Submitted photo ... Rodger, left, and Roland Wildman are lifelong equestrians. They rode through Black Hills, South Dakota, last July. The twins have traversed 14 states together –– Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and North and South Dakota.

FARMDALE — For Roland and Rodger Wildman, 86-year-old twins, their horseback riding passions date back to their childhoods.

“We got our first pony when we were 2 or 3 years old, so we rode on and off all our lives,” Roland said. “We always had ponies to ride and when we grew up, our dad wanted us to go over to Pennsylvania over to the CC (Civilian Conservation) camp. But we were trail riding before that.”

Today is their 86th birthday.

Rodger’s passion was spread to his children, getting them involved with 4-H and engaging them in horse clubs.

His children stayed in them until they were too old for the programs. This led the kids into trail riding, which they also did in Pennsylvania and “just about” every state park where trail riding is allowed, he added.

Roland said they decided to explore and venture out to more places after he retired from GM in 2003.

The duo’s horseback riding has taken them to 14 states — Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Montana, as well as North and South Dakota.

Roland, however, has had his fair share of solo adventures, exploring Wyoming’s Teton Range, Utah, Arizona, Idaho and Michigan, as well as Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico, which was designated as the world’s first wilderness area a century ago.

Rodger recalled being in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains, where they witnessed an event that hadn’t happened in a century.

“The amount of water that was coming off of the mountain and the streams, besides horseback riders there, there were many professional photographers taking pictures — it just hadn’t happened for 100 years,” Rodger said. “And then the other place that I really enjoyed was Spruce Knob in West Virginia, which is the highest location in West Virginia. And in that whole area, you ride up a mountain, ride down the mountain, ride up another mountain, ride down a mountain. And then you’ll come out onto a plateau and you can look back at what you’ve done. And behind you, it really looked amazing.”

The twins normally camp out during a ride, going to campgrounds to make base and then ride five to six hours a day.

For the brothers Wildman, immersing themselves in the wilderness’ vivid scenery and the presence of others makes being out worth it at their age, as Roland explained.

“That’s what I really like; it doesn’t matter what state you ride in, the scenery is always different. It’s something different for you to see,” Roland said. “I’ve always felt that you don’t see the country unless you’re either hiking or riding horses because you see things that the normal person doesn’t see, they can’t get there. You can only get there either by hiking or by horsepower.”

Rodger spoke about Jiggy, a 35-year-old black Tennesee Walking Horse who he took on trail rides up until eight years ago and has ridden over 15,000 miles.

Rodger said he considered Jiggy a “people’s horse.”

“More women than anything, if a lady walks in beside him, she could get a hug from him; that’s just the kind of horse he is,” Rodger said. “He’s a gentle horse and he always liked to be in the back of the group. He wanted to be the last horse. So that’s where I rode most of the time, right? And that’s the type of horse he was.”