Some traveled by car, others traveled by bus, many traveled by plane, but very few traveled by horse this Thanksgiving.

Dr. C.J. Pollet and his buddy Rick Stewart rode their horses from Copiah County, Miss., just outside of Hazlehurst, to Pollet’s home in Mandeville, a 120-mile, six-day journey.

It had nothing to do with gas prices or the economy, Pollet said, he just wanted to make the trek from his family farm to his house in Mandeville.

Mandeville resident C.J. Pollet and longtime friend Rick Stewart stop to eat on the last leg of their 120-mile journey in Madisonville. (Staff Photo by Chad Ruiz)

Both men own several equines, all of which are Missouri Fox Trotters. The fox trotter, Stewart said, is a horse bred for long distance travel while maintaining a smooth trot keeping the rider comfortable.

Both men are also very active in the Mississippi chapter of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association.

After riding over 1,000 miles on short trips through several states, Pollet decided he wanted to make the long journey from the farm in Mississippi to his house in Mandeville. He convinced longtime friend Stewart to accompany him, and after carefully planning their route, the men set off to cover 20 miles of ground per day. At the end of the day’s travels, Pollet’s wife would track the two down and transport them and the horses back to the farm to sleep for the night. Early the next morning, they would commence their journey where they left off.

“It’s been real interesting” to say the least, Stewart said.

Traveling at a slow trot, the men recalled the many people they met along the journey including one woman who wanted to ride her horse alongside theirs.

Other pedestrians stopped and held long conversations with the duo while petting their 1,500-pound horses, Rambler and Cherokee.

Pollet said they rode at a slow pace along many back roads and stopped at different sites along the way to eat.

They arrived in Madisonville Wednesday on the final leg of their journey and stopped at Morton’s Seafood Restaurant on Water Street to enjoy oysters before tackling their final obstacle, riding the horses over the Tchefuncte River Bridge.

“Some may say we cheated doing it the way we did it but it takes a lot of determination and courage to travel that far,” Pollet said. “Otherwise we would have had to use packhorses.”

The optometrist/owner of Vision Source Mandeville, Pollet said he sees himself making more long-distance trips by horseback in the future.