GUELPH, Ont. — Imagine having to haul a load across Canada without a truck — without any sort of motorized mechanics at all.

What if you did the entire trek on horseback — how much longer would the journey take in comparison, even if your truck was speed governed? Kimball Foord will be doing exactly that this summer. And the load he’s carrying isn’t light.

In an effort to raise money for the Sunshine Foundation, a charity which raises money to fulfill the dreams of children who have severe physical disabilities and life-threatening illnesses, the 50 year-old father of five is saddling up his horses, Cody and Bo, and hitting the dusty Trans-Canada hauling the dreams of disabled children.

"The worst thing is the flies and the bugs," says Foord, who attempted the journey in 2006 and got as far as Manitoba before having to turn around to attend to a family emergency.

Kimball and Cody are off on a Trans-Canada adventure.
Be nice if you see him trotting along.

With only limited supplies — a first aid kit, a flashlight, some beef jerky, and an old tent fly for shelter — Foord appreciates the kindness of strangers, especially of the trucker variety.

"The trucks were the best last time," he tells todaystrucking.com. "They brought water for the horses and me."

One driver in particular helped Foord out on a bad stretch of highway that was under construction. "There was no shoulder at all and cars wouldn’t even let me get on until a truck just pulled over and stopped traffic until I went half a kilometer."

Foord didn’t say it, but we thought to suggest going easy on the air horn if you see him trotting along the highway. It’s hard to say how many of those he, Cody and Bo can bear over time.

Kimball Foord will need plenty of that good-hearted help over the next five months, especially along areas from Kapuskasing to Nipigon where the grass isn’t the finest. Any extra cubes of hay left near rest stops would be appreciated, he says.

He is also still looking for a way to get himself and the horses back to Ontario, so if you would like to give him a lift, or donate to Sunshine Foundation contact: Brandi Foord, Ride For Dreams at brandi@ridefordreams.ca.