At 70, Solomons Island resident finds purpose in raising money for charity with horseback treks through Mongolia – Capital Gazette

In the summertime of 2016, Betsy Cooksey wanted a distraction.

The 65-year-old grandmother of 4, had simply endured a troublesome divorce after practically 30 years of marriage and was unsure what the remainder of her life would possibly maintain.

“I used to be scared that I wouldn’t have sufficient,” she stated. “Sufficient no matter, sufficient assist, sufficient cash, simply sufficient.”

A stunning invitation from a good friend was a collection of journeys to Mongolia during the last 5 years which have seen the Solomons Island resident journey 1000’s of miles by horseback via the wilderness of western Asia serving to elevate cash for youngsters. The expertise has grow to be a life mission for Cooksey, who not too long ago turned 70, as she now fashions herself a philanthropic athlete.

“I’ll run, experience, or swim for an excellent trigger,” she stated with amusing. “I do know what 70 to 90 will seem like for me.”

After her divorce, Cooksey reached out to Paula Southen, a good friend whom she’d gone on hikes and horseback rides with across the Appalachian Mountains.

“I instructed her I wanted an outward certain for a scared outdated woman,” Cooksey stated.

Southen’s proposal was greater than she anticipated. Her good friend was planning a visit to Mongolia for a 250-mile experience to search out the Dukha individuals, the oldest nomadic reindeer tribe on the planet. Also referred to as the Tsaatans, which suggests “those that have reindeer” within the Mongolian language, the tribe has lived within the deep forest of Northern Mongolia for 1000’s of years.

The journey can be troublesome, Southen warned, however Cooksey didn’t hesitate, buying a ticket the next day. On her return to Maryland, Cooksey was shocked by how nice she felt, she stated.

“I didn’t know what the heck I used to be doing on the market, but it surely began me on my means again to wellness,” Cooksey stated.

9 months after her first journey to Mongolia, Cooksey returned for extra.

Often known as the Gobi Gallop Crew Experience, the three-week journey is without doubt one of the longest annual horse treks on the earth and adjustments routes every time. Cooksey’s 2017 journey began outdoors the capital Ulaanbaatar close to central Mongolia and led via the famed Mongolian grasslands, ending close to the border with China.

The horseback using service that hosts the occasion, Horse Trek Mongolia, companions with the Veloo Basis, a youngsters’s charity. Throughout her first journey, Cooksey had befriended the group’s founder, Julie Veloo, who in 2007 got down to assist orphans and uncared for youngsters within the creating world and in Mongolia, together with Ulaanbaatar, the place residents are compelled to scavenge for meals and garments in trash dumps.

The cash goes to pay salaries for academics, librarians and psychologists, in addition to group outreach and seminars on baby abuse prevention and fundamental human rights. Further funds go to summer season camps for older youngsters and purchase books and provides for arts and crafts, Veloo stated in an electronic mail.

At this time, the inspiration has greater than 300 youngsters enrolled in its colleges, Veloo stated.

In the course of the experience, Cooksey raised $30,000 for Mongolian youngsters by establishing an account on her web site looking for donations.

The Gobi Gallop gave Cooksey the arrogance to try an much more troublesome problem.

In Might, she started The Blue Wolf Totem, a 90-day, 2,236-mile trek on horseback, that begins within the Gobi Desert and travels your complete breadth of Mongolia. Solely 15 individuals worldwide have been chosen to embark on the journey and because of her completion of the Gobi Gallop and her top-notch fundraising Cooksey made the minimize.

“It was extraordinarily troublesome. There have been thunderstorms, individuals falling off their horses left and proper,” Cooksey stated recalling the odyssey. ”Cracked ribs, damaged wrists, concussions. It’s superb, each time I fell off, I used to be capable of hop proper again up.”

It wasn’t all clean crusing for Cooksey as she recalled needing to be hooked as much as an IV seven instances on account of her weight loss plan altering dramatically on the trek.

“Betsy is a drive of nature isn’t she?”Veloo stated. ”After I first met her she was a lot completely different than she is as we speak. She’s such an inspiration as a result of when she began these journeys she was shy and quiet and now that doesn’t come near describing her. She’s continued to blossom and I’m pleased for her.”

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For Cooksey, the Blue Wolf Totem was greater than a fundraiser. Whereas she loved the chance to present again, she additionally came upon extra about herself.

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“I discovered belief, I discovered fortitude, I discovered kindness, love, magnificence and happiness on that experience,” she stated.

Maybe essentially the most superb half apart from finishing the journey was that she did little to no horseback using to organize for the journey.

As an alternative, she performed pickleball with buddies at Finest Gate Park in Annapolis and rode her bike close to her Solomons Island house. One in every of her pickleball companions is Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, a famous fanatic of the hybrid tennis-ping pong sport.

“It’s simply superb what she was capable of do,” Buckley stated. “And to coach for one thing like that off a horse? Unbelievable.”

Cooksey has already begun planning one other charity journey. She’s certified to take part in subsequent yr’s Gobi Gallop, and he or she needs to do a tour with electrical bikes for individuals who aren’t as snug on a horse.

5 years after she took her first Mongolian journey, the concern of failure nonetheless lingers, however the experiences have helped her heal.

Earlier than the Blue Wolf Totem, “I nonetheless had a lot concern in me. Nonetheless frightened about if I might do it, particularly at my age, however I used to be capable of get previous it,” she stated. “I felt the horse. I felt the wind. I felt the wonder. I stayed out of my head.”