ThoroughbredDailyNews.com - Full StoryNovember 28 2017
By Kelsey Riley
Editor’s Note: Kelsey Riley will be riding in the Mongol Derby in August, 2018, and will be regularly blogging about her preparations and ultimately, her 1000-kilometer, 10-day ride across Outer Mongolia. Every rider chooses a charity for which they raise money as part of the process. Kelsey has chosen the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Blackburn Correctional Facility in Lexington, Ky. To learn more about Blackburn, click here.
I have done some weird and adventurous things in my life, but this one is by far the craziest.
Next August, I will be one of 40 riders participating in the Mongol Derby, which is the world’s longest and toughest horse race and is contested on the backs of half-broke Mongolian horses across 1000 km of the Outer Mongolian steppe. Over 10 days, we riders will have to navigate our way through 25 horse stations using GPS, maps and our wits (there is no marked path) in a course that is a recreation of Chinggis Khaan’s world-first long-distance postal system set up in 1224. We are likely to encounter all types of terrain and weather–open valleys, river crossings, rolling hills, heat, cold, rain, hail–not to mention being bucked off, extreme chafing from 13-hour days in the saddle, and being chased by wild dogs. We will carry just 11 pounds of kit with us and won’t have access to showers while out on the course...
Read more here:
http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/10-days-1000-kilometers-the-mongol-derby/
