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HARTINGTON — Jake Harvath has seen a lot of dusty roads in his short life.
The 24 year-old Heber City Utah native is in the middle of a cross country trek that has taken him from his home near Salt Lake City all the way to the New Jersey shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
He’s now on his way back home on a new route.
Once his ‘Year of the Mustang’ trip is completed, he will have gone through 25 states and traveled over 6,000 miles.
“It’s all about getting more people to adopt wild horses from the government,” Harvath said as he climbed off Eddy, one of the two mustangs he has ridden on this journey, which started last September. “We want to get these horses out of the government holding facilities and into people’s homes.”
He’s had a lot of help along the way.
People like John and Brenda Wortmann, Maskell, have stepped up to give Harvath and his two horses, Eddy and Denver, a warm, dry place to stay at night and a good meal.
When he rode into Hartington Monday afternoon, he stayed with another family that was more than willing to give him a helping hand — Darrin and Lisa Pick.
His cross-country road trip to raise awareness on the need to adopt the wild horses has been good for the cause, and good for Harvath.
“It was always a lifelong dream of mine to see the country this way and to travel horseback a long distance,” he said.
His yearofthemustang. com website explains the journey, shows people a little of the terrain he’s covered and offers folks a chance to donate to the cause, if they so choose.
“I just want people to get a chance to see these beautiful animals, and help them out if they can,” he said.
