Cross-Country horseback journey hits a hurdle at Holden Beach, finishes in Sunset Beach

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A family of four who spent the last three years riding horseback across the country has reached the North Carolina coast. But their planned final stop in Holden Beach changed after they discovered horses are not allowed on the sand.

Joshua and Terra White, along with their sons Lucus and Levi, started their ride in Susanville, California, in April 2022. The family traveled with six horses and one mule. They say the goal was to disconnect from modern life and raise their children on the road.

“Hectic distractions and we wanted to cut those out… so we sat out on a cross country trip mimicking the pioneers,” Joshua White said.

The boys documented the trip on social media while riding through 16 states and covering more than 4,000 miles.

“Best part of our trip was that my sons have been at the helm of it they’ve done all the navigation all the money,” Joshua White said.

The family said Holden Beach came recommended through social media as a family-friendly place to end the journey. They arrived on Tuesday and planned to celebrate Lucus and Levi’s graduation after completing their schooling while traveling.

When they tried to reach the beach, they learned that horses are not permitted on Holden Beach or on the bridge into town. With no access to their planned final stop, the family paused their trip at the Wild Horse Preserve at Grace Wynds, located several minutes from Holden.

“Can’t thank the community enough for seeing our plight and understanding that mistakes were made and balls were dropped but we are here and we are grateful to be here. Probably the most grateful family ever to come to Holden Beach,” Joshua White said.

Terra White contacted WWAY with an update. She said the family would complete the journey at Sunset Beach instead. A private pier owner permitted them to unload the horses and walk them to the water.

The family plans to leave the Wild Horse Preserve around 6 p.m. and reach Sunset Beach by 7 p.m.

Dozens of people, including Sunset Beach resident Melanie Fleming, were on hand to celebrate the Whites finishing their journey.

“I’m just really passionate about, you know, equestrians and their journey and what they’re doing with their family, raising their boys,” Fleming said.

While it wasn’t exactly the ending they were hoping for, because they brought the horses there by trailer, it still symbolized the end of their journey across the country.

Brothers Levi and Lucus were overcome thinking about their experiences over the past 3 years.

“It’s surreal, I really won’t have any good, a way to explain it for a little while,” Levi said. “It’s still hitting me myself.

It was, it was completely, honestly mind-blowing cause me personally, I mean not to sound bad enough,” Lucus said. “But I honestly didn’t think we would make it this far.”

And the reason why they needed to end their journey at the beach was due to one particular horse, named “Fly.”

“He was blessed by a Navajo medicine man, to never succumb to any injury or sickness and the ground he travels on is blessed,” Levi explained. “We told them we would put an intact stallion, Navajo mustang into the Atlantic Ocean just for them.”

“Fly” will eventually be returned to the tribe.

Afterward, the Whites will return home by truck and trailer. They plan to offer horsemanship clinics along the way.

“That’s one of our big goals is to do clinics and try to help people along the way back teach this because this is a dying art,” Levi White said.