Texas man riding cross-country on horseback ends his trip early after being cited with a misdemeanor

• A man drew internet ire and abuse allegations after embarking on horseback from Texas to Seattle.
• Equestrians accused Cyril Bertheau of horse neglect, but he kept riding.
• He's now been charged with a misdemeanor over the horses' vet documents and ended his trip early.

Editor's note (August 13, 2023): This story has been updated with comments from Cryil Bertheau.

Cyril Bertheau, 24, once described himself on LinkedIn as a man who gets "shit done."

But there's at least one thing he didn't get done — the cross-country horseback trip from Austin, Texas to Seattle, Washington that he launched in April with much fanfare before facing animal abuse allegations.

"After months of thinking about it and carefully training and preparing physically and mentally, I'm finally ready to head on this journey from Austin, Texas to Seattle, Washington by horse in less than 100 days," he said in a TikTok in April. 

But Bertheau abandoned his trip, which took more than 100 days, just shy of Seattle not long after police stopped him for the misdemeanor offense of not having a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for his two horses. 

The Texas man was plagued for months by criticisms and accusations of animal abuse by equestrians who were following his much-publicized journey on his social media accounts.

"I got cited and went on to continue and finish the trip a whole 2 weeks after. I didn't abandon my trip, i finished and changed the destination midway. It was never about finishing in seattle, it has no significance," Bertheau told Insider in an Instagram message. 

He began his trip with Shiok, a horse he bought that his critics sometimes refer to by his former name, Falcon. Bertheau later obtained a second horse, Pete, to use as a pack horse to lighten Shiok's load. He's now trying to sell them both. 

"I've put both these guys through hell and high water, and they passed with flying colors," Bertheau said in a TikTok listing the pair of horses for sale for $60,000. "Both these guys are bombproof. Both of these guys absolutely love to work." 

During his monthslong expedition, people commenting on Bertheau's posts pointed out instances where his horses appeared underweight or injured, accusing Bertheau of abuse, neglect, and general equestrian ignorance. Those accusations were echoed by more experienced equestrians, some of whom expressed doubt about Bertheau's knowledge of horses.

"Any authentic Long Rider knows that just because you buy it, doesn't mean the horse is ready for the road," long rider and equestrian author CuChullaine O'Reilly previously told Insider. "This is an act which reveals the magnitude of Bertheau's equestrian travel ignorance."

In a statement to Insider in May, Bertheau said his naysayers were going off of "incomplete information and often entirely made up facts," adding that the accusations against him were "so ridiculous that I will not explain myself." He insisted his horses' "needs are being met & carefully monitored continuously."

But records from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office in Idaho indicate his critics may have been on to something. 

On July 27, officers responded to a call from a concerned individual who had spotted Bertheau in Cataldo, a town 60 miles east of Spokane, and requested a check from Animal Control, partially redacted records from the sheriff's office show.

When responding officers asked Bertheau for his horses' paperwork, they found the Certificates of Veterinary Inspection for each horse were expired, and Bertheau didn't have proof of ownership for either of them, the officers wrote in their report. Idaho law requires livestock traveling across states to have up-to-date veterinary paperwork.

"I also observed Pete to have a large open/oozing and swollen saddle sore approx 4 inches long on his right rib cage, and his left hind fetlock was significantly swollen," one officer wrote, adding that Pete was lame in his rear right foot. 

On top of the misdemeanor, officers issued him a verbal warning for not providing proof of ownership, though they noted they did confirm Pete's ownership by calling his prior owner. Bertheau also agreed to take the horses to a vet for treatment, telling officers he had decided to end his trip before reaching his final destination, according to the police report. 

"He stated he was changing his plans to end his trip in Spokane instead of Seattle, and would be taking some time to rest the horses until Pete's foot and saddle sore healed enough to finish the ride from the current location to Spokane," the officer wrote. "I did not observe any intentional animal cruelty at this time."

In a message to Insider, Bertheau said he announced in June that he was ending his trip early. 

"The misdeameanor had nothing to do with it and nothing to do with my horses' condition either," he wrote via Instagram message. "The CVI for both horses were updated the next day and i continued my trip."

Bertheau posted on Instagram in late July about his trip coming to an end with just a few days left. On a website where he listed Shiok and Pete for sale, he wrote that they made a 1,500-mile journey from Texas to Washington in 117 days. 

"Pete is almost Bombproof & possesses very few vices. He'll go anywhere, goes into creeks and over logs, with anyone on his back, and is not afraid of anything including wildlife, loud noises, trains, guns or anything else you can think of," read his description for Pete in a since-deleted post on a website called Horse Clicks.

Bertheau, who long maintained he was on this journey for the sense of adventure and desire to fulfill a family tradition, said on TikTok that he's asking $60,000 for the horses to be sold together. 

"5 figures min," Bertheau wrote on a Google form seeking "serious" lease and sale inquiries. "I'm also open to trades of automobiles & real estate of all kinds."

Correction: Aug. 13, 2023: A previous version of this story referred to Bertheau as a "Texas native." He is a Texas resident. 

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