Gin Gin endurance rider to conquer the Azadi Far Ride to Murray

A Gin Gin woman is gearing up for an eight-week odyssey that will illuminate the invaluable heritage of Australia’s pastoral treasures.

Shane Steffen and her two horses Glory and Malika are no stranger to endurance rides, completing a few as long as 500km.

A daring endurance rider from Gin Gin is gearing up for an epic eight-week odyssey, conquering more than 1000km of stock routes in a mission to illuminate the invaluable heritage of Australia’s pastoral treasures.

Shané Steffen and her two horses Glory and Malika have spent years preparing for the journey as part of a voluntary awareness campaign to raise awareness of the historic value of stock routes.

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“It’s very important to me that stock routes survive; they are a really important part of our heritage,” Miss Steffen said.

“They’re a really valuable asset not only to the agricultural industry, but they also have the potential to support struggling inland communities if we promote them for a diversified purpose.”

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The pre-colonial connections of the routes also gave them significant eco-tourism and heritage value.

“I think people forget these stock routes have been here for thousands of years,” she said.

“The Aboriginals use to walk along these routes, as travelling pathways for thousands of years before we got here, we just noticed that there were these ‘convenient’ tracks that had you stopping at water sources and feed every day.”

Shane Steffen and her two horses Glory and Malika are no stranger to endurance rides, completing a few as long as 500km.

After working with local land services across the Queensland and New South Wales to establish the ideal route, Miss Steffan and her horses will make the 1045km journey from Goondiwindi to Tocumwal.

She will be joined by dozens of hikers, trail riders, farmers, cyclists and endurance riders and said she had also received expressions of interest from as far as Switzerland and South Africa.

In her preparation, Miss Steffan is building on the fitness of herself and her horses, but said her two Arabians already had extensive endurance riding skills.

Both horses were purchased from rescue pens, with one on the verge of being sent to the doggery before Miss Steffan was able to negotiate a purchase to save the animal’s life.

She hopes by completing the ride alongside other like-minded stock route enthusiasts, she will not only be able to promote the historic travel pathways, but also the capabilities of animals that are often overlooked.

“There’s a lot of horses that are quality horses that just slip through the cracks,” she said.

The journey for the Azadi Far Ride to the Murray is planned for mid March 2024, with a final route to be released around Christmas.

Originally published as Gin Gin endurance rider to conquer the Azadi Far Ride to Murray