New Jerseyan, Heather Wallace to Officiate At Mongolian Horse Adventure the Gobi Desert Cup

Tapinto.net - Full Artice

By TAPINTO HORSES STAFF
August 15, 2019 at 8:00 AM

RED BANK, N.J. — Red Bank resident, Heather Wallace will be working for the second year as an official and photographer for the Gobi Desert Cup, Aug. 27 to Sept. 6 starting in the capital of Ulaanbaatar and traveling through the Gobi Desert.

Wallace is the writer and photographer for the blog, The Timid Rider, which focuses on the struggling confidence of a returning adult equestrian. She is the award-winning author of non-fiction titles Confessions of a Timid Rider, which details her insights about being an anxiety-ridden, but passionate equestrian and Girl Forward: A Tale of One Woman's Unlikely Adventure in Mongolia.

This year she will again be attending this unique endurance ride as the photographer and official media guru. She looks forward to strengthening her relationship with the local nomads and to further draw attention to their dwindling lifestyle through her storytelling on social media, in photography, and as a producer on a documentary being filmed this year...

Read more here:
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/holmdel-and-colts-neck/sections/horses/articles/new-jerseyan-heather-wallace-to-officiate-at-mongolian-horse-adventure-the-gobi-desert-cup-7

2019 Mongol Derby Day 8

TheAdventurists.com - Full Article

August 14, 2019
It was a beautiful sunrise on the steppe this morning, and the crew at finish camp was up at the crack of ridiculous, getting ready for the flourish of riders set to cross the line today. As trackers sprung to life across the board, eyes turned to the horizon hoping to catch that first glimpse of Mongol Derby’s 2019 champion. At the close of business last night, it was Bob (RL) parked just beyond HS27, a mere fifty-ish kilometers from the finish line, and Wiesman (WN) thirty-some kilometers behind him. The odds were in Bob’s favour, what with his stellar, consistent riding from Day 1; but who could forget Wiesman’s come from behind? He started the race on the back foot, picking up a vet penalty on Day 1 which placed him somewhere in the middle of the pack; yet he rode his way quickly back into the ranks past the front of the chasing pack to give Bob something to think about (if he was thinking about that at all; by all reports he is a single-minded machine when he’s on a roll.) More than one Derby has been won and lost on the basis of heart rate penalties, and since Bob had a 25-minute technical penalty looming, anything could happen. Similarly, Wiesman was skating on thin ice penalty-wise with two heart rate penalties, and a third could cost him not only the race, but a place in the top five. Head vet Jeremy offered some insight into the respective strategies of Bob and Wiesman: Wiesman, an experienced endurance racer, monitors his horse’s heart rate methodically, while Bob plays to his navigation strengths by riding the straight line as much as possible. Two excellent horsemen, two serious contenders, which one would take the top honours?...

Read more at:
https://www.theadventurists.com/adventures/mongol-derby/updates/#1

Mongolia: Free State man picks up silver medal in 'world's toughest horse race'

TimesLive.co.za - Full Article

15 August 2019 - 07:00
BY ERNEST MABUZA

South African Wiesman Nel, 40, came a remarkable second in the the 11th Mongol Derby, the competitors of which started finishing the 1,000km race on Wednesday.

There were 42 riders in the Mongol Derby endurance race this year, which is described as the world's longest and toughest horse race. They came from all over the world, including four from South Africa.

Nel, from Moolmanshoek private game reserve in the Free State, finished less than two hours behind the winner, American Robert Long.

Nel described the race, which began last Wednesday, as a great experience but said it was not easy, calling it "hardcore".

"You need to be fit for this. It's not for the faint-hearted. But what a great experience. Just to be out there and experience the hospitality of the Mongolians and their horses, their culture and the steppes has been a really great experience for me," he said...

Read more here:
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-08-15-free-state-man-picks-up-silver-medal-in-worlds-toughest-horse-race/

Idaho’s Bob Long oldest to win Mongol Derby

TSLN.com - Full Article

August 14, 2019
Savanna Simmons

Bob Long had to pass a vet check at each horse station, including the very last, in which his horse’s heart rate had to be at or below 56 beats per minute within half an hour of his return in order to not receive a penalty. He received no vet penalties throughout the entire race.

While Robert Long celebrates a victory the 70-year-old has yet to realize the vast audience that closely tracked his progress in the United States. Long is the oldest man to win the Mongol Derby. The Wyomingite, who now resides in Idaho, finished the 1,000 km race, which is a nod to Genghis Khan’s horse messenger system, with the statement “My horse just won the Mongol Derby. It’s nothing, you just ride 650 miles on a death march. There’s nothing to it.”

The semi-feral Mongolian steppe horses are swapped out every 35 to 40 km and are vetted at each horse station. Long began a slow race, so much so that his partner Stephanie Nelson said they hadn’t really taken any photos of him (other than one of his involuntary dismount day one), so when he made his move and neared the front of the pack, the race organizers were scrambling for photos.

“They loved his demographic,” she said. “They thought he would ride two legs and fall off.”

The second-place rider South African Weisman Nel encountered a vet delay early in the race but managed to sneak up from behind to finish two hours after Long. Some of the 42 other riders are still making the trek to the finish line.

“Bob isn’t just the oldest, he has ridden better and stronger, camping out more than anyone else,” said Tom Morgan, founder of The Adventurists, the race organizers. “We opened up the course this year to make navigation a key skill again, and Bob absolutely nailed it. The man is tougher than a box of concrete...”

Read more here:
https://www.tsln.com/news/idahos-bob-long-oldest-to-win-mongol-derby/

70 Year Old Bob Wins 2019 Mongol Derby!

EverythingHorseUK.co.uk - Full Article

14/08/2019 ehuknews

In an extraordinary, seven-day demonstration of horsemanship, fortitude and navigational skill, the USA’s Robert (Bob) Long, 70, became the oldest winner of the 1,000km Mongol Derby, the world’s longest horse race.

Bob, who has a PhD in Public Health, in 2013 retired from Healthwise, a company he helped build up from the ground.

Commenting on his success Bob joked:

It’s nothing – you just ride 650 miles. There’s nothing to it,”

I’ve only stayed overnight at one horse station; I’ve been staying with local families. They’re spectacular.”

Asked how it felt to be the oldest winner of the Derby, he replied dismissively:

Age is just a number.”

In doing so he battled the weather gods, who threw everything they had at the brave crazy riders, from torrential rain to burning sun and then freezing temperatures, and harsh terrain. All on the back of semi-wild, tough-as-teak Mongolian horses, who like to start the day by bucking their riders off just to show who’s boss.

Cowboy Bob, who is from Cheyenne, Wyoming but now lives in Boise, Idaho, completed the 1,000km race by changing horses 28 times...

Read more here:
https://everythinghorseuk.co.uk/70-year-old-bob-wins-2019-mongol-derby/

Malaysia: Young riders eyeing top-10 finish in world meet

NST.com.my - Full Article

By Fadhli Ishak - August 14, 2019

THE national junior squad will be eying a top 10 finish when they take to the track for the FEI World Endurance Championships for Young Riders and Juniors in Italy next month.

Team manager Mohamad Din Mat said the squad - which is comprised of Muhammad Faris Haikal Hassan Sa'ari, Muhammad Aimin Azfar Nazulki, Nur Qasrina Amani Zakaria and Muhammad Yusuf Luqman Zakaria - will be placing their focus on the team event at San Rossore on September 17-18.

"We recently competed in a series of tournaments in Argentan and Jullianges in France to qualify, which we did, and also prepare for the world juniors," said Din.

"We had utilised new horses which we have leased from their owners in France and will be using the same horses in San Rossore.

"I believe our riders have adjusted well to their horses and have a good understanding with them now..."

Read more here:
https://www.nst.com.my/sports/others/2019/08/512661/young-riders-eyeing-top-10-finish-world-meet

Florida's Abbi Bell's marathon trek in Mongol Derby ends on Day 7

News4jax.com - Full Article

Middleburg resident covered more than 400 miles in endurance horse race

By Justin Barney - Sports Editor
Posted: 6:57 PM, August 13, 2019

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Abbi Bell had never done anything quite like the Mongol Derby, and made it more than halfway through the event billed as the world's longest and toughest horse race.

The Middleburg resident covered roughly 412 miles through the first seven days of the endurance horse race before retiring from the event Tuesday...

Read more here:
https://www.news4jax.com/sports/abbi-bells-marathon-trek-in-mongol-derby-ends-on-day-7