sort of take this as the university of life. I'm just going to put myself in tough spots and I think I'll be a better man afterwards."
Bertheau's journey can be found @2raw2ride on Instagram and TikTok.
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