Letterboxing - The Equestrian Way

Letterboxing on Horseback riders hide and hunt weatherproof containers in remote or scenic places accessible by horseback. Each container holds a stamp book (also called guestbook, logbook, etc.) a rubber stamp and stamp pad. The clues to it's location are then distributed by the planter of the letterbox. The main way is by posting on this website. Clues can be easy or they can be difficult. They can be written to the point or they can be written in riddle. Finding a letterbox may require a combination of skills such as map reading, orienteering, and puzzle-solving. Some letterboxers may devise witty or challenging clues to the location of the boxes they've placed.

As a Letterboxer on Horseback, when you go out hunting for the hidden boxes, you will carry your own personal stamp book and a personal signature stamp that you have either purchased or created. Many artistic letterboxers will design and/or carve their own stamps. When you find a letterbox, you will stamp your own stamp book using the stamp found inside the letterbox, and leave your own personal stamp and/or personalization such as date and comments, in the letterbox stamp book.

Letterboxes are hidden throughout the world. Letterboxing has it's roots in England, where it originated nearly 150 years ago, and until recently has remained a well-kept secret. According to legend, in 1854 a Victorian gentlemen hiker placed his calling card in a bottle and stuck it into a bank at Cranmere Pool, in a remote part of Dartmoor in southwestern England. Over the years, the hobby developed. Current reports indicate that as many as 10,000 letterboxes are presently hidden in Dartmoor, now a National Park. Locals, and now letterboxers from around the world, visit Dartmoor seeking out these coveted boxes. Some avid Dartmoor letterboxers have collected thousands of stampings over the years.

In April of 1998, Smithsonian magazine published an article on the Dartmoor letterboxers. It wasn't long before the pastime took root in America, with enthusiasts organizing and communicating world-wide via the internet.