The Derby, Lena and what its all about:
Mongol Derby pre-race training July 20th-22nd 2022
Mongol Derby Race start July 23rd 2022
Out of thousands of eager applicants, I have been selected to ride in the 2021 Mongol Derby. The worlds toughest and longest horse race. Forty riders will race 1000km (620 miles) following the historic Genghis Khan mail route across the Mongolian Steppe. With nomadic Mongolian families housing, feeding and providing their best horses, a team of international vets, medics and support, and the pure raw elements to gallop through, this race is the ultimate test of endurance. It’s a blend of insanity, skill and grit to willingly partake in the Mongol Derby, and I couldn’t be more excited to accept the opportunity.
Being in unknown nature challenges me. It’s where I feel most alive and is also a meditation and guide. I seek these opportunities in wild open spaces, to embrace what it means to be a human being in the wild. It’s the seeking of these awesome natural lessons that has brought me to the Mongol Derby. The worlds longest toughest horse race.
Having spent the majority of my life horseback, I know how absolutely insane this quest is. 1000km across the Mongolian Steppe, 30 of us riding partially wild ponies, executing an attempt at the endurance of the great Mongolian riders of past. The Mongol Derby race is executed on Mongolian ponies who will carry us on 40km legs between stations over a 7 day push. We riders switch horses at each stop off station, and have from 7:30am to 8pm to ride as far as we can mentally and physically continue. The horses’ heart rate must be a cooling off 64 beats per minute within 30 minutes after arrival. If not, penalty is given to the rider. The stations are run by local Mongolian herders whose livelihoods and culture have been interwoven with the land and its horses for millennia dating back to c. 3500 BC where human-horse domestication and riding are said to have originated. Each rider is housed, fed and given a horse to continue on with by these nomadic families. The race is closely monitored by a team of support personnel, medics and veterinarians. Both human and horse’s health are of utmost priority for this event. While the race takes riders to the most remote parts of Mongolia, it is broadcast internationally for global fans to closely track. The location of each rider is consistently tracked through their hand held GPS system. The route is pre-set into each device and must be interpreted by each rider for successful navigation to every station. The route includes many physical obstacles to navigate over through and around. Having good navigational skills will certainly be essential.
The horses are small, wildly-spirited, strong and incredibly capable. Being partially wild is essential to their survival in the harsh Mongolian seasons. The herders who own and tend to these horses, celebrate their hardiness and rely on their instincts and durability to survive and thrive. While capable of being ridden, the horses are never quite “gentled.”
“Just try not to get off once you’re on” one of the Derby veterans shared with me. “They don’t need praising or soothing pats, just hang on for the first mile, it’ll smooth out from there and you’ll likely get to the next station ok”.
Having spent many years gentling and training wild mustangs, it will certainly be a mental shift to just getting a leg over and going, versus taking time to work through the hiccups. Racing with these ponies will require me to quickly adapt to new techniques and tools as we partner over the rugged miles we travel together. And, it will allow me to experience a deeper more fundamental understanding of the relationship between horses and humans that has evolved over millennia.
Galloping head-long into the open Mongolian landscape, with very little control, thundering, stumbling and flying across the Steppe, I will certainly find my edge, all of which leaves me buzzing with excitement.
