Love the yaks 
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me too.I so want to do the yak trek
.Hi! I entered the Mongol Derby 2027 last month. I've been wanting to do it for years and finally decided I'd better sign up now before life gets even more in the way. I'd love to share information and experiences with youI have signed up for the 2027 Mongol Derby! Was hoping to bring it forward to 2026, but as someone mentioned previously, it is quite expensive so that's looking quite unlikely unless I manage to get sponsorship!
I personally believe the welfare standards for the horses to be very high, you have to remember these horses live semi wild on vast plains, eating the diet horses were originally designed to eat, unshod etc, so in many ways are already living a better life than a lot of leisure and competition horses in Western society.
They are rigorously vetted prior to the race.
Each horse does one leg of the race (there are usually around 29 legs, so about 35km each) and when a rider returns the horse to the next horse station they are vetted again- the standards are based on FEI endurance stats, but have been made more rigorous for the Mongol derby. If a horse is lame, or if its heart rate doesn't come down to the required level within the allowed time, riders receive time penalties, so they are incentives to look after the horses.
All riders are weighed (with all their kit) prior to the start of the race, and must come in under 85kg, with kit. So despite someone commenting that some of the men "look over 85kg", they definitely aren't!
The horse stations are run by Mongolian families, who are proud to have their horses used for the race, and are well compensated. The traditional nomadic culture is in decline, and anything that helps sustain it for as long as possible is a good thing in my view. The derby vets also treat any of their other animals needing attention, bearing in mind that a lot of these animals would get little, if any medical attention on a day to day basis.
I was amused by the view of a GPS navigated jolly across Mongolia for a lot of rich people, I mean I guess that's not entirely inaccurate but its probably a bit over simplified!
Riders do get GPS navigation devices, which will show you a straight line between horse stations but they do also need to read a map to see where there are mountains, cliffs, rivers etc. So whilst the GPS undoubtedly makes it easier, I'm not sure how well riders would do if they solely relied on that! And whilst I don't doubt the participants are well off (and let's be honest, anyone that owns a horse in the UK/Ireland etc is actually well off whether they feel like it or not!), I for one (ane certainly many other participants) definitely wouldn't be considered "rich" in comparison to actual "rich" equestrian folk!
I do think its an amazing way to experience a sadly declining culture. Experiencing proper "wild" Mongolia, eating traditional food cooked by locals, camping out or asking to stay with random local families between horse stations. Sure, the locals probably find it a bit odd/amusing, but I do feel (hope?) that they embrace it and enjoy sharing their culture!
Sorry, that was quite long, but in summary I think it's pretty great and I cant wait to do it!
I will be blogging about my journey starting as soon as I get the announcement post ready!Yay, that's awesome, go you!!! I was the exact same, I've wanted to do it ever since I first heard about it and eventually decided now is as good a time as any!Hi! I entered the Mongol Derby 2027 last month. I've been wanting to do it for years and finally decided I'd better sign up now before life gets even more in the way. I'd love to share information and experiences with you
I should think you can share an instagram page but who knows. I just search and found a few snow pomys ;-) Are you Kelly? My IG id is jessica_e_black. If you follow me I will follow you back. I don't do a lot on instagram anymore. I do a lot more on Facebook.Yay, that's awesome, go you!!! I was the exact same, I've wanted to do it ever since I first heard about it and eventually decided now is as good a time as any!
I technically have an Instagram page to track my progress but to be honest it's mostly just random posts of my horses at the moment! I did do lots of running, hiking, navigation courses etc but since the end of May I haven't really been doing a lot- i figured if I prepare *too* early I'd have to keep it up for too long
Would love to share notes with you - not sure if I'm allowed to share an Instagram link on here (??!) but I will private message you later when I get a chance. Will be so nice to "know" someone else that's going!!!
My Instagram is kitty_does_the_derby - I actually have no clue why my user name on here is snow pony