Riding Holiday in Mongolia - Anyone done it?

[TheLankyRider]

Hi all

I'm planning on going on a riding holiday in summer 2018 to Mongolia, not booked yet but done a decent amount of research and have decided on trekking company etc. Company provides an excellent equipment list just wondered if anyone has done anything similar and knows of any little things that were super useful or stuff they had wished they had taken. Company uses decent western tack which looks to be something of a rarity out there and its all camping (camping equipment is provided by them). I will be doing this solo since I couldn't find anyone mad enough in my friend group to drag along so any similar experiences would be valuable!

 

[SEL]

A friend of mine went and told me if I ever did it to "take snacks!". She's quite fussy but then I met someone else who has been who said the food was a bit challenging and they wished they'd packed snacks too!

 

[MDB]

I used to live there. I would definitely take snacks. And immodium / small first aid kit and alcohol gel.
The horses I rode were semi feral and small but tough little things. If you are going in spring / early summer time be prepared for some very, very thin horses coming out of winter, and even animal and horse carcasses scattered around the countryside. The winters are so harsh that there is often not enough to feed the animals.
It is a beautiful country and the people are friendly. The food, if you are served local food is a bit iffy, but I am sure you will have a fantastic time.

 

[cobgoblin]

Looking at the Mongolian cuisine....you might need the opposite of immodium too.

 

[TheLankyRider]

Thanks for the tips. The company i'm hopefully going with gets rave reviews about their food (they cater for vegetarians and vegans which is a big deal in Mongolia) but I will take some emergency snacks just in case. It does help that I will literally eat anything remotely edible, least fussy eater on the planet! I originally gave up on the idea of Mongolia because I wasn't that convinced by some of the horse welfare so its only now I've found a different trekking company who have a different viewpoint that I'm reconsidering. Definitely sound advice about mini first aid kit.

 

[eahotson]

Sounds really exciting.

 

[Suechoccy]

Go go go! I went in 2008 to the Altai Mountains on Zavkhan Trekking's exploratory trip . It was late season (Sept) and we had sun and snow. Absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Yes I was ill for a day with a sort of altitude/sickness bug but otherwise it was fine. All the above advice is good. We were staying with local herders so our diet was very much lamb-/mutton-based, supplemented with yak-butter, yak-cheese, yak-pastries, plus vodka and the local stuff. We met horse wranglers, eagle hunters. We saw wolves and at end of holiday we flew back to Ulaanbaatar and bussed out to Kustai National Park and saw Przewalski horses. Ulaanbaatar is amazing, full of contrasts, Buddhist temple and palace, gargantuan statue of Genghis Khan, Canary Wharf-type metal and glass skyscrapers, and Soviet squares and architecture. It was an absolutely fantastic, unforgettable, memorable trip.

 

[Orangehorse]

I just read a report, in Farmers Weekly I think, about a dairy farmer who took part in the Mongolian Derby, and finished well. He said it was very tough with hours in the saddle. They had to choose their horses from a large pool of animals and changed horse twice a day I think. Obviously it was a race. Horse welfare was a priority during the race. The food was mutton, etc. as above and he didn't see a vegetable at all. Climate similar to UK but very poor soils which is why they are livestock farmers (as a farmer would notice.)

I don't how much riding you do normally but I have been on a few riding holidays where you spend most of the day in the saddle and I found wearing 2 pairs of pants saved me from embarrassing rubs. I had one cotton/bamboo next to the skin and some dressage pants with a bit of padding on the rear over the top. I also resolved, if I go again, to take a sheepskin seat saver to put on top of whatever saddle is provided. I was in the company of some Germans and they do a couple of riding holidays a year, and they all had their own sheepskin to ride on.

Mongolia sounds like a real adventure, have a great time.

 

[TheLankyRider]

Really good advice, thanks. I've done longish riding holidays before and been able to move afterwards but I'm definitely using this as motivation to get out and ride over winter! Company uses western saddles, do seat savers exist for these? I know they are generally much comfier than English saddles (and traditional Mongolian saddles!).

 

[Orangehorse]

I have ridden in Western saddles and didn't have a seat saver, but had the pants! With a western saddle you have to let the saddle and the horse do the work which took a couple of days to get used to. But western saddles are designed for riders to spend all day riding.

 

[TTK]

Both sheepskin & gel western seat savers are easily available. I would take one just to ensure your comfort. What an amazing holiday, enjoy.

 

[TheLankyRider]

Right so good pants and emergency snacks will be added to my humongous list of stuff to take! A lot of people think I'm mad wanting to do this so glad of the positivity!