I wrote and asked the Aventurists that question a couple of days ago, and still have not gotten a response. However, I did get a couple of answers from Long Rider’s who have ridden in Mongolia.
I was wondering what might happen to the horses after they do their 25 mile (40 km) section of the Mongol Derby. Somehow, they need to get back home! Obviously the (possibly up to 26 used on each leg) horses won’t be hauled back home in a trailer. The consensus is that most likely the animals will be turned loose to find their way back home. It sounds like these are pretty smart horses.
Yet, that effectively doubles the distance that they must go. Granted, without the rider on their return trip. I know the website states that this race is not a test of endurance for the horse. I would consider it a test of endurance for my own endurance horse to be ridden 25 miles one day and then be turned around and set loose to find their way home in the next few days. Hopefully these guys will let the horses stay a day or two and rest and rehydrate and eat well before sending them on their way.
I have a quote from Bonnie Harpp who has ridden in Mongolia: “No Mongolian is going to give up his best horse for such a race. Horses are a spiritual symbol to Mongolians. They will pull out a few old nags or, I believe, go out and pull some of the more acceptable looking horses off the steppe. There are no barns there or corals. It is entirely different. People here would never believe it.”
I did the math to figure out how many 25 mile legs each rider will have to do per day in order to finish the entire race within a week. Since this is an event challenging the endurance of the rider rather than the horse I would think that each rider would be riding at least 50, 75 or 100 miles per 24 hour period. You couldn’t finish in three weeks if you only rode 25 miles per day. If you rode 50 miles per day, which would take two Mongolian horses each going 25 miles every single day – and you didn’t take any days off you would be riding for 12 days.
Most very fit endurance riders I know would be knocked on their butt riding 24 different horses 25 miles each for 12 days straight. I think they would find it very difficult riding their own same horses that distance in that same time period. Especially given the more extreme and rough conditions that these participants are sure to encounter. Endurance riders in the US are pretty spoiled and used to lots of creature comforts. These guys aren’t going to finish every night to a nice meal (after having lunch possibly provided, or at least easily made themselves) with a shower and a nice already made bed waiting for them. They are going to have a rough time.
I just hope they all have enough batteries for their GPS units so they won’t get lost or miss any water opportunities. I also wonder how much T.P. they can carry in their packs? And will these riders know how to deal with a horse that wants to run home when they are trying to use the restroom on the Mongolian steppe with no trees or anything to tie the horse to? Be a lot like we experience here when you think you’ve found a nice quiet secluded spot and another group of riders go trotting by and your horse wants to join them.
Bonnie also states: “Nomads drink Airag as a laxative. How many rolls of toilet paper can the riders squeeze into their packs? And if they stop on the steppe to take a c—, squatting there in agony – can they manage to control their eager to bolt horses at the same time?”
I don’t know if it is realistic or if any of the participants are tough and conditioned themselves to ride 75 or 100 miles (3 or 4 legs per day) each day but if they are then they could possibly finish the entire course in 6 days. I think that going 50 per day would be a much more doable type of goal, especially if they are going to be riding horses that don’t have really fast walks and can’t keep up a canter or trot for extended periods. If it were me I would probably try traveling in the cooler hours and sleep during the hotter parts of the day at the checkpoints if that were possible.
I love this excerpt about Mongolian horses from Wikipedia: “Racing horses with a child in the saddle will run in full gallop over 35 km at a time. They are trained to keep running even after losing their riders. In such a case, they need to be stopped in the finish zone by aides waiting there especially for that purpose.”
I think it’s great that so much attention has been brought to this topic. I hope that it helps these horses, which was the whole point. Please read some of my earlier posts on the topic if you’d like more information on the Mongolian Derby. Or visit this page at The Long Rider’s Guild
Oh – one more thing I keep forgetting to mention. This Mongolian Derby event is billing itself as the longest horse race in the world. That is not true, not even close. Good grief people, do a google search!
sounds absolutely barbaric
gp
Karen Chaton has done us readers a huge favor by some careful research into this sham endurance ride in Mongolia. A cruel tragedy for horses, for sure.
There is no showing that either the riders or the horses are pre-qualified for this kind of extreme ride. Notice that the organizer from Scotland lacks the courage and ethics to provide the actual name of the licensed Veterinarian from the United Kingdom that (supposedly) will be in charge of this ride. In the United States, we members of the American Endurance Ride Conference have total faith in the licensed equestrian Veternarians that are retained by the AERC ride managers. The AERC-approved veterinarian is posted many months before the ride occurs. The Vets have total control of our horses, and their professional medical opinions are honored and obeyed by all AERC riders. This is a win-win deal for our horses, who cannot verbalize their feelings to us. In the words of Tevis Founder Wendell Robie, a horse needs to be “fit to continue” at all times…even after 100 miles.
We horsemen need to mobilize public opinion against this shameful death-ride in Mongolia.
Again, our appreciation to all readers of Karen’s horse-blogs.
Robert H. Sydnor, Member, AERC
RHSydnor@aol.com
Fair Oaks, Califoria
The horses will be fine. Mongol ponies bear no resemblance to the horses ridden by those in the equestrian community who are raising such a fuss. In fact, this creates an opportunity for the equestrian world to examine it’s own behavior towards horses. Mongol ponies regularly carry Mongol herders 40-60 km per day. No big deal and no weight limit. When the race is over, the horses get to rejoin the herd (where they spend the vast majority of the year, anyhow.. unfenced and unbothered (except by the occaisional wolf). They get to be REAL horses, socializing, fighting, breeding, roaming. Contrast their mental and physical health with the four legged creatures who populate the barns of the equestrian world. Bred to the notions of humans, not horses, kept in beautiful, clean, well watered stalls and paddocks, virtually never allowed to interact in herd behavior with other horses. No wonder they often exhibit behavior that is detrimental to their own well being and need to be constantly monitored and vetted and fed with special foods. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a place for show dogs with strange hair cuts and theirs a place for equestrian athelets engaging in human designed activities. But comparing your hunter jumper to a Mongol pony is silly.
So the horses will be fine. If they are given some additional conditioning, along the lines of the conditioning the Mongols use for the Naadam racers, that would be great. But I guarantee you that if you ask a Mongol herder if his horse needs an extensive conditional and feeding program so that he can successfully trot 40 km, he’ll look at you like you are crazy. Again, they are fit simply because of the fact that they are constantly in a herd setting.
The riders will drop like flies because a couple of days in a row of the fast trot these ponies have will wear the skin off their butts and their calves. I’ve seen it many many times. You can’t post it and unless you learn to ride like a Mongol real fast you are going to suffer greatly.
What concerns me more is the culturally and historically inappropriate “selling” of this so-called race. This bears no resemblance to traditional horse racing in Mongolia. And while it’s true (and admirable) that the Urtu system should be understood and perhaps revived with events that recreate it, it would not be a race, but a ride that balanced speed against the certainty of getting the message through. It’s a shame that there are no Mongols invited to this party. Their lack of participation is, to me, a telling sign of the organizers cultural blinders. They seem to have been caught up in this whole silly “fighting boredom” notion which frankly insults Mongols. “We’re so bored over here in Devonshire that we have to come and whoop it up inyour quaint little culture. Oh, and we’ll drop off a check for the local charity so we can all feel good about the event”.
But a couple of other items to comment on in the previous post.
Trees to tie your horse to: Oh, please. Do you not think that after 3000 years of riding horses in treeless landscape that they don’t have a method for tying their horse up when they take a c*&p? It’s called a solbor, a long lead line held coiled in your hand at all times and which you never let go of, even if you’re drunk and fall off. A Mongol can hobble his horse with that solbor faster than most western riders can dismount. The reins, roping style, are pulled back over the back of the cantle and the horse just stands there, hobbled and can’t lower his neck to eat. All the horses are used to this system since the first time they are ridden.
Airag as laxative. Bollocks. Airag is consumed in large quantities and is considered to have lots of healthy properties. If it were a laxative, there would be a lot of soiled dels across the landscape and the centuries.
Mongols eat their horses. They treat them differently but no less validly than we treat our horses in the West. This outrage over horse health and abuse is ill informed and frankly, will fall on deaf Mongol ears. They’ve been riding longer than all of us. The larger issue is the cartoonization of their horse culture where rich (and I mean in relative terms to the local Mongola family), bored travelers play out their fantasies of adventure.
My litmus test for any such travel experience, horseback or not, is whether local people are participating as well, on an equal basis. That is sadly lacking in the Mongol Derby.
You are right on, Kent. The wonder is that someone with such knowledge would take the time to explain it to the nitwit horse pet world. It’s the same old thing: Consumer culture rams into subsistence culture.
It’s as if they have never heard of a working cow horse.
Jane Sheridan
New Mexico