CLIP-CLOPPING CROSS COUNTRY
Woman's going to need plenty of 'horse power'

Deb Yavorski clip-clopped through the area last week on her way to California from Maine. We caught up with her in McKean County.

Deb Yavorski quietly made her way thorough Potter and McKean counties last week on a crosscountry trip she has been planning for about two decades.

The 45-year-old Yavorski set out on horseback June 1 from the easternmost point of the U.S., in Quoddyhead State Park on the coast of Maine. Her destination is the westernmost point, on the coast of Washington.

She rides about 20 miles a day atop Shine, a seven-year-old Tennessee Walker she raised from a colt.

Her pack horse, a 13-year-old Appaloosa named Wolf, lugs 70 to 80 pounds of camping and personal gear, food and water, and first aid kits.

She took Rt. 44 south from Ceres to Millport, then cut over to Port Allegany via Lillibridge Creek. She spent the night at the Bonser Farm and embarked for Crosby and beyond.

"I planned my trip very methodically," said Yavorski, adding that she has opted for back roads because her horses are sometimes spooked by big trucks.

She took her horses on longer and longer rides and toughened herself up, too, by hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail.

By plotting her itinerary through rural areas, she has been able to buy hayand grain from farmers along the way, but also carries back-up supplies.

Often, she is invited to spend the night in a home or barn.

"I've met some awesome people," Yavorski said. "I have always felt that most Americans are kind, supportive people, but now I can say that I've seen it first-hand."

She first felt the urge to cross the country after speaking with a friend, Missy Priblo Chapman, who followed the same dream in 1982 at age 23.

Chapman shared pointers on how to keep the horses comfortable and other challenges to expect. For years, Yavorski inched closer to setting off on her journey, only to back away.

"Time kept passing me by so, this year, I said I was going to do it, no matter what," she said.

Dwarfed by the tall and muscular Shine, the five-footone Yavorski mounts him by standing on a picnic table, tree stump, or some other incline.

"Sometimes I'll even lead him down into a ditch so I can mount him," she said.

Yavorski said the trip has been enjoyable.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she pointed out. "Since it's something you'll probably never even think of doing again, you've got to get it right the first time."

To those who have suggested that she would have been smarter to plan a more modest trip, Yavorski has a standard response:

"I tell them, 'If that's what you want, then you go do it.' I am doing exactly what I wanted to do."