Longtime islander rides in Mongol Derby

VashonBeachComber.com - Full Article

“I don’t think it’s possible to do enough to get ready for something like that.”

By Paul Rowley
Wednesday, September 18, 2019

On the second day of Ella Mildon’s 620-mile journey on horseback across the steppes of wild Mongolia, she got into trouble. Her sure-footed, semi-wild stallion had sunk down chest-deep into a muddy bog.

“The truth is, you can’t see sometimes when the marshes are going to give out beneath you,” she said, recounting the episode. But after some struggling, the horse was able to free itself.

Mildon, 23, a longtime island 4-H Rock Riders club member who now lives in Clallam County and has been riding horses for years, recently completed the Mongol Derby, a treacherous race across great plains, mountain paths and forestland held over 10 days last month. Competitors follow the same message delivery routes traced by Ghengis Khan more than 800 years ago, stopping every 25 miles at designated stations, called Urtuus, so they can exchange their horse...

Read more here:
https://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/news/longtime-islander-rides-in-mongol-derby/