Meriwether Hardie has built a life around long, ambitious horseback journeys through remote landscapes, and she uses those adventures as a way to better understand land, food, and the people who depend on both. In her early twenties, she rode for a year through South America, and this past summer, she spent five months traveling solo across the American West with two horses and a dog. Along the way, she's not just covering ground, she's asking questions, listening closely, and connecting with agricultural producers and rural communities. That combination of adventure, inquiry, and agriculture is also at the core of her professional work, which has spanned everything from small-scale producers to global supply chains, including time with Rainforest Alliance, all focused on building more resilient, equitable food systems.

She grew up in Vermont, splitting time between her parents' farms—one centered around horses, the other around commercial beekeeping—which gave her both independence and a deep love of working landscapes. As a teenager, she attended a NOLS course in the Wind River Range, which cemented her love for wild places and outdoor education. That foundation eventually led her west to Colorado College, where she studied environmental science and journalism. After college, she received a competitive environmental journalism fellowship that funded her first major horseback expedition through Argentina—an experience that helped define her path and solidified her belief that storytelling can be a powerful tool for understanding complex issues.

In this conversation, we talk about all of that, with a special focus on her most recent ride across the West—what it actually takes to pull off a trip like that, the risks and realities of traveling solo on horseback, and the incredible generosity she encountered along the way. We also talk about what she learned from the farmers and ranchers she met, from the challenges they face to the unexpected pockets of hope she discovered. This is a conversation about big, wild adventures, but it's also about the act of showing up, moving slowly through landscape, asking good questions, and listening to people who don't usually get heard.

Enjoy!

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Meriwether Hardie
Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/meriwether-hardie

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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:

Mountain & Prairie is listener supported via Patreon, and brought to you with support from the Freeflow Institute, The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, and the Well Done Foundation for their generous sponsorship.

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

0:00 - Introducing Meriwether Hardie and highlighting the Freeflow Institute
5:36 - Growing up between two Vermont farms
8:15 - Bee stings
9:42 - An old, free pony
13:25 - Being a different kind of kid
15:23 - Colorado College
18:12 - NOLS in the family
21:58 - The badge of honor that is being a NOLS instructor
25:36 - First horse trip
30:04 - Asking for help
32:34 - Post-Bill McKibben grant
34:34 - Meriwether's journey across South America
40:24 - How the journey changed her
43:22 - Her current adventure
47:40 - Burnout
49:08 - Injury and change
53:55 - Navigating vast landscapes
1:00:29 - The best of humanity
1:07:04 - Celebrating generational knowledge
1:08:38 - The book process
1:17:26 - Expectations vs. reality
1:22:05 - Book recs
1:28:00 - Wrapping up

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Meriwether Hardie - What You Learn Riding Across the West