Riders prepare for Mongol Derby: toughest horserace in the world

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/article.php?aid=284789

Amy Mathieson, H&H news writer
22 June, 2009

This summer 26 riders will tackle the Mongol Derby — dubbed the longest
and toughest horserace in the world.

The race, which runs for the first time this year, is over 1,000km of
wilderness in Mongolia and is billed as the "biggest, baddest equine
affair on the planet".

"It's dangerous, it's unsupported and you could die," warn Bristol-based
organisers The Adventurists on the race's website,
www.mongolderby.theadventurists.com.

Twelve of the 26 riders are British, while other competitors come from
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Denmark, America and Spain.

"We had about 100 applications and selected just 26," said a spokesman for
The Adventurists. "We have polo players, endurance riders, eventers,
amateur point-to-point jockeys and more. They are all experienced riders."

Former champion jockey Richard Dunwoody will be hosting a pre-race
training session for riders on 20-21 August before taking part himself. He
will only have finished his previous challenge — walking 1,000 miles in
1,000 hours — a month earlier, as he is due to complete his walk on 10
July.

Richard told H&H: "You ride 1,000km, stopping at 25 stations, ride 25
different horses, picked on a first-come, first-served basis. I'm more
daunted about that than I was about walking 1,000 miles. It is another
massive sleep deprivation exercise.

"I have about two to three weeks between finishing the walk and going to
Mongolia and will have to lie in a darkened room for a while!"

Among the other riders taking part in the race is former international
pony dressage rider, Katy Willings. Katy, 26, took part in the
Adventurists "Rickshaw Run" in January and it was then that she decided to
apply for the Derby.

"I was attracted to the extreme physical challenge it represented," said
Katy. "And to have the chance to experience one of the last truly nomadic
cultures — riding across a true wilderness with no permanent human traces
— made the whole thing irresistible."

Horse & Hound will be following Katy's progress as she trains for this
extreme adventure, so log on to Horseandhound.co.uk/mongolderby for
regular updates.

The idea of the race was thought of about four years ago by The
Adventurists, who also run the Mongol Rally.

"We do a lot of work in Mongolia, and because the horse is sacred over
there we decided to try a horse race," said the spokesman. "It is based on
Genghis Khaan's ancient postal system — where riders crossed Mongolia to
Eastern Europe in about 14 days changing horses at urtuus, horse stations,
along the way. It's a massive logistical challenge."

The race starts on 22 August at the ancient capital of the Mongol empire
Kharkhorin. The riders will swap horses every 40km at urtuus and more than
700 Mongolian horses will be used during the race. The semi-wild Mongolian
horses stand at 12-14hh.

Each competitor is given a race-map with the locations of each urtuu, but
are essentially on their own. Throughout the race riders will stay with
nomadic families, sleeping in tents and eating mutton and drinking the
traditional fermented mares milk.

"This will be no ordinary horse race. The Mongol Derby is not a test of
the horse's speed, but the rider's skill, endurance and the toughness of
the skin between their legs," say the Adventurists.

The race costs $4,450 (£2,800) to enter and competitors must raise a
further £1,000 for charity Mercy Corps, which supports rural communities
in Mongolia.

The closing ceremony is planned for 5 September, but because this is the
inaugural race, organizers do not how long riders will take.

"We're allowing two weeks for the slowest riders, but are expecting the
fastest ones to complete in about five days — it just depends how much the
riders are in for the race or the adventure," added the spokesman.

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Event website:
http://mongolderby.theadventurists.com/

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Luigi
(or, in the SCA: "Gulugjab Tangghudai" / Puppy)
puppy@...

http://Yasa.NYCMongol.com



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