Most people have a “bucket list” of things they would like to experience at some point in life – and equestrians are likely to have a “horse bucket list”. Here’s Horse & Hound’s list of suggestions that we think you should consider including – some will be relatively easy to tick off, while others will take a bit of saving up to do. But all of them will be totally worth it when you get there – and even better if you can capture it on one of the best riding hat cameras!

Horse bucket list suggestions to consider

1) Gallop in the sea

Splashing in the surf, galloping along the sand – or even full-on swimming in the sea. Training on the beach was the making of Red Rum, and it’s a treat for any rider and horse.

If you have a horse you can take, here’s what you need to know before you go for a beach ride. If you don’t have a horse you can take, check out these horse experience days to see if there’s a beach riding venue near you.

2) Ride among giraffes in Africa

An African safari is the rider’s equivalent of swimming with dolphins. The Okavango Delta in Botswana is a wilderness paradise of lagoons, islands and forests with the best game viewing in Southern Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa also offer great riding experiences. Here are some tips to help you choose the right safari for you.

3) Ride out for a racehorse trainer

Wangle an introduction and convince the trainer that, perched atop half a ton of galloping horse, you’ll be able to restrain its power. Be prepared for cold, early mornings – but nothing beats the feeling of having galloped three thoroughbreds by breakfast.

If you don’t fancy riding yourself, why not book a behind-the-scenes tour in Newmarket?

4) Fall off in a water jump

Perhaps not top of your list of priorities, but a rite of passage. Tackle them often enough and it will happen. Just try to ensure a photographer is there to capture the moment.

5) Ride side-saddle

Side-saddle riding has gained new interest since period dramas such as Downton Abbey. It’s elegant, skilled and – once the initial awkwardness is overcome – some riders believe it’s more comfortable than astride. Read this tips on how to ride side-saddle before you give it a go.

6) Jump a 5ft fence

Take your pick and pump up some pluck: a Chase-me-Charlie pole, a hedge out hunting or an Irish wall.

7) Go hunting in Ireland

Not for the faint-hearted – but if double banks, cavernous ditches and a totally gung-ho attitude is up your street, there are plenty of ways to fulfil your dream of hunting on the Emerald Isle. If you’re adding this to your horse bucket list, make sure you book an experienced hireling who will know the lie of the land, fill up your hip flask with some Dutch courage, and find out what people say about hunting in Ireland.

8) Drive a horse

In honour of the late Duke of Edinburgh, who took up driving after retiring from polo, this is one sport every horseman should try. The British Driving Society has a list of contacts for all qualified instructors in all areas of the UK, including those catering for the disabled. We’ve also found a few and rounded them up in our guide to horse experience days.

9) Do tempi changes

One to tick off as and when you are ready rather than pushing for something outside your skill level. But if you are not yet up to training your horse to do them yourself, then you can book in a lesson with a dressage schoolmaster at various training centres around the country, although you will need to prove a certain level of riding ability.

10) Have riding boots made to measure

Although they don’t come cheap, nothing feels as good as slipping on a pair of made-to-measure riding boots. No rubbing, no awkward baggy gaps, and the feel of perfect unison with your horse. Here’s a selection of the best long leather riding boots, some of which are available in made-to-measure sizes.

11) Back a horse or pony

Not for the inexperienced horseman, but everyone who backed a horse has had a first time – just make sure you have someone experienced on hand to help and guide you. The joy of backing your own horse, developing mutual trust and going on to compete is immeasurable and definitely one for the horse bucket list.

12) Have a spin round the Golden Button

If you’re an equestrian adrenaline junkie then look no further than the three-mile race over Ledbury hunt country held in February. Anyone can enter – there’s just 22 natural obstacles between you and the finish line.

13) Lead a winner into the paddock

If you can’t afford the Tattersalls Sales, you could join a syndicate. Most racing stables run syndicates with an enormous variation in

numbers of owners and costs, or there are also racing clubs where you can pay an all-in fee. For instance Elite Racing Club has membership for £17 per month. You may not end up leading in a winner, but you’ll be able to visit the horse training and at the races and be privy to some special owner perks.

14) Be a stunt rider in a movie

“Real” stunt riders need a minimum of six skills (fighting, falling, riding/driving, agility/ strength, water, and miscellaneous – any

skill performed to elite standard). However, many riders have been in the right place at the right time and called up to film a riding scene because they look the part and know how to look authentic on a horse.

15) Ride at sunrise in Hyde Park

The Household Cavalry has a small pool of civilian riders who help exercise their horses, but a serving soldier needs to nominate you

to be added to the waiting list. Alternatively, there are a couple of riding stables on the edge of the park: Ross Nye and Hyde Park Stables, where you can pay for the pleasure. There is also a Civil Service Riding Club for those eligible, which uses Hyde Park.

16) Ride up the centre line at Horse of the Year Show

For showing riders, this is the pinnacle. Ride up the centre line in that hushed arena and you know you’ve made it.

17) Play polo

The feeling of (finally) being able to canter after that white ball and whack it is intensely satisfying, never mind the exhilaration of a ride-off. Check out some venues that offer polo lessons in this collection of horse experience days if you’re adding this to your horse bucket list.

18) Hear the roar at the start of Cheltenham

When the first race of the Cheltenham Festival begins, the crowd’s roar is enough to make your blood sizzle. There were no crowds last year, but hopes are high that this year we will again hear the roar as the tapes are raised for the Supreme Novices on 15 March. Find out more and buy tickets at thejockeyclub.co.uk

19) See a horse being sold for a million

For astronomical prices, head to Newmarket or Kentucky. Records of some kind are smashed year by year, and the buzz of the sales ring is spellbinding.

20) Volunteer at a show

If you phone up any event organiser, chances are they’ll take your hand off. Surprisingly rewarding and for hardcore volunteers, the route to championships around the world. Here are five ways to volunteer in the horse world.

21) Ride at Badminton

An advanced eventer with five-star potential is going to cost you an arm and a leg, and then you’ve got to be able to ride it. However, the Voltaire Design Badminton Grassroots Championships brings together winners from BE90 and BE100 regional qualifiers from around

the country to contest for the championship. This year, Badminton takes place from 3–8 May – find out how to get tickets here. Failing that, or if you fancy the thrill of the chase, take a day out with the Beaufort hunt. You never know where the trail might lead you…

22) Watch the Grand National live

If you’ve never ventured up to Aintree, this is a must. This season, the Randox Grand National Festival takes place from 7–9 April, with the great race on Saturday, 9 April. Get more info at tickets at thejockeyclub.co.uk

23) Watch the Spanish Riding School

Under glittering chandeliers, the famous white Lipizzaner stallions perform the purest form of dressage in Vienna.

24) Get your photo in H&H

Either beat one of our Olympians, or be at the top of your level and send a completely brilliant photo to wow the picture editor.

25) Spend a day at the Calgary Stampede

“The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, as it is billed, brings out the cowboy in everyone. Top-level rodeo riding, barrel racing and more. It takes place in Calgary each July (8–17 July 2022).

26) See a foal being born

Offer to do the last week of nightly vigil for a friend’s in-foal mare. Or, if you’re extremely lucky on a National Stud tour, you might see a live birth during the foaling season, but probably via a video link. A tour of the National Stud is part of this behind-the-scenes day at Newmarket.

27) Ride in a charity race

A number of charities, such as the British Horse Society (BHS), hold special races on allocated days, usually a one-mile Flat race. Riders usually have to source their own racehorse, raise a set amount of money and physically it’s no walk in the park, with riders facing a gruelling assessment and fitness test. Horse & Hound’s Gemma Redrup gave it a go in 2018 and blogged about the experience.

28) Watch the action on the frozen lake at St Moritz

With freezing temperatures and 1,800m above sea level, the Swiss venue of St Moritz is a dazzling setting for elite polo teams, racing and skijoring. White Turf runs on three Saturdays in February, featuring international horse racing, while the Snow Polo World Cup will take place on the lake 28–30 January. Horse & Hound went behind the scenes at St Moritz to check it out.

29) Herd cattle across the plains of Montana

Unless you have a long-lost cowboy uncle, you’ll need to join a trip or work on a ranch. It’s not a cheap riding holiday, but it’s an unmissable experience.

30) Ride a bucking bronco

Either head to the Wild West for the real thing (madness), or hire one for a party.

31) Try reining

Fancy embracing your inner cowboy/girl? Then why not give reining a go – from spins to sliding-stops, reining could offer you a completely new equestrian experience.

32) Give vaulting a go

If you’ve got a pair of leggings and some pumps to wear, you can try your hand at vaulting. You don’t need your own horse and new vaulters are welcomed into the fold. For more information visit the British Equestrian Vaulting website or book yourself onto a vaulting and trick riding session.

33) Ride a heavy horse

Are you a thoroughbred snob? The rolling gait of a heavy horse gives a completely different feel in the saddle. Cumbrian Heavy Horses is the world’s only BHS-approved heavy horse riding centre and offers a range of riding on fields, fells and beaches in the Lake District National Park aboard magnificent Clydesdale, Shire, Suffolk, Comtois and Ardennes heavy horses.

34) Compete in the Mongol Derby

The longest and toughest horse race in the world – over 1,000km of Mongolian Steppe, on semi-wild horses, changing steeds every 40km. You navigate and survive on your wits and skill, living among the herders. It’s you and your horse vs the wild. Here’s eight things you need to know before you start planning your trip.

35) Enjoy the thrill of a team chase

The exhilarating sensation of galloping across the country, over whatever fences block your path, with a group of mates. No one takes themselves too seriously and it’s a lot of fun. Here are some tips on how to get started.

36) Jump bareback

If you want to have a go, the answer is to start small, build up and practise. Just remember, canter is more comfortable than trot! If you feel insecure riding with no saddle, start on the lunge so you can concentrate on your position rather than what the horse is doing. Here are some riders taking part in the Bareback Challenge at Bury Farm to give you some inspiration.

37) Ride an Icelandic in tölt

The small and compact Icelandic horses are famous for their fifth gait, the tölt. Book yourself up on a trip to Iceland to put it to the test – and if you time it right you could see the Northern Lights.

38) Have a go at horseball

Do you back yourself to be able to cling on for a fast-paced game of horseball? A number of riding schools offer lessons and clinics, and the British Horseball Association has a list of registered trainers who are available to come out to groups of riders who want to learn the sport.

39) Ride in the main ring at Hickstead

Hone your dressage, showing and showjumping skills and get out there and get winning.

40) Represent your country

Competition will be exceptionally hot for this year’s World Equestrian Games teams, but there are opportunities at lower levels, such as the CCI3*-S European Cup or the Home Internationals in dressage.

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Tom Morgan on basing a race on Genghis Khan’s postal system, and the genius of Mongolian horsemen

When I left university, I swore I would never have a proper job. I always found the most interesting times I had while travelling were when I had no plan and everything went wrong – that’s an adventure.

I can’t say a lot of thought went into founding the Adventurists – the parent company of the Equestrianists – it began in the early 2000s with the Mongol Rally, a race in rubbish cars which begins in the UK and ends in Ulan-Ude, Russia.

I charged nothing for people to enter, and even then it wasn’t very popular – six people came along when I imagined there would be thousands. When I did it for a second time I realised that money would be useful, so I charged people £50.

We’ve spent the past 14 years designing and running large-scale, often slightly ridiculous, adventures and races around the world, from air races to tuktuk adventures.

In 2008 we started researching and planning the Mongol Derby – the world’s longest horse race, inspired by Genghis Khan’s postal system. We didn’t really know much about the traditions of horseracing, and waded straight in with a multi-horse race, where riders change horses every 40km over a distance of 1,000km.

The semi-wild Mongolian horses are wonderful, hard-as-nails little beggars who do everything on their own terms.

The equine culture of Mongolia is magical; the symbiosis between horse and human is extraordinary and they are horsemen of genius. Everyone who takes part in the Mongol Derby learns something from them.

We found that in a similar but different way in the Gaucho Derby, which we ran in Patagonia for the first time in early March 2020. They are very different races; the Mongol steppe is flat and riders spend a lot of time travelling at speed, whereas the mountains of Patagonia dictate a far slower pace but riders need plenty of skills to navigate them on horseback.

At the beginning we had some sponsorship from a company involved in the world of endurance, and they flew in the FEI’s head of endurance to help us establish the rules. We have refined and expanded on the rules every time we’ve run it; we’ve improved the way the horses are trained and conditioned in the build-up to the Derby, and our rules are actually more stringent regarding heart-rate levels and so on than those in endurance racing.

We drill it into competitors that they are not there to win at the expense of the horses. Staging a Mongol Derby is a huge operation; around 1,500 horses and 500 people. It’s a bit of a monster and incredible at the same time.

Our riders come from a huge variety of backgrounds; some work with horses, some do not. We have had tech geeks, businessmen and women, CEOs, jockeys, an MP, polo players. We’ve had a 70-year-old winner and a 19-year-old winner.

What they have in common is mental and physical toughness, a willingness to adapt, a seriously stubborn streak and an urge to push themselves really hard.

I don’t have a horsey background; I rode a little as a child, but that was it. My training, if you can call it that, has been on the Mongol steppe – if you put me in a riding school lesson they’d laugh at me. But I do love it and horses are now a huge part of my life.

Splitting the “horse” side of the business off from the other races and forming the Equestrianists means we can focus more comprehensively on horse welfare, and emphasise the utter centrality of the horse to the people and cultures we work with.

The world is in turmoil at the moment, but we hope to run two Mongol Derbies back-to-back this summer to make up for having to cancel in 2020. We are also adding a US leg, which will make Mongol, Gaucho and North American Derbies into a “triple crown” series.

As told to Catherine Austen

Ref: 18 February 2021

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A 70-year-old cowboy described as “tougher than a box of concrete” has become the oldest winner of the world’s “longest horse race”.

American cowboy Bob Long, from Idaho, was the winner of the 2019 Mongol Derby, in which riders navigate across 1,000km of the Mongolian steppe.

Bob crossed the line at 11.03am Mongolian time on Wednesday 14 August following his seven-day “demonstration of horsemanship, fortitude and navigational skill”.

A spokesman for the race said Bob changed horses 28 times throughout the race. At each vet check Bob’s horses “vetted cleanly”, meaning he received no veterinary time-penalties.

“Plenty of the 2019 riders received medical treatment for ‘minor’ injuries, such as a broken nose, concussion and dehydration – but not Bob, whose solo adventure across the steppe has been one of the most impressive performances seen in the history of the Derby,” said the spokesman.

“Bob’s life has been built around horses. He trained and sold broncs to fund his university education, rode and trained mules for packing and hunting, and worked with young appaloosas and quarter horses. He is a master at the competitive sport of extreme mountain trail riding, and has many awards in that discipline, the ideal preparation for the most extreme race of them all, the Mongol Derby.”

Bob, who retired from a career in public health and holds a PhD, joked that there was “nothing to the race” and said “age is just a number”.

“I am riding to accept the challenge of selecting and managing a good horse across a historical, storied and difficult landscape. To interact with the legendary and best horsemen of all time. To test my skill, my nerve and my mental fortitude,” said Bob, on the final day of the race.”

Article continued below…

Caught on camera! Thrills and spills from the 2018 Mongol Derby

The best pictures from this year's Mongol Derby, regarded as the longest, toughest horse race in the world

‘Great horsemanship’: Britain and Australia claim joint victory in Mongol Derby

The pair crossed 1,000km of Mongolian steppe in just over six days, facing monsoon rain, fog, heat and floods along

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Tom Morgan, of race organisers The Adventurists, said: “Bob isn’t just the oldest, he has ridden better and stronger, camping out more, than anyone else.

“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.”

Wiseman Nel of South Africa finished second, and a group consisting of Dutch rider Margreet Voermans, and Australians Jesse Byrne, Justine Hales and Sarah Brown took joint-third.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The Guinness Book of Records states that the Mongol Derby is the world’s longest and toughest horse race. The 2018 race, the 10th in its history, featured 18 men and 26 women from 12 countries, who bravely rode across 1,000km of Mongolia aboard the region’s famously tough native horses.

Here are some of the thrills and spills from the famous race...

1. High spirits

From left to right: Trudi Thomas-Morton, Charmaine O’Neill, Cecilia Stone, Karrin O’Loughlin and Saif Noon enjoying the Mongol Derby experience.

2. Eagle-eyed

Following a tough few days, retired vet and endurance rider Pamela Karner, 64, from New York makes her way towards horse station number 13, with an eagle for company.

3. Where is the sat-nav?

Botswanan rider Michael Turner, who leads safaris all over the African continent, checks he is heading in the right direction.

4. A hat with a difference

American Matthew Graham, a fifth generation horse trainer, dons unique attire for the Mongol Derby.

5. The Mongolian steeds

The 2018 Mongol Derby riders meet their mounts for the race, all of which are semi-wild native Mongolian horses.

6. Taking a dip

Saif Noon, an 18-year-old from Pakistan who studies in the UK, goes for an unscheduled roll in the muddy water

7. Here we go!

American fishing captain and paramedic Kelsey Opstad, 27, flashes the camera a smile as she makes her way.

8. At a gallop

Joel Scholz and his fiancé Nicolette Merie-Smith from Florida make their way across the Mongolian countryside with haste.

9. A fourth Derby ride

Devan Horn, from Texas in the USA, leads for part of the 2018 Mongol Derby on her fourth attempt in the famous race.

10. Oops!

Australian Chase Becker takes a tumble while leading her mount, alongside her father Mike Becker.

11. Glorious views

The early leaders Devan Horn and Chase Becker ride amid a stunning backdrop.

12. Home sweet home

The victorious duo Australian Adrian Corboy and British-born Annabel Neasham stay in a Mongolian ger.

13. The winning pair!

The 2018 Mongol Derby is won by Adrian Corboy and Annabel Neasham, who both live in Australia. The duo completed the race in six days and they faced typical Mongolian weather — from monsoon rain and fog, to boiling hot sun and floods.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

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A British rider has won the world’s “longest and toughest” race.

Annabel Neasham, from Oxfordshire, was the joint winner of the 2018 Mongol Derby.

The 27-year-old crossed the finish line alongside Australia’s Adrian Corby at 1.25pm on 15 August.

The pair completed the race in just over six days, facing monsoon rain, fog, heat and floods.

“People say when they finish, they could easily do another 1,000km, well…I think I’m good with this,” said Annabel, who has evented up to two-star level and now works as racing manager to Ciaron Maher in Melbourne.

Adrian was a last-minute entry to the race, stepping in at the last minute to take Ciaron’s place.

“We’ve seen great horsemanship from both [as well as] clear vet cards,” said a spokesman for the Mongol Derby.

“At every station Adrian carried both saddles in giving the horses a break while Annabel dumped the remains of their hydration packs on their horses to cool them down.”

Article continues below…

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With this year's Mongol Derby starting today (9 August 2017) get up to speed on the facts and figures about

A total of 43 riders started the race on 6 August and the majority of riders are expected to finish either on or before 17 August.

The route recreates the world’s first long-distance postal transmission system, set up by Chinggis Khaan in 1224.

Riders cross the Mongolian steppe on semi-wild horses and change steeds every 40km.

There is no marked course and horses are inspected by vets at each of the 25 stations en route to ensure they have been well treated.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A potato farmer is currently beating an Olympian in the world’s longest and toughest horse race.

After six days of the 2017 Mongol Derby, 40-year-old South African potato farmer Jakkie Mellet (pictured top) had covered 880km of the 1,000km contest.

Close behind him was Australian Olympian Ed Fernon (pictured below), 29, from Sydney, and South African, Barry Armitage, 51, who was first past the post in 2012 but thwarted by a vet penalty, are currently in joint second.

Following them 40kms behind are Australians William ‘Dingo’ Comiskey, 29 from Long Reach and joint winner in 2016, and Warren Sutton, 45, from Victoria.

Ed already has long-distance experience under his belt, having ridden 1000km from Braidwood, New South Wales to Melbourne over the Snowy Mountains, following the legend of the first Melbourne Cup winner, Archer.

Organisers say that harsh weather conditions have made this year’s race a particularly gruelling challenge.

In the face of driving rain and freezing cold, three competitors have already dropped out on health grounds.

The UK’s Jane Boxhall retired after a “rough” fall, while Julia Fisher from the US cracked her ribs. Fellow American Rick Helson was also put out of the running after suffering from dehydration and hypothermia.

This year marks the ninth running of the event, which saw 41 hopefuls line up to start.

They include last year’s joint winner William Comiskey, a rodeo rider, eventer and showjumper who honed his skills growing up on a cattle station in Queensland, Australia.

Other participants include a dairy farmer, an ostrich rider, a dog-sledder, a psychologist, an artist, a banker, a private investigator and even “a desperate housewife”.

Continued below…

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The UK has 13 remaining competitors in the running: Louise Ball, Mark Bauwens, Neil Goldie-Scott, Cy Lloyd Jones, Rebecca Pumphrey, Ceri Putman, Paul Richards, Clare Salmon, Sally Toye, Victoria Twelves, Charlotte Wills, Gigi Kay and Paul Richards.

Officially in the Guiness book of records as the world’s longest race, the Derby course takes competitors through the Mongolian Steppes, recreating the route of the horse messenger system developed by Ghengis Khan in 1224.

Native Mongolian horses are sourced from the nomadic herders and breeders for the race, with riders switching mounts every 40km.

The organisers select around 1400 horses every year to undergo a Derby pre-training and fitness programme.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

With this year's Mongol Derby starting today (9 August 2017), get up to speed on the facts and figures about this gruelling race

From an outsider’s perspective, horsey people are a pretty tough bunch. We think nothing of hopping back on board after taking a tumble, having our feet trampled on is par of the course and mucking out in arctic conditions is worth it for the highs of the summer.

But then there are the equestrians who take it to another level — the people who hunt side saddle, actually enjoy Irish hunt rides, ride around the Grand National for fun… or sign up for the Mongol Derby.

Today (9 August) marks the start of this year’s race. If you’re experiencing a pang of jealously, a surge of “I could do that”, here are a few things you should know first…

1. This is not your average sponsored ride

Dubbed “the longest and toughest horse race in the world”, the Mongol Derby is not for the faint-hearted. Over 10 days you will travel 1000km across the Mongolian steppe, recreating the world’s first long-distance postal transmission system set up by Chinggis Khaan in 1224.

2. And these are not your average steeds

A few hours in the saddle of your 16hh thoroughbred-cross is one thing. Thirteen hours in the saddle of a semi-feral Mongolian horse is quite another. “Whatever you do, don’t get off your horse. If you do, you won’t see it again,” warns Camilla Swift who took part in the race in 2010.

3. You’ll need some solid navigating skills

If you struggled to find your way around the Forest of Dean on your bronze Duke of Edinburgh award, this might not be the thing for you. With no marked course, the Mongolian landscape can start to look worryingly similar… in every direction.

4. Don’t expect your favourite cuisine to re-energise you…

Forget refuelling on a crispy-based margherita. Passing through each of the horse stations, where you will swap mounts, mutton and mares’ milk are more likely to be on the agenda.

5. …or a bed

Banish thoughts of kicking back in Egyptian cotton sheets. Take your pick between the moonlight or a canvas and felt tent.

6. …or a shower for that matter

Soaking aching muscles in a bath of bubbles will have to be put on hold.

7. It will take some serious fundraising

For the 2017 race, riders have had to get together just over £10,000 each.

Continued below…

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8. Swiftly changing you’re mind? Don’t. It will all be worth it in the end (if only for the stories you’ll have to tell)

“Don’t be put off by the tales of horrible food, minor injuries and semi-feral horses,” says Camilla Swift reassuringly. “If I could do it again, I would in an instant.”

Keep track of this year’s competitors by visiting theadventurists.com/#mongolderby/mongolderby17

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British Equestrian Federation (BEF) chief Clare Salmon heads the 12-strong British contingent taking on the longest and toughest horse race in the world.

The 2017 Mongol Derby features 13 men and 29 women from nine countries. The 1,000km route recreates Chinggis Khaan’s ancient horse messenger system and is expected to take around 10 days to complete.

Clare, who started the top BEF job in June 2016, will also be riding in the Magnolia Cup charity race at Goodwood on 3 August — days ahead of the start of the Mongol Derby.

“The challenge of going from the shortest and most glamorous horse-race on ladies’ day at Glorious Goodwood to the longest and most unhygienic one in Mongolia the next day is pretty irresistible,” said the 53-year-old in her race biography.

The timing of the race means Clare may have to record the British eventing team’s dressage tests at the European Eventing Championships, which starts on 17 August.

Clare’s husband Neil Goldie-Scot is among the 11 other Brits taking part in the derby and will be raising money for the Riding for the Disabled Association.

The other British riders lining up are: Louise Ball, Mark Bauwens, Jane Boxhall, Cy Lloyd Jones, Rebecca Pumphrey, Ceri Putman, Paul Richards, Sally Toye, Victoria Twelves and Charlotte Wills.

Article continues below…

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Last year’s joint-winner Australian William Comiskey is returning to try and win outright.

Among the other competitors is 29-year-old Olympic modern penathlete Ed Fernon, from Sydney, who competed at London 2012 and has climbed the highest peak in the southern hemisphere.

Psycholinguist Julia Fisher, 65, is among the US contingent and competes in 50-mile endurance races, having taken her first riding lesson eight years ago.

Also from the US is eventer and equestrian journalist Leslie Wylie.

Other entries include a potato farmer, a private investigator, an ostrich rider, a dog sledder, vets and an artist.

The official race charity is Cool Earth, which works to stop destruction of the rainforest, and many riders are also raising money for other causes.

Pre-race training starts on 6 August with the race itself expected to run from 9-18 August.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

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Post mortem results have revealed an underlying defect was probably behind the death of a pony in this year’s Mongol Derby.

The mount of British dressage rider Tatiana Mountbatten died suddenly on day seven of the 1,000km horse race (August 10]), between urtuus (horse stations) 23 and 24.

Investigating vet Dr Jeremy Hubert found a massive diaphragmatic rupture, which he attributed to either a congenital defect or the legacy of an old kick injury.

“He found it unlikely that the rupture could have been the result of strenuous exercise. There is no evidence to suggest that anything Tatiana did while under saddle caused the rupture,” said Katy Willings in a statement from organisers The Adventurists HQ.

“[The horse] died extremely suddenly 8kms short of urtuu 24,” she continued. “Tatiana was momentarily aware that the horse did not feel right. Almost immediately the horse laid down and died. Both Tatiana and [riding partner] Venetia confirmed that both horses were travelling well within their capabilities and going well just moments before the horse’s death.”

The statement added that the horse’s owner Jamiyanmyadag “has been informed, compensated and received our ongoing support”.

During the world’s “longest and toughest horse race”, new horses are selected by riders at the start of each 40km (25-mile) leg, where they are checked over by vets.

These Mongolian horses come from a pool of 1,400 chosen from herds of local breeders in the months preceeding the derby. They undergo a programme of ridden work in preparation for the trek, which follows ancient Mongolian postal routes.

Related articles:

• 8 things you need to know about the Mongol Derby
• Five Brits among top 10 finishers of Mongol Derby
• Sara Cox to take part in 100km Dartmoor Derby

“This horse met every criteria we set for suitability,” the statement added. “We work with herders who understand the physical demands of the race on their horses and the need to prepare them thoroughly for the weight and distance.

“Jamiyanmyadag had prepared his horse fastidiuously as evidenced by the excellent performance of his horses from urtuu 23 to 24.”

Tatiana was one of five Brits to finish among the top 10 in the derby when it concluded on 11 August.

The 26-year-old crossed the line fifth, while her team-mate Venetia Phillips, who she rode with throughout, was sixth.

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Five Brits are among the top 10 finishers in the 2016 Mongol Derby.

Australian William Comiskey, Canada’s Heidi Telstad and Marcia Hefker Miles from the US were the first three over the line at 9.51am local time (01.51 BST) yesterday (11 August).

Courtney Kizer, from Texas, finished fourth with British dressage rider Tatiana Mountbatten and her team-mate Venetia Phillips, who is based in Kenya, in fifth and sixth respectively.

Bloodstock agent David Redvers, based in Gloucestershire, took seventh, while Alice Newling and Alexandra Hardham finished eighth and ninth.

The race route covers 1,000km across Mongolia and is in the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s longest multi-horse race.

“I can honestly say it’s the most amazing experience of my life,” said David.

“The scenery is beyond anything I can imagine, my riding companions were the best fun, but the ponies are the most incredible animals on the planet.

“I am completely and totally emotionally drained but at the same time exhilarated by the experience.”

Event rider and student Alice said her most memorable moment was galloping through the mountains when a herd of wild horses appeared, galloped alongside her, then disappeared back into the mist.

Of the 41 riders who set out eight days ago, 14 have retired.

The Household Cavalry team, who are down to four riders from five due to injury, were still en route yesterday afternoon (11 August).

Related articles:

• Former champion jockey swaps racecourse for wilderness
• Have you ever wondered what taking part in the Mongol Derby is like?
• How tough are you? 8 things you need to know about the Mongol Derby

Former champion jockey Kevin Darley is among those who have pulled up and Qatar Racing’s Sheikh Fahad Al Thani also had to stop after 500km due to breaking his back.

Over the course of the race, which celebrates the ancient Mongolian postal routes, the riders rode at least 27 different horses each, changing mounts at 40km intervals.

Conditions this year have ranged from extreme heat to torrential rain.

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Former champion jockey Kevin Darley is swapping racecourses for the wilds of Mongolia to take part in the world’s longest horse race, for charity.

Kevin, a professional jockey for three decades, is taking on the 2016 Mongol Derby in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF), H&H’s charity of the year.

During his career he rode 2,431 winners and was crowned champion Flat jockey in 2000.

He is hoping to raise £2,000 to buy a Dyno Concept 2 — a multi-purpose strength and training rehabilitation device — for the IJF’s Jack Berry House centre in Malton.

The 56-year-old will be one of 14 Brits taking part in the 1000km race, which begins on 4 August and is expected to take around 10 days.

In total, there are 43 riders — 20 men and 23 women — from 13 countries competing.

These include a team from the Household Cavalry as well as British dressage rider Tatiana Mountbatten.

The event, which is featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest multi-horse race, recreates Chinggis Khaan’s ancient postal messenger system.

Competitors ride the hardy and semi-wild native horses of Mongolia. They ride up to 160km a day, navigating independently and changing horses every 40km.

Related articles:

• How tough are you? 9 things you need to know about the Mongol Derby
• 6 equestrian events for the ultimate adrenaline junkie
• Have you ever wondered what taking part in the Mongol Derby is like?

The full British line-up is:

• Kevin Darley, 56, Yorks. Professional jockey for 30 years, was crowned champion Flat jockey in 2000
• Tom Alden, 25, Norwich. A qualified riding instructor, Tom has served in the Household Cavalry mounted regiment since 2013 and has competed in dressage for many years.
• Rosie Bathurst, 24, Cirencester. A freelance publicist, ski instructor and eventer.
• Chips Broughton, 43, Suffolk. Just retired from the army, he has extensive experience starting and working with racehorses in the UK, US and New Zealand.
• Sian Dyson, 35, Wiltshire. Crewed on the 2014 Mongol Derby, competed in 2015 but became unwell and had to retire. Is hoping to return to complete “unfinished business” this year.
• James Harbord, 27, Wiltshire. A member of the Household Cavalry, James joined the Army post-university.
• Alexandra Hardham, 27, London. Works and lives in London now, but grew up on a sheep farm.
• Tatiana Mountbatten, 26, London. Professional dressage rider.
• Alice Newling, 28, Wisbech, Cambs. Eventer and recent graduate of Kingston University.
• Venetia Phillips, 28, Herts. Works and breeds safari horses in Kenya.
• David Redvers, 46, Hartpury. A leading bloodstock agent, David is the racing and bloodstock adviser to Qatar Racing and Qatar Bloodstock and the manager of Tweenhills Farm and Stud in Gloucestershire.
• Edward Sampson, 34, New Forest. Edward learnt to ride on an Exmoor called “Fat Pony” and spent 18 years in the Army.
• Anthony Strange, 22, Cumbria. A junior instructor with the Household Cavalry, Anthony began riding as a child at Cumbrian Heavy Horses.
• Urbain Tego Tagne, 27. A member of the Household Cavalry, Urbain completed three degrees at Universities in Cameroon and the UK and had never been on a horse before he joined the army.

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Devon eventer Mary King is “excited” about a new 100km trail ride across Dartmoor.

The Dartmoor Derby, taking place next September, is inspired by the Mongol Derby, but will be less gruelling.

It will take in open moorland, gorse, forests and ancient stone circles.

Riders can take their own horses or ride borrowed mounts on the three- to five-day ride.

“We’ve had guests from all over the world riding with us and the feedback we’ve had is that Dartmoor is fantastic,” Elaine Prior of organisers Liberty Trails told H&H.

“There are vast areas that can only be seen if you are a keen rider.”

While the ride is long-distance — participants will cover at least 100km in total — it is not a race and combinations do not need endurance experience.

A pilot event over 80km will take place later this month (24-28 September) before next year’s full ride, with 15 places open to the public.

There will be additional places for celebrities, including DJ Sara Cox and H&H’s hunting editor Polly Portwin.

British eventers Mary King and Lucy Wiegersma have agreed to be ambassadors for the derby, as has actor and president of the British Horse Society Martin Clunes.

“As someone who has enjoyed exploring Dartmoor for much of my life, I’m delighted it is hosting this innovative ride,” said Mary (pictured, top).

“Dartmoor’s scenery is as beautiful as you will find anywhere in the world, and the terrain provides terrific riding.”

For more information visit: www.dartmoorderby.com

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An industrial-sized hip flask can be the only explanation for the riders who sign up to an array of equestrian activities that ‘verging on bonkers’ would aptly describe. Watching from the sidelines may well provide a sufficient kick…

1. Dianas of the Chase, Ingarsby Old Hall, Leics

Until February 2013, side saddle steeplechases were dead — one hadn’t been run since 1927. But jewellery designer Philippa Holland and Captain Fred Hopkinson from the Household Cavalry decided that needed to change. Step forward the Dianas of the Chase race.

Get your fix: 29 November 2015 (TBC)

2. Dromin Athlacca Community Ride, Co. Limerick, Ireland

Don’t be fooled by the comforting word “community” in the name — checking the small print on your insurance policy might be the best use of your time. Despite efforts to make the race more rider-friendly — “we’re keen to get everyone safely across the country” one of the organisers tells us — there is no escaping the robust ditches, banks and walls on the 15-mile course covering famous Limerick country.

Get your fix: October 2015 (TBC)

3. Mongol Derby, Mongolia

Anything that claims to be the “longest and toughest horse race in the world” is unlikely to show your body a good time. “This is no guided tour, or pony trek,” declare the organisers. “There is no marked course, no packed lunches, no shower block, no stabling. That’s the whole point. It’s just you, your team of horses and a thousand kilometres of Mongolian wilderness. And possibly a GPS.”

Get your fix:  2-16 August 2015

4. Velka Pardubicka, Pardubice, Czech Republic

George Williamson was the last jockey to win both the Grand National and the Czech Republic’s answer to our iconic race, the Velka Pardubicka. And that was in1899 — which gives an indication of what we’re dealing with here. The gruelling four-and-a-quarter-mile race features the terrifying Taxis Ditch — a towering hedge with a ditch on landing, which allegedly dwarfs Becher’s Brook.

Get your fix:  11 October 2015

5. Skijoring, St Moritz, Switzerland

It would be hard to make up a stranger equestrian discipline than skijoring — horses towing “jockeys” behind them on skis for 2,700m across 60cm thick ice, with speeds reaching up to 50 kilometres per hour. The start of the race is where things can get particularly precarious — tangled reins and horses setting off in different directions is not unheard of. In 1965, not a single skier succeeded in crossing the finishing line. Efforts have since been made to make the sport safer — coloured skis are now compulsory so that horses can see them in the snow and competitors undergo stringent testing in the run-up to the event. Nonetheless, strength, athleticism, balance, toughness — and an element of luck — are crucial to succeed.

Get your fix:  8, 15 and 22 February 2015

6. The Golden Button Challenge, Longdon Marsh, Glos

If hurling yourself over 28 natural obstacles across three miles of Ledbury Hunt country, styled on an original steeplechase, is your idea of a good day out — you’re in luck. After taking a break from the calendar, the race is back in action. The Golden Buttons up for grabs include those for the first veteran, first non-thoroughbred and for the first military person.

Get your fix:  14 February 2015

Don’t miss the adrenaline special in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine (29 January 2015), where we find out how to manage your adrenaline and take a look at the facts and figures that show just how fast and furious horse sport is

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Catherine Stott finished fifth in this year's Mongol Derby. She tells H&H about the ultimate endurance race — navigating 1,000km at a wild gallop, spending 13 hours a day in the saddle and dining on noodles and mutton

If you are looking for adventure, I have three words for you: The Mongol Derby.

This August I spent eight days racing across the Mongolian Steppe mounted on a succession of 28 small but hardy Mongol horses, with unrivalled stamina and speed.

The Mongol Derby is billed as the longest, toughest horse race in the world — and I echo that sentiment.

Navigating 1000km at a wild gallop across marmot-hole strewn land, whilst sporadically checking your GPS to orientate yourself was a new and exhilarating experience — and not one for the faint-hearted.

Covering around 130km per day, we spent up to 13 hours in the saddle, changing horses four times a day. At night we were hosted by our hugely accommodating Mongolian herdsman families in their gers and fed on traditional cuisine, which seemed to consist solely of noodles and mutton with large lumps of fat, washed down with a bowl of airag (fermented mare’s milk).

Out of the 48 riders who started the race, 37 finished, with retirees suffering a range of catastrophes including two medivacs for neck injuries (thankfully neither serious), a broken collarbone, two concussions and a combination of exhaustion and sickness.

For my part, I seemed to dodge much of the ill-fortune. Riding with the front pack meant we had the pick of the best horses — a theory vehemently contradicted by some of my group — and I found myself blessed with a succession of “pocket-rockets” which, whilst rather hard to control, were more than willing to transport me at speed to the next urtuu (horse station).

Of the 28 horses that I rode, I had only three that I deemed “below par” — including one minx who took affront to my checking his girth and erupted into a fit of bucking which continued apace until I could get his head up. Lesson learnt!

Day five brought the unwelcome element of illness which forced me to take a short break after two difficult legs that morning, meaning that I was now a station behind the leading pack of seven riders for the first time. It was a bitter pill to swallow but definitely the right decision.

My last race day turned out to be one to savour, as I was given fantastic mounts for each leg and rode through some wonderful scenery.

My second to last horse, whom I named ‘Arkle’ was 12.3hh of pure racehorse.

Had I not given him enforced rest breaks, he would have easily galloped the 41km mountain pass leg without pausing for breath. As it was, he merrily trotted into the penultimate urtuu with a heart rate of 61. This horse was an athlete and nothing less than a privilege to ride.

I completed the race in fifth place and was the second girl to cross the finish line, but by this time that seemed unimportant. In endurance racing “to complete is to win” and that certainly rings true for the Mongol Derby, the ultimate endurance race, where the emphasis is on the horses’ welfare and each rider’s individual journey.

For me, far more than being a race, this was the adventure of a life time, riding incredible horses through the vast and breath-taking plains of the Mongolian Steppe, with fellow riders who have become true friends, forever united by the unique experience that is the Mongol Derby.

Catherine’s Mongol Derby was ridden in aid of Spinal Research. If you would like to donate please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/catherinestott

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British riders took three of the top placings at the 2014 Mongol Derby behind Australian Sam Jones.

The British trio coming in equal second included former British jump jockey Chris Maude, professional polo player Jamie Peel and Royal Marine Robert Skinner (one of H&H’s eligible hunting batchelors).

Former H&H columnist Nigel Peel said he was “extremely proud” of his son, Jamie.

“Riding 1,000km over very rough ground on small ponies is a tremendous achievement,” he said.

Chris and Jamie are good friends from the North Cotswold hunting field. “It will prepare them very well for the start of the hunting season in a couple of weeks,” added Nigel.

Chris was riding to raise funds for the Injured Jockeys Fund and Jamie for the James Wentworth Stanley Memorial Fund.

All three British riders were relieved to cross the finish line last week (Wednesday 13 August).

Chris, who has ridden in eight Grand Nationals and won the Becher Cup at Aintree twice, said: “There were good times and bad times. It was dangerous and emotional.”

Jamie had a virus for the last few days of the race, and on the final day fell off when his horse tripped, rolling on him and trapping his legs.

Chris and Rob were luckily there to help him and catch his horse, otherwise he would have incurred a penalty.

Jamie said the race “was emotionally draining,” especially on the last day when they all had slow horses and were worried they were going to get caught up with.

This year 11 of the 48 starters retired, most because of injuries sustained from falls off the native Mongolian horses or illness.

British riders Luke Berry and James Griffiths were among the casualties.

Luke fell off early in the race and was airlifted to hospital, while James retired on the last day because of illness.

Sam Jones, a 40-year-old mining operator, is the second women to win the race, known as the world’s toughest and longest.

Last year’s winner was Lucinda Green’s niece Lara Prior-Palmer. At 19 she was the youngest and first woman to win.

In 2012 the race was won by Irish jockey, Donal Fahey, with fellow jockey Richie Killoran coming in second.

The other British riders to complete the 2014 Mongol Derby were Catherine Stott (5th), Matthew Pearce (21st), Wendy Chung (23rd), Andrew Mobey (27th), Simon Lukas (29th), Vikki Wojcik (35th) and Claudia Vicente (37th).

This news story was also published in Horse & Hound magazine (21 August, 2014)

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The Mongol Derby — billed the world’s toughest horse race — gets underway today (Wednesday 6 August).

With 48 riders from 15 countries the field for this year’s Mongol Derby is the biggest yet.

The riders arrived last Sunday (3 August) for three days of pre-race training ahead of the race which started at 7am today (6 August).

Among the Brits taking part are professional polo player, Jamie Peel, former jump jockey Chris Maude and five riders from the Household Cavalry.

They will be competing against an Icelandic stunt rider, a Swedish martial arts expert and a German surfer among others.

Chris Maude, 45, rode in eight Grand Nationals before stopping riding 10 years ago to take up a new career as a jockeys’ valet. He is doing the race to raise money for the Injured Jockeys Fund.

“Why am I doing the Mongol Derby? Because I’m having a mid-life crisis,” he admitted.

Chris is riding with Jamie Peel, 32, whose father, Nigel is master and huntsman of the North Cotswold.

“Without a doubt the race is the biggest challenge of my riding career,” said Jamie. “But August is a quiet month for me, so I thought I’d go and punish myself in Mongolia.”

He is raising money for the James Wentworth Stanley Memorial Fund.

The race, which recreates Genghis Khan’s ancient postal system is a gruelling 1,000km across the Mongolian steppe (pictured right).

Riders change their semi-wild horses at each of the 25 horse stations manned by local herders.

Last year’s winner was Lucinda Green’s niece, Lara Prior-Palmer.

She was both the first woman and at 19 when she competed, the youngest in the race’s five-year history.

In this year’s race the youngest rider is 20 year-old Luke Berry from the UK and the oldest is Barbara Smith, 60 from the USA.

There are 12 riders from the UK in total taking part: Jamie Peel, Chris Maude, Vikki Wojcik, Rob Skinner, Luke Berry, Wendy Chung, James Griffiths, Simon Lukas, Andrew Mobey, Matthew Pearce, Catherine Stott and Claudia Vincente.

Follow the race

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The Mongol Derby — the world’s longest, toughest horserace —boasts its biggest line-up yet for 2014.

43 riders — 26 of them women — from 15 countries will be taking part, including former National Hunt jockey turned valet Chris Maude, England polo player Jamie Peel and Rob Skinner, military rider and 1 of H&H’s hunting’s most eligible bachelors (14 February 2013).

Others include an eventer, a South African stunt rider, vet, forest ranger, doctor, teacher and fashion designer.

This will be the 6th running of the 1,000km race, which takes place in August on Mongolian horses.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (20 February 2014)

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Teenager Lara Prior-Palmer, the niece of eventing legend Lucinda Green, has won the world’s longest horse race.

The 19-year-old became not only the first British rider, but the first woman and the youngest person to win the 1000km challenge since the race began in 2009.

American Devan Horn crossed the line first but race rules stipulate that each rider’s horse must pass a strict veterinary inspection at the end of each leg. Devan’s horse’s heart rate did not recover in the required time and she was issued a 2hr penalty.

Lara crossed the line an hour later and passed the vets inspection, thereby becoming the winner.

“I can’t really believe it. I came into the first station last because my horse was so slow and I had to walk him in,” Lara said.

“I thought that would be the end of my Mongol Derby.

“I knew that there were 30 people and nearly all of those 30 wanted to win. I really just wanted to finish.

“If you compare my first few days to my last few days I was going so much slower and suddenly I just got the hang of it — how to ride the horses and what to do to catch up with the rest.”

Half of the 30 riders who started had to withdraw during the gruelling race.

“It is quite extraordinary,” 6-time Badminton winner Lucinda told H&H.

“I sent her off with my Gatehouse helmet, some Tubigrips and something called Monkey Butt cream that I was given in Kenya for the saddle sores.”

“Before she left I told her ‘you might not finish but it will still be an amazing experience’. So for her to win is just unbelievable, it is a seriously tough event.”

Clare Twemlow, fiancé of National Hunt trainer Neil King, came third in the race.

This year the first five past the post were all female riders.

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One of the connections of Tina Cook’s Olympic silver medal-winning event horse Miners Frolic is among 29 hardy riders setting out on this summer’s Mongol Derby.

Alex Embiricos, who applied after reading about the race in H&H, is bidding to become the first female winner.

Billed “the world’s toughest horserace” — and the longest, at nearly 1,000km — the race begins on 4 August. The winner is expected to finish the course by 11 August.

Alex has ridden over 60 winners as an amateur jockey and her father Nick owned Aldaniti, who — trained by Tina’s father Josh Gifford — won the Grand National with Bob Champion in 1981. She is raising money for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust.

“I’ll be really trying to win,” she told H&H. “I’ve done a couple of long distance rides and I’ve been training — swimming and cycling as well as practising navigating — since September.

“I’m not particularly looking forward to the naughty little horses, but I can’t wait to see Mongolia. It’s going to be a really big adventure.”

This is the fifth year of the race. Competitors travel across the Mongolian steppe, staying with nomadic herding families and riding up to 160km a day. Around 1,000 horses will be used, as they are changed at 40km intervals.

In the past, the race has attracted concerns surrounding equine welfare. This year, there will be even stricter vet checks and riders must monitor their horse’s heart rates. If these are too high, the rider will receive time-penalties.

Other contenders this year include amateur jockey Clare Twemlow, point-to-point rider David Maxwell; international endurance riders Lynne Gilbert (USA), Devan Horse (USA) and Sandra Fretelliere (France); former Canadian eventer Alison Wilson, and two-star Kiwi eventer Chloe Phillips-Harris.

For more information visit: www.mongolderby.com

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (30 May 2013)

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Irish National Hunt jockeys Donal Fahy and Richard Killoran have finished first and second in the Mongol Derby – billed the “world’s longest and toughest horse race“.

Thirty-four riders set off on the race on 10 August, but only 21 finished. During the race riders were in the saddle for 12hr a day while they travelled 1,000km across Mongolia. Donal and Richard finished last Friday (17 August).

“I’m feeling great that it’s over. It’s been a hell of a seven days,” said Donal, who was celebrating his first win since breaking his back last October.

“It has been incredible, it’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done. The whole mental side, to keep pushing on. I can’t wait to have a shower and a few beers.”

Donal crossed the finish line with South African adventurer Barry Armitage, but Barry received a vet penalty of 2hr as his horse was found to be lame.

Richard, who rides for Nicky Henderson and was an extra in the War Horse film, crossed the line just 44sec after Donal.

More than 1,000 native Mongolian horses were used in the race, as animals are swapped every 40km. Donal and Richard aim to raise £25,000 for the Injured Jockeys Fund.

Visit: www.mongolderbyrace.com

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (23 August 2012)

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Thirty-six brave and hardy riders are preparing take part in this year’s Mongol Derby – the largest field the race has attracted yet.

The “world’s longest and toughest horse race” – riders are in the saddle for 12 hours a day while they travel 1,000km across Mongolia.

It is expected to take around 10 days and they set off on 10 August.

Competitors range in age from early 20s to early 60s and come from 13 different countries.

There are jockeys, polo players, endurance riders and western riders.

Among the riders are National Hunt jockeys Richard Killoran and Donie Fahy.

They aim to raise £25k for the Injured Jockeys Fund.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Richard, who rides for for Nicky Henderson and was also an extra in the War Horse film.

“I ride and run every day, so I think it will be more mentally than physically challenging for me. We’re absolutely in it to win it though.”

Also riding is Lucy Yorke-Long who hunts with the Grafton and used to event.

“I’m really nervous but I wanted a challenge,” Lucy told H&H.

“I’m doing as much exercise as possible and have started riding out for the Household Cavalry in the mornings as I live in London.

“I’m also worried about the weather and conditions, 30degrees in the day and -10 at night will be tough.”

More than 1,000 native Mongolian horses will be used in the race, as horses are swapped every 40km.

“The horses will be looked after by a team of vets, and every horse is checked before and after their Derby dash,” said Katy Willings from organisers, The Adventurists.

“It’s hard to think of another event where riders from so many disciplines go head-to-head, and it’s exciting for us to have attracted such a quality field of horsemen.

“At times the field will be spread over 200km, differentiated by riding ability, navigation, survival skills and tactics. To finish is a genuine achievement, and only half the field did last year.”

For more information visit: www.theadventurists.com and www.mongolderbyrace.com

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (21 June 2012)

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The “world’s toughest and longest horse race”, the Mongol Derby (6-16 August), has its first cabinet minister on the start list this year — Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson.

The Patersons are an equestrian family — daughter Evie was on the junior event team for the Europeans last year and Mr Paterson used to hunt with the Wynnstay.

His wife Rose is also taking part in the race.

“We just thought if we don’t do it now, we never will and it’s an extraordinary opportunity,” said Owen.

As a politician, Mr Paterson splits his time between home in Shropshire, London and Northern Ireland, so training has been a challenge.

“It has been difficult to fit it all in around my work — I’ve been riding at the weekends. We’ll be in the saddle 12 hours a day so getting the fitness is a bit of a worry,” he said.

The race is 1,000km (621 miles) long, with 25 horse stations at 40km intervals and a fresh horse for each rider at each one.

“We are excited to have our first cabinet minister,” said Katy Willings from race organisers The Adventurists. “Hopefully, leaving the bodyguards behind for a week or two of pure adventure and a different kind of challenge will prove refreshing for him.

“Mongolians consider a man’s horsemanship to be a true reflection of his character and moral worth and will not be interested in his or anyone else’s background. He’ll need to contend with a few hazards — marauding marmots, niggling heartburn from too much mare’s milk, and the ‘catching your mount’ conundrum every morning.”

As well as raising money for the race’s official charity, Mercy Corps, he will be supporting the Royal Irish Regiment and the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.

Visit www.mongolderby.theadventurists.com

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (19 May, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Favourite horses and scary moments

“Can you sit down yet?”

Yes. As previously mentioned one thigh took a battering. Muscularly I was in good shape before the race and did not find it physically taxing, except that I was tired from dehydration or lack of sleep at times. I’ll have a few scars on that thigh, but I think I will covet them.

“Would you do it again?”

In a heartbeat, yes. If only! And now that it has been ridden and survived by the pioneers, myself among them, I think it will be more of a race next year. I know exactly what I would have done differently, what was useful, what was dead weight. Unless the bonus fairy is particularly kind to me I won’t be going next year, so, for the benefit on any would-be Derbyists, here are my top tips for next year’s big adventure…

You don’t need a tent, or food. Mongolians are the most generous, hospitable people on earth. As long as you are open minded about things like privacy and refrigeration of dairy produce, you can spend a comfortable night in the company of total strangers, trying to explain with the limited vocabulary of your phrasebook what on earth you are doing. And rebuff the inevitable offers of marriage.

You will be cold. I realised this almost as soon as we arrived at the start line. I ended up taking my leather jacket, packed as an afterthought, across Mongolia, strapped to my saddle, and as soon as it was dark, I wore it. It still has a curd ‘biscuit’ which I never could stomach after one bite, perfectly preserved in the top pocket. Take something warm.

Even if you wake up cold, don’t stand too close to the fire. Sleeping bags are flammable. And expensive. Mine is now held together with duct tape, and missing a fair amount of its precious down, after a misguided attempt to warm myself without getting out of the bag.

Don’t be shy! The Mongolians love a sing-song and a party. Annelie, Dave and I spent a lovely evening in the company of two Mongolians who were involved in the race, who camped with us. We bonded over a good singalong, them singing about horses, me singing about people. The next morning, we unzipped our tents to discover the horses had got away overnight, despite having three of their legs tied together. Our new Mongolian friends could not have been more obliging though — Ganbold had been a jockey, and took one of our saddle pads and disappeared over the horizon, reappearing 20min later, mounted on one horse and leading the other two, balanced perfectly on the saddle pad.

I used to think I was a horsewoman, but now I’m not so sure… We saw them again at the next ger after a couple of hours’ riding in a persistent drizzle, at which point Unen Buren, the other member of my audience, gave me his coat. Work on a few numbers — it pays dividends.

“Now what are you going to do?!”

This is the question I dread most of all, as I don’t have an answer yet. I am in the doldrums, feeling very anti-climactic. This has been my Year of Living Dangerously, and I am exceedingly grateful to have had the chance to Live it.

I might be allowed out to a few horse shows on Tucker if I play my cards right with the Mothership, and there is talk of a few days’ hunting with the team Polo chaps and chappesses. If you have any other off-piste challenges you would like me to guinea-pig, I am all ears.

Gratefully,

Katy xx

Smell-o-vision

“Did you have a favourite horse?”

This is a tough one. There were definitely legs I enjoyed more than others, but this was a function of the geography of the leg, how easy a run we had, the weather, the company and my physical condition, as much as the quality of the horse I was riding.

That said, there were some particularly memorable Bobs (they were all called Bob — I had intended to name them all after actual Derby winners, but never really got the thinking time to assign suitable names to my mounts and after a day stuck in the wilderness years of Erhaab and Shaamit I gave up), either because they were particularly swift, or brave, or sure-footed, or prone to hysteria.

In terms of physical specimens, there were none to touch the magnificent Tucker. But different qualities became covetable on the steppe. Their intelligence, hardiness, stamina and independence made them formidable partners, and I lost count of the number of times my horses found a spare leg when an invisible marmot hole took one or two of their own.

I loved their workmanlike attitude, drinking, peeing, eating at every opportunity and apparently dozing as soon as you were stationary, but always ready to work when you were in the plate, and always keen to go and get on with things.

“Any scary moments?”

Yes. Plenty. There were a few near misses in the saddle, where a horse stumbled so badly I wasn’t sure when, if ever, he would right himself. There is nothing you can do in such a situation except try and stay in the middle of the horse as it disappears from underneath you, and that is what I did. On all bar one occasions (mentioned earlier) this was sufficient.

Then there was the time we waded the horses into a river to drink, and decided to give them a sponge bath. Annelie and I were keen to sponge the horses as our tack was so cumbersome relative to what they usually wore, and with little space for perspiration to expire we felt there was an elevated risk of them overheating.

They weren’t all that sure about it, but the horses did allow us to sponge their necks and flanks. We had never attempted it from the saddle, however, and this proved to be a bridge too far for Bob VI. As I leaned down to the water, just below my stirrups, and wet the sponge on a string, he flipped, plunged about in the river in protest, and nearly launched me into it.

Lesson learned — if you’re going to try something daft, do it from the ground. This also applied to the changing of clothes. Annelie and I nearly died a death when Dave pulled out a giant white plastic poncho as his preferred waterproof option, the first time we saw a storm roll in….

Some scary encounters with the local wildlife too. We camped wild one night, and called on a lovely local family who provided us with a fine dinner of goat bones and a good game of charades. I was sat next to about five children, who all of a sudden got up, staring at me with wide eyes, and ran out of the ger.

Dave, who was seated on my other side, sensed there was something up, and told me to look at him, and keep calm. This I did, to the best of my ability, as the eldest child tentatively re-approached me with a three-foot long pair of tongs, normally used to put coals or wood in the fire. He pincered an enormous spider off my right shoulder, and disposed of it (hopefully in the fire).

The children breathed out again, Dave started to laugh, and all was well again. I am SO glad I didn’t know what was going on until it was too late.

Would you do it again?

I survived, but I didn’t win

“How bad did you smell by the finish?”

Hmm, it’s all relative. I was racing for 9 days, sweated several litres on the very first leg, and wore the same breeches, and a choice of 2 pants, 2 bras and 2 long-sleeved tops for the entire race.

I correctly surmised that things stowed in my saddle bags wouldn’t fare much better than those on my person, as the horse would be sweating even more than I would, and once your kit is grubby, exchanging one grubby garment for another has no real comfort value, so you might as well economise on weight and get used to being grubby.

I got 3 washes, each memorable in its own way. The first was a swim in the River Tuul, on day 3. Annelie, Dave and I had ridden a very clever leg thus far, staying low and going round some quite pernicious hills, and gaining considerable time on the field.

We squandered that advantage when we reached the glistening water, in the heat of the day, as four or five children were bombing in and splashing around. It was too much. They thronged around us when we dismounted, hobbling our horses with their reins, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and persuading us with snippets of English and infectious smiles to stop and join them.

We didn’t need much persuading; a perfunctory wet wipe whilst squashed up against the inner lining of your ludicrous one-man tent is a pretty poor substitute for total immersion in cool, deep water. The horses looked on with an air of faint disapproval — “they always do this! Bloody humans!” — as we stripped to our smalls and bombed in with the children for a massive water fight.

I had a real shower on day 5, when we reached the half way stage, and a ger conveniently close to a ‘town’ called Bayan, which we rode through en route to the horse station.

Rumours of a shower in the mysterious, Wild-West-style Bayan started to circulate before we dismounted the horses, and when the vets confirmed that there was indeed running water, and if we were to give the shower-operators enough notice, they would heat us some, we were all a little bit giddy.

In fact, Bayan turned into one massive party. We got a dilapidated Russian combi van into the town, found the bar and took it in turns to wash, under strict instructions to switch the water off between latherings. The newly scrubbed and scalded (there was no temperature control) got into a singing contest with the Mongolians and inevitably lost.

On day 8, our assault on the finish line was scuppered when team-mate Jeremy, with whom I had been riding for the previous 3 days, took a crunching fall some 50 kms out. We were only 6 or 7kms on from our last pit-stop and changeover, and I rode back to the ger to get help, first to catch Jeremy’s horse, and second, to switch him on to something quieter.

I cantered my horse home, and cantered back out again with a Mongolian herdsman and two horses, but Jeremy’s ankle had already doubled in size, and he had pressed his emergency button — we passed each other, him dolefully staring out the vets’ jeep, me with a double handful of horse, and after a conflab turned back to the ger a second time; without medical attention he would not be able to walk, never mind ride.

So we spent the night at Ger 20, with a full six hours of daylight to kill. This was the afternoon I decided to have a look at my saddle sores, something I had not been able to do in my tent in the dark. I gingerly peeled a big melonin dressing off my left thigh, and winced at the mess underneath. Christian the medic was with us, attending to Jeremy’s ankle (looks like ligament damage ‐ it was a fairly acrobatic rodeo-style decking), and he scrubbed and cleaned the lacerations, while the vets and Mongolian horsemen looked on in amusement. I got a bit of sympathy from Christian, but it really wasn’t that sort of trip.

It was about then that William, one of the South African vets, mentioned that he had a bag of water warming in the sun, with a shower attachment. I nearly fainted. I had bought a sachet of shampoo several days earlier for just such an occasion.

In broad daylight, with only a tractor to provide something to hide behind (and this had a massive rabid dog sleeping with one eye open in its shade, so it’s not like you could really tuck yourself away), Emily and I enjoyed a lukewarm wash, and I spent several hours mooching about in my Big Pants, enjoying the sun on my poor pasty legs, before we slaughtered a goat, made a fire, and threw an “almost finished” party.

“Did you have a favourite horse?”

This missive brings to a close a summer spent in preparation for, and joyful participation in, the trip of a lifetime for me — The Mongol Derby.

It’s not easy to break down, but having been home a couple of weeks and been wheeled round a fair few dinner parties in that period to regale people with tales of my courage, stoicism, horsemanship and astonishing lack of survival skills, I will attempt to answer the most frequently asked questions, in roughly the order they come up.

The Adventurists should be paying me for this because everything I write will be testimony to just how much I enjoyed it, and how much I wish it wasn’t over. I suspect they will be flooded with entries for next year. Well, assuming I have any readers left that is…

“So, did you win?”

Reader(s), I did not win. Apologies, I believe some (one) had put money on me. I led for about three furlongs, but then contingencies got in the way rather. Actually, the race ended up being a lot less of a race than most of the riders had anticipated.

With no precedent to follow, and no real concept of what lay ahead when we thundered off into the sun on that Saturday morning, and with the pleas of my family ringing in my ears “just find someone to ride with — don’t try and do this on your own!”, I started playing safe, and joined up with two other riders, as did almost all of my fellow Derbyists.

The winner, Charles Van Wyk, was one of the few to go solo, though he had the silent but deadly Stig (as we referred to our Mongolian entrant, Galbadrakh) at his side, mirroring his every move, after a few days.

The advantages of riding alone, being responsible for route, timings, pit stops, and strategy are clear; get it all right and you are streets ahead, with no-one to wait for, and governed only by the speed and temperament of your horse. In a group we travelled at the pace of the slowest horse, and there was often significant variation in the horses’ cruising speed.

However, there were also huge risks inherent in going it alone, and this was demonstrated to me on day 2, when I had my one and only fall. On a relatively easy piece of going my horse, Bob V, put a foot wrong, crumpled and turned over, trapping me underneath him and getting up before I could get to my feet.

If I had been riding alone, he would have got away. This happened to several riders, and while some horses turned tail and trotted off home, the majority just grazed, nonchalantly, out of reach, and refused to be caught again, often for several hours. These horses are used to being herded and lassoed, and don’t really come when you whistle.

I was reunited with Bob V because Dave and Annelie were clever enough to pincer him, and, when he looked up and realised their plan, make a lunge for him and hang on at all costs. After that, I was resolutely riding in a team.

Sharing all the ups and downs, rescuing people and being rescued, made the whole experience so much more special for me, too. I think everyone made lifelong friends on this trip, and I wouldn’t have traded a few more places up the finishing order for all of the giggles we had en masse.

“How bad did you smell by the finish?”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

With the race finally underway, all of Katy’s updates from Mongolia wil be collected here, so bookmark this page to keep up to date with her progress.

[Update on 24 Aug 09]

So it starts. Camped tonight at station 3. I picked two mighty steeds this afternoon and made great time, but quite a few have made it this far so I need to get up at dawn to get the pick of the field. K x

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Monday, 6pm. Seoul airport. One flight down, one to go.

I have already succumbed to the most pedestrian, least pioneering, least lion-hearted food substance on offer in this gargantuan terminal. After coming a cropper in a game of rice-roulette on Korean Airways, I am loathe to try anything else with a name I don’t recognize (or in the case of my porridge this morning, a name, but no other features I recognize) and am currently nursing a bagel filled with processed cheese, processed meat and melancholy salad. It’s a triumph.

Actually last night’s Korean delights were very good and, best of all, yielded a little tube of red pepper paste with which to season your rice and seaweed. I have craftily harvested this for use in the field as an emergency condiment, when presented with my first bowl of sheep parts. I am not sure whether this will cause offence – it might be a case of storing a bit in the lower gums while untacking the horses. I’ve also stolen a spoon. Other riders have gleefully advised me that they would be bringing a titanium ‘spork’. I couldn’t bring myself to spend money on such a thing. Sorry….

Have so far avoided all impulses to panic buy, although after picking them up and putting them down again about 15 times I have bought a massive pack of cigarettes. Hopefully more than I will get through in a lifetime. It would be a disaster to rely on them in civilian life….

Midnight. Zaluuchuud Hotel, Ulaan Baatar

Clever Annelie, with whom I am sharing a room in UB and will no doubt cover much of the 1000kms with in the coming days, had come to meet me at the airport and we spent a happy hour or two comparing kit, strategy and, critically, wardrobe.

I envy her stirrup leathers, she’s pretty taken with my stirrups. She has real actual army ration food. I have a pot of peanut butter. Actually I think we know who’s winning on that front.

Our hotel is brilliantly Eastern bloc chic, and we sit out on the windowsill sampling our duty free fags and admiring the derelict housing block opposite. I then pass out…

Tuesday, 6pm. Internet cafe, UB

We’ve had a very productive day running various errands. The most important of these was getting the course downloaded onto our GPS units, which seems to have worked a charm. My unit found the satellites promptly and is a bit like a Nokia phone to operate, and with a six hour drive in a truck tomorrow during which to read the instruction manual, I should have it under control and bending to my iron will by the time we reach the start line.

We met quite a few of the other riders over the course of the day – it’s really not hard to spot us (generally the ones in stupid hats/firking around the camping department in the State Department Store – literal translation “Big Shop” – or just generally looking a bit nervous).

Annelie and I spend a good few minutes admiring a pair of children’s tents complete with cute little tunnel running between them, in style of Fun House circa 1990. Obviously, we strip down and time each other through the tunnels, which causes some confusion among the shop assistants.

We also manage to buy real tea, some tinned tuna, and other camping goodies. I think purchase of the day might be some powdered cordial (I think that’s the best description I can come up with). It turns water into Ribena-coloured rocket fuel, is 96% sugar, with added B, C and A Vitamins and iron. Basically with that in my camelback I won’t taste the iodine, and I can probably pick up the horse and carry him if necessary.

I have rather bullishly bought some fake tan too, and with all the writing in Cyrillic it’s anybody’s guess as to what colour I will end up. But having heard last week that there is a film crew here to catch our moments of glory, panic, stoicism, etc, I can’t risk being the pasty doughnut of the horde.

Have successfully bought a Mongolian SIM card but it appears my phone is network locked, so further reconnaissance required on that front. The password is not my birthday, or Tango’s birthday, and I think I only get three guesses. Should probably call Vodafone rather than do anything rash…

We are rolling out of the Red Hero city at 10.30am tomorrow, after a princely curry in the city tonight with all of the riders, vets, Adventurists and film crew. So Annelie and I are suitably glammed, have packed everything into our saddle bags, and are scrubbed and ready to travel in the morning.

Things I miss: hot water

Apparently there is one room in the Hotel Zaluuchuud which does have hot water, and guests can go to reception and ask to use the shower should the ore glacial facilities in their own rooms not meet with their approval.

After quite a lot of swearing I did get right under the shower head just now, and experienced a head rush which felt like a stroke. In fact I do seem to have a strange bruise on the side of my head which wasn’t there yesterday, and can’t help thinking I have suffered some sort of brain bleed in the shampooing process. Look like Gorbachev, or similar. Hope it won’t affect my riding or camping skills, I have spent ages on them!

Gingerly, (no- probably tango-orangely)

Katy xx

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So, I am nearly there. In a week I will be in Mongolia. Crumbs. My final weekend in the Shire was spent in one continuous kit-test. Here is a quick run-down of the contestants and their performance.

Icebreaker ultrafine merino wool tops – 5/5. These are going to be my base layer, being both very light whilst still covering my poor pasty arms, and naturally stink-free. While I can’t claim I have trekked across the Andes between washes, I did two stonking bike rides and a sprightly hack on Tucker, all of which generated an ample amount of sweat, and am pleased to confirm that I did not smell like a giant armpit, or a sheep for that matter, at any point.

I have a couple of other Icebreaker layers for the severe drop in temperature after sun-down, and my very generous housemate Peter has also lent me his merino tights to sleep in. Long-johns… I never thought I’d see the day. So well done Icebreaker and all your delightful sheep, I am a total convert

GPS – 4/5. I finally got it out of the box, turned it over, pressed all the buttons. It is not as complicated as I had feared. Thanks to our absurd gender stereotyping (and the fact that I was a late-bloomer in matters adventurous) I have never been in charge of the map and compass, or any technical gadgets which substitute for them, and having confused cause and effect I thought this was because I couldn’t do it. Obviously I can, I just haven’t. My Garmin is a robust and chunky little thing in a nice yellow, which apparently can float and probably withstand a wolf attack too.

Solar charger – 5/5. I deliberately went home with my phone and iPod only half charged, with a view to finding all the right leads and plug attachments for my solar panel and juicing my gadgets. Again, this is remarkably straightforward as long as I don’t lose the plug knick-knacks, or the lead, or the battery conversion casing so I can recharge AAA batteries for headtorch, and AA for GPS. Both items will burn through several sets of batteries, and my inner nerd calculated that a battery recharger unit would weigh less than multiple sets of spare batteries.

I should be able to soak the solar panel with sun whilst riding (it will be attached to my camelback), then attach it to its little hub and plug my gadgets during a quiet hour. And if I can get all my batteries charged before the sun goes down, I can use the sun-juice in the batteries to fuel the hub to recharge my non-battery powered items (phone, iPod maybe) during the evening. A virtuous circle.

Saddle bags – 4/5. I haven’t managed to get these on a horse yet, but they are currently astride my rocking horse, and I am delighted with them. Weighing in at just over 1kg, they have capacity for all my camping equipment behind the cantle, and medical, food and clothing supplies on either side.

They even came with a handy guide to “loading your mount”, the most important principles being equal load on each side, and weight over the horse’s strongest points, so in front of the saddle not behind. Not that I am taking anything that weighs more than a kilo anyway, and I still need to work out how to attach them to the saddle. I’m taking baler twine, but I’d love to hear from you if you have any better ideas?

Tent/roll mat/sleeping bag- 4/5. An excellent time was had by all in brother Tom’s garden on Sunday morning. Supervised by two toddlers in full ‘rabid dog’ style marauding cry, I managed to erect my tent, inflate the thermarest, unpack and get in the sleeping bag, within about six minutes.

Observers commented that this really wasn’t very fast at all, and if it were raining/getting dark/plague-ridden marmots were circling, I’d be in a pickle. I am hoping to avert pickles by always having a light-source attached to my person, so that I should at least be able to locate my head torch, and go from there. Can’t be losing tent pegs or tripping over my guy ropes now.

After solemnly explaining how precious and high-tech all my kit was to nephew George, we had a good old game of “how many gingers can you fit in an ultralite one-man tent”, and the answer, apparently, is “as many as you have to hand”- 3, in this instance.

Firelighting equipment – 2/5. Housemate Peter was keen to give me a fire-making masterclass before my departure, and we assembled in the garden with twigs, tampons and lighters on Monday night. We artfully fluffed the tampons to their fullest volume, and created little wigwams of twigs around the cotton wool, the idea being that the tampons would light easily and burn hot enough for the wood to catch. The wood did not catch. But the tampons burned quite well so I’ll just take a few of them and eat by tampon-light if there’s nothing that I can burn out on the steppe.

Making the wigwam was quite therapeutic anyway so not a pointless exercise by any stretch of the imagination. Research suggests that dried dung, which will be much more plentiful than wood anyway, burns quite efficiently, so am just going to keep my fingers crossed on that one.

Leatherman knife – 3/5. It has taken me a while to work out how to get the blades tucked back in once you have snapped them out. Have a few cuts on my fingers as testimony to this, but now I have got the hang of this it should be plain sailing.

Compass – 5/5 Located, fiddled with, understood. I actually did plenty of navigating in India on the Rickshaw Run, but had a useful refresher on Sunday afternoon

Purchase of the week?That would be a toss-up between

1. The 500g of biltong I bought in the South African Store near Embankment Station on Monday night. The saffer behind the counter looked quite startled at the contents of my basket but duly took my money. When I explained what it was for he nodded sagely, and said “well in that case I guess flavour’s secondary to nutrition content. Yeah, this’ll keep you going.” So God knows what it is going to taste like. I have also bought a tub of peanut butter in a plastic pot- 454g, about 4000 calories. I reckon that’s a pretty good power to weight ratio.

2. The outfit I impulsively bought from H&M for the start line party on August 21st, because nothing shouts “I’m ready for action” like a silk playsuit… Kate Willings, bringing a little glamour to proceedings. Fact!

In great trepidation,

Katy x

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Apologies for the radio silence of late – it has taken until now for me to draw anything remotely amusing from my chaotic goings on, and life is hard enough without someone blogging about how miserable they are.

I toyed with a post constructed purely from The Smiths lyrics and song titles and brief explanations of their particular relevance to my miserable state. Actually I still think that’s a pretty good gimmick so here goes.

1. “Girl Afraid”. I have Derby fear, well and truly now. What on earth have I done? Am I actually up to this? Etc, etc.

2. “Panic”. See above. Add to it the fact that I still have multiple feats of organization left to conquer, and bear in mind how patchy my operational excellence has been over the previous 9 weeks, and you will see why.

Still to do: one more rabies shot (booked). Organise hotel in Ulaan Bataar for when I get there (no progress). Obtain new digital camera, or roll over and accept the £75 charge to fix the last one I bought and managed to drop/submerge/trample (have spent a few snatched moments on eBay and Gumtree looking for a bargain – seem to be mostly mis-represented or stolen, or marginally more expensive than Amazon. Am confused/disappointed). Take delivery of GPS (in transit now). Take GPS out of box, look it in the eye and learn how to use it (no progress).

3. “Still Ill”. I was on my way back from a good cantering session on Logan on Saturday and had been experiencing a general feeling of lethargy and a bit of an odd taste in my mouth, but as far as I was concerned the whole swine flu thing was done and dusted; I had completed a Herculean week’s training and that was why I was flagging.

By the time I got home I had the distinct feeling I was a bit off-colour, and half an hour later I was hugging the toilet, where I stayed for quite some time. I still haven’t quite worked out why I was so violently sick. My best guess is a delayed reaction to the buckets of caffeine I had consumed over the preceding week, combined with hit and miss diet and too many late nights faffing with my new video editing software.

Having leaned so hard on my adrenal glands that I don’t seem to have any panic response at all any more, I am hoping this little episode will have wiped the slate clean. I am still pretty weak and wobbly though, and a gentle run last night to ease back into training mode revealed that I seem to have wrenched all the muscles around my chest and collarbones in the process of throwing up. Nice. My legs are also looking really puffy, as if I have been on box rest for a month. If I were a horse you’d probably claim loss of use and just turn me out – just don’t put me in foal!

4. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. Imagine me on Monday lunchtime, still weak and sickly, scurrying to Covert Garden to pick up some iodine for water purification, and stopping to get some lunch in the Piazza, in the hope that the arias drifting up from the opera singers in the central concourse might lift my spirits.

I ordered a falafel wrap, with garlic sauce, imagining all it’s wholesome, blood cleaning properties getting to work while I faffed with my excel models all afternoon. Well, the sauce oozed out of the wrap so I got up to get a napkin. When I turned around there were three pigeons in a violent feeding frenzy attacking my falafel wrap. You can imagine how this went down. I tried to keep the language clean as there were children around, but as Morrissey might have said, “Caligula would have blushed”.

I considered my options: another wrap? No, too costly, too slow. Go hungry? No! That was my WRAP dammit! Did anyone actually SEE the pigeons apart from me? Hmm, well that lady over there is looking at me a bit funny… well, look away now old dear, I have been injected with every possible infectious disease, I am about to go to Mongolia and eat sheep guts for a month, and frankly, WORSE THINGS HAPPEN AT SEA. It still tasted fine.

I then went back to work and put some iodine in my water, just to get used to the taste (not fine). In screwing the top back on the tincture i cracked the glass and got iodine all over my self and my desk. I considered when my luck might change, and the Smiths said to me ah! “You Just Haven’t Earned it Yet Baby!”

5. “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish”. Ah yes, that would be the montage. Amazingly I did actually finish editing in time for the Derby Barbie on Sunday, which despite my still being a bit spaced and not particularly hearty of appetite, was a success with lovely weather, lots of my closest friends who have been sorely neglected recently, and a paddling pool full of beer. Trying to get the stupid thing uploaded on YouTube has taken me many hours of blood, sweat and tears since then though. But I can happily report that such troubles are now behind me, and, without further ado, here you go.

View Katy’s training video

That’s enough navel gazing I think. Now that the montage is up and running life seems relatively sweet again. I have also put in four massive days at work on the trot and been under a lot of pressure to get various things finished by [insert time and date in the past], which has been fairly stressful, but after last week’s “is your job interfering with your Derby” comments I have been mindful of who actually keeps a roof over my head and hopefully knuckled down without too much obvious distress.

I should get my first gym session of the week in tonight, pending sign off of a rather swanky presentation I have been working on at DataMonkey HQ.

Industriously,

Katy x

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Top international endurance vets are to assist organisers of the Mongol Derby in ensuring the welfare of horses involved in what is being dubbed the “longest, toughest horse race in the world”.

Last week, H&H reported on the international row that had broken out over concerns that the welfare of 700 horses taking part in the 1,000km race would be compromised (news, 23 July).

But since then, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has stepped in to offer elite veterinary assistance to organisers, via the Mongolian government.

On Friday, 24 July, Ian Williams, head of non-Olympic sports for the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) met with Mongol Derby organisers on a “fact-finding” mission for the UAE.

“The UAE expressed a wish to provide high-level veterinary care, so we wanted a full briefing on provisions for the horses,” he told H&H.

“It hasn’t been finalised, but the UAE would like to provide a mobile equine hospital, along with international endurance vets to assess the horses before they race, and as they arrive at the urtuus [stations].”

Starting on 22 August, 25 riders will race nomadic horses for nearly 1,00km across Mongolia.

The typically 12-14hh horses will be chosen by horse trainers and breeders, and inspected by vets before taking part — and each will be ridden for no further than 40km.

A UAE vet will shortly travel to Mongolia to assess the horses that have been chosen for the race.

Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent of The Adventurists, which is organising the race in conjunction with Mongolian organisation the Tengri Group, said they were “thrilled” with the offer of assistance.

“It’s an amazing offer — the event can essentially stay the same for the riders, but the horses will be looked after like kings,” she said.

“We’re adding little bits into the race to make it more compliant with FEI rules, but it’s not going to be an FEI event.”

Ms Bolingbroke-Kent added that all the international vets will work alongside Mongolian vets, a collaboration organisers hope will leave a lasting legacy.

The Long Riders’ Guild — an organisation of long distance riders that people can join once they have completed a continuous ride of at least 1,000 miles — has hit out at what it calls an “alarming alliance” between the FEI, UAE and The Adventurists, claiming the FEI is paying “salaries, flights and expenses” for top-notch vets.

Mr Williams said the Long Riders’ claims were completely unfounded.

“We are offering no financial assistance whatsoever — we have looked into the facts for the UAE, so they can provide support for the horses, and then stepped back again,” he said.

“We have been aware of the Mongol Derby for some time, but we have not been working with organisers.”

The riders will arrive in Mongolia on 17 August, in time for a pre-race assessment with champion jockey Richard Dunwoody on 19 August. One rider, Katy Willings, is charting her training on www.horseandhound.co.uk/mongolderby

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (30 July, ’09)

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Going great guns this week. I had my first ever boxing lesson on Monday night at the gym and really enjoyed myself. I always suspected I would have a talent for it, and, apart from a few instances of failing to guard my face (tip: no point keeping your hands high if they are actually behind your head) I think Bruno was quite impressed.

I caught him nursing his forearms later in the session, anyway – I reckon I duffed him up good and proper! Best bit is getting your hands all strapped up at the beginning of the session, which feels quite reverent and ceremonial, before you get your gloves on and give ‘em hell.

I swam last night, off swing dancing tonight, cycling with brother Tom and hopefully riding a horse or two in the Shire on Thursday night. Will also be picking up my Mongolian visa tomorrow — if I run there and back for another cheeky session, I think that’s a ship-shape week’s training. Oh, and Bruno and I have our Friday night special too. Phew.

I had what will probably be my last big weekend in the saddle on Saturday, racking up an impressive 7 hours across 4 different steeds, effectively meaning I was riding or grooming horses all day. Was heaven! I was withdrawn from the competition we had planned for Tucker and I on Sunday as my times were so late that I wouldn’t have got home until midnight. A shame, but maybe we’ll get another bite of the cherry in September, if I still have any skin on my backside.

Most exciting of all, I am gathering footage for my video montage, although I am slightly concerned I have become the most vain and publicity-hungry girl ever in the history of mankind. I thought my mother was going to lynch me when I suggested she video me in my underwear, holding the horses, on Sunday morning (another Derby rider had the master stroke of a naked photoshoot for the free London Sport magazine; she has now smashed her fundraising target). And then chase me round the village to get footage of me running and riding. I have quite a lot of footage of her swearing and exclaiming “I can’t even tell if it’s bloody well recording!”

If her videoing efforts are so poor they count as deliberate sabotage, I probably deserve it. She wanted to go to Hickstead to watch Edward Gal and Totilus. Instead she got to wipe green grass gunge off my arms as spat on me by Ella, and hang out by the back door waiting for me to run or ride back up the drive. Sorry Mum! For the record, I am well aware that horses are not toys, and none were actually harmed during the filming process. In contrast, those chin-ups you will be seeing really did smart.

I have got to the bottom of my riding straightness woes as described in my last blog. I had put my pelvis out of joint so that one seatbone was lower than the other. What was very marginal on Wednesday night/Thursday morning (just aggravating enough to impair my feel and discourage Tucker from cornering properly), was really quite uncomfortable by Sunday afternoon, so I went to see the physio and got clunked back into alignment. The acid test will be plonking back in the saddle and having two seatbones instead of one sharp, bruised one – fingers crossed.

In other news, I reached my fundraising target of £1,000 for Mercy Corps, which has given me such a boost. Thank you so much to everyone who has spared some cash for my fundraising efforts. I will be having a little garden party to celebrate at my flat on Sunday afternoon, hopefully to include the world premiere of my montage (and definitely the world premiere of my Lethal Ginger cocktail, which I think I am going to call Steppe’n Wolf).

Pugilistically, Katy x

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Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

I am back in the land of the living, back on the horse, back in the gym, and already wondering if all that sleep was just a dream (does that make any sense?) as I am back to being on my knees.

Some awesome juggling by yours truly this week. An almost faultless run of having the appropriate kit for gym sessions, yoga, running home, cycling in, dashing home to ride, and being at the allotted place at more or less the allotted time. (Apart from one example of finding iPod in the fridge — it still works!) If you have a small country you would like me to run, do get in touch, I could probably handle it.

Did manage to not have any socks on Tuesday, which meant I couldn’t run as far as I had planned to, but got home to Stockwell with no blisters and lived to fight (Bruno) the following day. We have another session planned tonight actually. How tragic that my Friday nights now consist of such barbaric activities. Part of me longs for a more innocent time of leaving the office, getting hammered, wobbling home on the night bus talking to strangers and having a lie-in on Saturday morning.

Some consternation in the shire on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at my less-than-brilliant performance on Tucker, who I am competing in two mediums at Oldencraig this weekend — eek. I am not sure what I am doing wrong exactly, but I struggle with the straightness in the right canter, and Mum’s brand of tough love — “well, it’s definitely YOU, he’s perfectly straight with me!” — wasn’t particularly helpful. Maybe it’s because I am always knackered when I ride, or I hadn’t ridden for a fortnight what with the illness and all, or just because Tucker knows I am the reserve jockey and ever so slightly takes the piss.

I think in truth it’s because I ride using my brain, not being endowed with any natural ‘talent’ to speak of, and when I haven’t had the chance to go away and cogitate on a training problem (for reasons of getting up at 5.30am, for example), I don’t have any instincts to fall back on to sort things out in real time. I have thought about it at regular intervals since and think I have devised the ultimate renvers-based straightening exercise. Plus I am going to get an early night in before Sunday (somehow), so fingers crossed we won’t let the side down. Failing that, the boots will be uber-shiny. Reports from the mother-ship that he went “brilliantly” today, so maybe I made my point after all.

Anyway, after 45 minutes in the saddle yesterday morning I was still not happy but had to do a flying dismount and launch operation Back to Work as usual. Unfortunately my bid for the 7.29 got thwarted by some traffic signals and an absolute cretin at the ticket office — classic quote of the day as my blood started to bubble was “ooh, whoopsie, I’ve gone and pressed the button!”

Unfortunately it was not a button that would deliver me to the platform in minus two minutes, or decapitate the man who had made me dig out my young person’s railcard and then order me a grown-up’s ticket anyway, so I was a bit late into work. Eek. Actually a colleague asked me if work was getting in the way of my Derby preparations yesterday. I don’t believe there is a safe response to that question so I think I just blushed until my ears stung.

I had Thursday night off training, having booked tickets to see Carlos Acosta, fittest ballet dancer in the world, ever. It was sublime, majestic, eye-wateringly gymnastic. I was so moved I wore my leotard into work today (it’s under my shirt, no-one need know!).

Other reconnaissance this week — I have sourced a discounted GPS from the wonderful Gary at Winkelbury Cycles. And applied for my Mongolian visa. And taken delivery of my solar charger thingy. And practised erecting my tent. And sat in it in the torential rain just to be sure. And packed it away again (once aired). And had another rabies shot, despite a city-wide shortage of rabies vaccines, and non-swine-flu-infected nurses to inject them. And sourced some actual army issue ration packs (let’s hope they don’t share their helicopters so lightly, no wonder they’re short). And had a fight with UK customs over my saddle bags, which left the U.S. on 7 July, and arrived on our cack-handed and administratively-impaired shores on 15 July, where apparently they are just sat in a queue awaiting some sort of stamp.

Before I go, I wish to whet your appetite with something I am going to be working on over the weekend, where I have, I think, a record SEVEN horses to ride if I get my logisctics sorted. Two words… Video… Montage. Hehe.

Vigorously, Katy x

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Organisers of the Mongol Derby — dubbed the “longest, toughest horserace in the world” — have hit back at claims the event will be an equine welfare disaster.

An international row has erupted after “equestrian explorers” the Long Riders’ Guild publicly criticised the event which starts next month.

On 22 August, 25 experienced riders from around the world will race 700 12-14hh horses over 1,000km of wilderness in Mongolia. They will swap horses every 40km in a race that will take two weeks.

The Long Riders’ Guild — led by US-based CuChullaine and Basha O’Reilly — is leading an international boycott of what it claims is “the most potentially damaging equestrian event ever attempted”.

Discussion of the race is rife on internet forums and journalists across the Atlantic are keenly following the story.

Mr O’Reilly told H&H concerns centred on “mounting heavy foreigners on undersized horses”, a lack of back-up and veterinary care and that the joint organisers, The Adventurists, are collecting money from “rich, bored tourists looking for adventure”.

His fellow Guild member Ian Robinson said Mongolian herdsmen were likely to offer riders “their worst, oldest and skinniest horses” who are at risk of “dropping down dead”.

The Guild also claims veterinary organisation Vet Net is not involved — contrary to organisers’ statements.

Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent of The Adventurists said horse welfare is paramount.

“The horses are being put forward by owners and breeders, will be checked by horse trainers and then vets before they can compete,” she said.

“We have 16 vets for the race and a network of horse trainers and breeders at each station. There will be a back-up team of vehicles and a helicopter.

“Riders are all fit and weigh less than 85kg, all are equipped with a GPS and will be using top-quality treeless saddles from the UK.”

She added that The Adventurists have been in communication with Vet Net in Mongolia since November.

Co-organiser in Mongolia Baigal Gongor said the derby is supported by horse breeders and horse racing organisations in his country.

“Oyubaatar, a nationally known horse breeder, is in charge of the route and liaising with local governments and herders — along with his two assistants, the heads of two of Mongolia’s horseracing associations,” she said.

The head of the veterinary department of the agriculture ministry will appoint local vets, and will be joined by a Scottish vet, she added.

Mongolians take great pride in their horses, she said, and “would never let an unsuitable horse” join the race.

The Long Riders’ Guild has posted open letters to organisations and individuals including Richard Dunwoody, who was due to take part in the race, Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare and International Equestrian Federation (FEI) president Princess Haya.

It has also mounted a petition, which now has more than 1,400 signatures from 26 countries, to the president of Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, and Princess Haya asking them to stop the race.

Roly Owers said enquiries the charity has made to date show no grounds for concern.

Richard Dunwoody, who is running pre-race training and assessment with the riders, said he was delighted to be involved in an “amazing adventure”.

An FEI spokesman said the Mongol Derby is not run under its rules, so has not been investigated.

At the time of going to press, H&H could not reach Vet Net for comment.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (23 July, ’09)

Read Mongol Derby participant Katy Willings’ blog

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Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Bit of a setback this week; I have been struck down with swine flu. Or, if not swine flu, some other random virus which is making me sweaty of forehead, racing of pulse, intolerant of food, ulcerated of throat and generally a bit pathetic. I am writing from my bed in Stockwell, in the middle of the day, which is unusual, both because I never get sick, and because the wireless internet doesn’t ever reach my bedroom.

Derby training has therefore been worse than sparse. I am losing weight (see above re food aversion) but I think I am dissolving hard-won muscle, so doubt Bruno will be applauding when he sees me next.

I did manage a good six hours in the saddle at the weekend before the symptoms took hold, and was able to test-drive the new pants kindly sent to me by Mary at Carrots UK in response to an earlier post. I am pleased to say they passed muster with flying colours, and will definitely be coming to Mongolia with me – thank you Mary, and nice work Carrots! I will also be ordering a few pairs in flesh tones to go under my competition breeches in the meantime…

Maggie had arranged for me to ride with another of her On the Hoof Distance Training protégées, Karen, who has a small dynasty of very beautiful Arabs, and several thousand acres of Forestry Commission land on her doorstep. Even better, she has herself just returned from Mongolia where she completed the Brook Animal Hospital charity ride, which covered part of the Derby course, and so was able of offer a wealth of useful information about the horses, the riding, equipment and environment.

We did a 3¼ hour training ride together, as ever looking for the optimal rhythm in which the horse can flow forwards in balance and conserve energy. Karen’s horses go beautifully, always thinking forwards and concentrating on the lie of the land in front of them. I was also lucky to ride Kelly in a Barefoot saddle, which is what we have been provided with for the Derby. They are treeless saddles, and incredibly lightweight and flexible, and I found this one fantastically comfortable which is a huge relief. We come back fresh as a daisy.

Karen was very encouraging about the Mongol horses. Having been fed a few horror stories about ribby little ponies buckling under the weight of hefty Westerners and all their electrical gubbins it was a relief to hear her account of fit, workmanlike and enthusiastic (and yes, little) horses, who really were as tough as their formidable reputation would indicate. They are intelligent enough to rest, eat, drink and get comfortable when they are not working, but always ready to work when commissioned into service. She found that some were happier in a swinging trot, whilst others preferred to be in canter, but that the principles of good riding applied there as anywhere else in the world, and they went well for a rider with feel who could work with what they were sitting on. She was quite starry-eyed when talking about her trip, which I always think is a good sign.

My other steed this weekend was Ella, who has turned into quite a safe conveyance out hacking in her old age. Gone are the days when she would spook so violently she would fall over on top of me and then trample all over me, and then run off home, or dangle me off the motorway bridge rather than walk across it, or shin up a bank and into a ditch, or put me through a hedge, rather than walk another step forwards.

In the 10 years we have been devoted to each other she has finally grown up, just as I am entering a strange second childhood, spending my savings gallivanting across far flung wildernesses, accumulating tall stories, dubious-looking musical instruments and assorted dents and scars. Luckily I will be indestructible in my new super-pants. I should probably put them on now actually….

Nauseously, Katy x

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Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Read all of Katy’s blogs

Here’s a conundrum. You can only approach your horse from the left. Wolves, evil spirits and the like approach from the right. The horses will, quite reasonably, object if you follow suit.

But in order to travel 40kms at a zippy pace without tiring your horse unnecessarily, you need to load him as equally as is possible, with kit distributed by bulk and mass in the two pommel bags and two saddle bags at your disposal.

How do you put stuff in the saddle bags on the right hand side of the horse?

Clue – you cannot do it from the saddle. I have it on good authority that the Mongols do NOT faff with their equipment once in the plate. All stirrup adjustment, layer changing, binocular/GPS/sunscreen locating must be done from the ground (to the left of the horse).

I presume, then, that the best solution is to put the stuff you will only remove from the saddle bags at the very end of the day (if at all) – that is, tent, roll mat, sleeping bag – on the right hand side, and to go over the top of him to pack them into the saddle bags. Possibly while he is still wearing his hobbles.

The stuff you actually need constant access to – factor 50, map, “Guide to edible flora of Mongolia” (yet to be sourced, help please) will need to stay on the left hand side, or on your own person.

What happens if you decide to faff from the saddle? They run off, apparently. Amusingly, the way to bring them back to heel is to turn a large circle – left-handed, of course. In fact, if you want to turn right at any time, just turn left, then left, then left again. Safer for everyone.

I wonder if this also has implications for choosing your mount. What if they are only showing you their best side? I’d quite like to size up the side which fights off large predators and evil spirits before i pick my partner. If that side is bald, or blind, or looks particularly like it has seen the wrath of a few too many wolves, I’d like to know.

I think, in the absence of this information, i’ll be using the horse-selecting criteria which have stood the test of time – a quick pinch test for hydration levels, a good look at their feet (though you cannot pick them up), and failing that, one that’s a nice colour and likes having his ears scratched.

Art and science, seamlessly combined.

Katy

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Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Read all of Katy’s blogs

I have been a Derby Admin Machine since last I wrote…

Training sessions with Bruno: 2. He has been a bit kinder this week; it has got to the stage where, as I pick up my kit bag and tramp across Trafalgar Square to the gym, I start getting phantom pains in my back and limbs as my body realizes what it’s in for. I told him this. He did a little laugh, and made me do my favourite exercise – standing on upturned Bosu ball dragging heavy cable-weight across my body from ankle height to shoulder height. The fun part of this one is that you end up kissing your own bicep as you move the weight through its arc past your face. Simple things… It is getting to the stage now where what I cannot do on a Swiss ball isn’t worth doing. We have also established that I ought to consider riding days as contributing towards my training diary – in which case I had not had a day off for about twelve days as of Monday. I dutifully took Tuesday off…

Items of essential kit begged, borrowed, stolen: 4. It’s been a very productive week on the kit front actually. My bleatings of financial ruin have yielded some excellent freebies from friends who are also in the habit of doing silly adventures and therefore have accumulated some of the high tech kit I will be needing. I now have a tent, courtesy of Nik Cook – journalistic guru, massive hard nut and one-time slave driver round the Helly Hansen Adventure Race, in the bleak midwinter, all for a double page spread in 220 Triathlon Magazine (because pain is temporary, glory is permanent).

I also have a ground mat called a Thermarest which will apparently inflate and insulate me from the ground. I think I’ll need to practice deflating it again, without scaring the horses, well in advance. In fact, Mum has proposed staging a “Time Katy erecting tent whilst holding horse on leading rein” competition at home, possibly while setting the whippet on me in an attempt to have authentic marauding dogs in the mix too. I may also be able to get my hands on a sleeping bag which has already survived the Marathon des Sables, wrapped around my attractive friend, Fit Duncan From Queens, or FDFQ. This is a cheering prospect. He’s now a Ted Baker model as well as a general fittie, and having not seen him since we left Oxford five years ago I bumped into him at the gym on Monday and inevitably got talking about the Derby. This was the upshot.

Most exciting of all is the promise of some super pants from a firm called Carrots UK, who read of my underwear plight in an earlier blog and have put some of their fine merchandise in the post for me to test-ride. It’s like Christmas! Tune in again for an account of their performance…

Tropical diseases injected: 3. I am off to get more rabies on Friday as it happens. Joy. Luckily I was well peppered with injections for the Rickshaw Run in January, so this isn’t as expensive an undertaking as it might have been. Still, £55 for a rabies shot (one of three) is pretty eye-watering. Might start an “immunize Katy” appeal…

Regrettable experiments with very old bottles of fake tan found at parents’ house: 1.

Times I have watched Twilight and swooned at the improbably attractive vampire: 2.

Level of disappointment experienced when discovering that Robert Pattinson, the improbably attractive vampire mentioned above, is no relation of Maggie Pattinson, my endurance riding guru: high.

Assets sold: 1. I am selling my car, it’s official. I am slightly embarrassed to say that I produced an Excel model to help me make this decision, and realized that unless I placed an outlandish “convenience premium” of about £50 on each journey, the car is bleeding me dry. Especially given my penchant for attracting parking tickets and speeding fines (appeals to Lambeth Council Parking Unit this month: 2. Appeals won: 0).

Horses ridden: 0. Have two lined up for tonight and tomorrow morning however, and a full itinerary for the weekend.

Corporate fun runs completed: 1.

Feelings of solidarity with fellow corporate monkeys experienced: 0.

Sprint finishes attempted: 1.

Sprint finishes abandoned when actual finish, some 800 metres still to go, located: 1.

Improvement in placing following 100m sprint and 700m dribble: -50.

Gatorade consumed: c.100mls – how can anyone drink that stuff?!

Impulsive Topshop purchases averted: 3. I will not be needing Liberty print shorts in Mongolia. Ergo, I will NOT be buying them. Not today, not tomorrow, and not the day after. Ugh, life is hard.

Katy

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Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Read all of Katy’s blogs

(end ovdoj bain: Mongolian for “it hurts here”, my latest key phrase…)

Friday, 5pm: further reconnaissance this week. I am going to skip my training diary, suffice to say that I have done plenty and it has all been suitably arduous. Had two sessions with Bruno the Personal Trainer this week, and I’d say he has finally broken me. He tried to console me today by saying that my forearms would return to their normal shape and size by about tea time. Well, Bruno, it’s tea time now, and I still have two very fat forearms, and I can’t lift my arms above shoulder height. This is not very becoming. I did manage a full chin up on Wednesday though, which raised a few eyebrows. And today managed a quite nifty double set of press-ups with one leg on a Bosu ball, and both hands on a wobble board. So, pain, yes, gain, probably. Though if it’s that kilo I gain I’ll be livid. The point of all this agony is that I will know what it feels like, and not be unduly stressed, if I encounter my physical limits on the Derby. If I can move those limits back a bit too, that will be a big help.

I have lined up a record six different horses to ride over the weekend. Off home to the Shire this evening, whereupon I am going to a party with the theme Myths and Legends. I woke up in a cold sweat at about 5am this morning (it was a riding morning and after last week’s oversleeping debacle I was determined to be up and at ‘em) and it occurred to me I had done nothing re costume. I nonchalantly batted the idea of taking Tucker and going as Lady Godiva, but Mum was understandably not keen, though I think T would have thoroughly enjoyed it. Unmounted, my options seem fairly limited. Guess I’ll raid the tack room when I get home and see if I can construct some sort of Boudicca get-up…

Sunday, 6.30pm: I went as Nike, her on the back of your Olympic medals if you care to look. Amazing what you can do with four safety pins, some florists’ wire, and, thanks to a quick roadside stop on the way to the party (I was already three hours late, seemed pointless to rush) a sheaf of wild grass which passed quite satisfactorily for wheat. The residents of Oakley, near Basingstoke, looked suitably perplexed at my harvesting.

No cross training this weekend, it’s all been in the saddle, and Saturday’s horses all went beautifully, despite my not getting in until 2am and then having to get up early to preen for the (quite devastating) photographer from the local paper who came to immortalize me on Tucker. My arms have at last returned to their ordinary dimensions and may even have a nice new dent at the tricep, which is something I have always coveted. All is forgiven Bruno.

Today I had another very constructive training ride at Plumpton, again organized by Endurance GB South East Region, who have been tremendously friendly and encouraging about the Derby. I was reunited with Maggie, Mirage, Caroline and Mistral, and we covered 30kms in two hours bang on, which given the number of gates we encountered on the South Downs and the serious hills we negotiated en route, was a solid performance all round. I found the hill work much more tiring than last week’s course and was fighting sleep all the way home, which doesn’t bode all that well for Mongolia really, I’ll need to do three of those rides back to back to achieve my target time. Still, better to know these things now than arrive thinking I’ll breeze through… And I had better luck with my underpinnings today, minimal chafage and quite a comfortable evening ride on Ella completed since.

Now, back to my reconnaissance: I continue to be weight obsessed but at the moment this is more about the 10kgs limit we are allowed to carry on the horses. I am hoping to order my saddle bags this week and can then spend a productive few weeks weighing, packing, unpacking, and considering the relative utilities of all sorts of knick-knacks. Obviously, I am going to have to leave a lot of things which could be very useful behind. Here are some suggestions…

In the YES camp –

* tent (1.3kgs)

* sleeping bag (c. 1kg)

* phrasebook (c. 120g)

* GPS (c. 200g)

* medical kit (we were given super kits by LifeSystems at a riders’ meeting a week ago. Including a fairly ominous looking body bag, presumably for the hasty repatriation of our remains if it all ends badly)

* sunscreen (going for the foil pouches I think, they ought to be lighter)

* duct tape (c. 200g)- it saved my life about ten times on the Rickshaw Run – no way I am adventuring without it

Beyond this, it’s all to play for. Some snake-bite serum perhaps? A pepper spray to see off wolves and rabid dogs? (Or as an emergency condiment, if I just can’t face any more boiled mutton?)

I am awaiting a delivery from the Ethical Superstore, a magical online shop selling all manner of hippy stuff, but also some indispensible things like biodegradable toothpaste (we will not be able to use sulphates and normal foaming toothpastes anywhere near the water supplies out in the field), and, my personal favourite, Mooncups. (Google it ladies). Looks like my ukulele is going to take up too much space, which I am sad about. Not sure what I am going to do for musical entertainment actually. A harmonica maybe? The nomads love a sing-song after dinner I am told, I should really work on a few numbers for them. This might have to wait until my ‘tapering’ week just before I fly out….

Some comedy titbits for the brave few who have got to the foot of this blog….

Me, simpering to unfeasibly attractive local journalist on Saturday morning… ”So, busy day lined up? What else are you photographing today?” Him, checking his schedule… “Yeah, jam-packed actually. Just off to photograph the Festival Place Ice-Cream Eating Tournament”. Pre-order your Basingstoke Gazette now to see who ends up higher on the billing – T and I, or the town’s champion ice-cream consumer.

I prepared a picnic for team On the Hoof, including some pretty diesel brownies, made with some of our home-grown eggs (finally, the girls are laying!). I remarked to Rob that the first egg had been a double-yolker. “Yes”, he said, “I thought that one might be”. I think he might have been spending too much time with those chickens.

Katy

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Read all of Katy’s blogs

This is not me blowing my own trumpet. I am not referring to my skills on the ukulele, or in the karaoke bar, as too many have witnessed both for me to get away with such an outlandish claim. I am referring to the SuBo-style emotional breakdown I flirted with all weekend during a series of giddy highs and scream-inducing lows. Basically the wheels have fallen off my previously, er, very wheelie Mongol Derby administrative wagon, but as with so much in life, if you are prepared to see things as a challenge rather than a personal attack (and can pop out into the garden, swear like a trooper and hammer your fists on the earth for a few minutes), you soon discover the silver lining. Well, some of the time.

Friday 7pm: fairly perfunctory gym session. Bruno had left me with a training programme to complete in his absence, but I have to say it’s not nearly as fun without him. I cut most of the last circuit out and accidentally-on-purpose neglected to do the treadmill session at the end. I’m sure he’ll have words with me about that this week, we have two sessions pencilled in. Best start on the Nurofen now…

Friday 8.30pm: home, light housework, write list of all errands to run and things to do over weekend and pack bags accordingly. Going to have to be hyper-organised. Bop along to Lady Gaga at Glastonbury who has a jet-propelled bra on. Groovy… Waste a good half an hour trying to locate car keys amongst various kit bags, handbags, running packs, drawers, pockets, fridge. Drive home mostly in silence having lost my iPod (a whole week it’s been gone – curses!), broken off my radio aerial (left it screwed on going through a car-wash – more curses!) and somehow broken my CD player (I don’t think this one is my fault actually).

Saturday am: ride Tucker, the Boy Wonder, who has covered himself in glory this week by winning twice with mum and qualifying for the regional champs. As I have said before, he goes much better for her. Unsurprising really as I generally get him out of bed at very unsociable hours, and he is a creature of habit. The new riding boots are gradually submitting which has allowed me range of leg-aids. Previously it was just “off” or “on”, which had caused us a few problems, but today we are a great unit.

Slightly frustrating interlude while awaiting the photographer for the local paper. I dashed in after riding T, washed hair, put in rollers, slapped on enough make-up to scare the horses (no, it actually did), and emerged after 20 minutes looking like Girls Aloud Do Horseriding. All in all, ready to charm the readers of the Basingstoke Gazette into parting with some cash for Mercy Corps, and with a bit of luck, some high-tech camping equipment/a GPS/some saddle bags/some scouting skills for me. Sat and had a brew while waiting… and waiting. Phoned the paper. They’d be there 11am Sunday, they said. Hmm. Balls.

I also had a happy reunion with Ella, who arrived as a 3-year-old when I was 16 and whom I sold to Amy Sanders the day after I completed my finals. She has come back to roost and is in fine fettle, and in a neat grass-is-greener life-swap, Amy went to London for the Hyde Park Calling festival, and I stole my girl back. She found my soft waves and smoky eyes pretty amusing.

Saturday pm: quest for big pants. Lacy knickers are not the Derbyist’s friend. I made a quick trip into Amazingstoke for numerous errands. “Did you definitely mean to pick these ones up?” ventured the blousy lady in Triumph, underwear outfitters to ladies who take their underpinnings seriously the world over. I had gone for some pretty big pants, it’s fair to say. I think my withering glare settled the matter, and she duly took my money and respected my choice.

Saturday evening: I had intended to get in a decent cross-training session, and had brought my bike home with a view to cycling the 20 miles to my brother Tom’s house, thus rounding off a decent day’s training. I had lent Alfonse, my precious bike, to a friend the previous weekend, however, and she had swapped my cleated pedals for flat ones for use with normal shoes. In doing so she had apparently mauled the screw fittings of the pedals, as I struggled for 20min to get the flat ones off, and couldn’t get the clip pedals back on. Things got a bit heated, and in the end Rob, my stepfather, responded to my distress signal, which consisted of me beating the ground with my pedal spanner, throwing pedals across the yard and screaming an unbroken string of quite original obscenities, and tried to help. When this proved fruitless I gave up and Rob kindly drove me half way to Tom’s and I proceeded to run the rest of the way. By the time I arrived in East Stratton after an hour watching the sun set and listening to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (and running, obviously), I had calmed down considerably. It occurred to me that it was nice to have the option of reaching your destination on foot should more energy-efficient modes of transport let you down.

We discuss what food, if any, I should carry during the Mongol Derby, bearing in mind the demands of extremes of temperature, a very tight weight limit, and a total absence of fresh fruit and veg — the Mongolians are notorious salad-dodgers. Mum and I think biltong and dried apricots are solid choices. Tom recommends strawberry laces. I am actually coming round to this idea…..

So what has this taught me in preparation for Mongolia?

1. Things are bound to go wrong. You can’t always be in control of everything, and if you have to always be in control you are going to find the whole exercise very, very painful. Feel the chaos, enjoy the chaos….

2. By the same token, try and get your act together. No-one likes a flake. On that note, its back to work. It’s going to a tough week at work and I am terrified of letting them see how tired I am and how much extra stuff I am cramming in. “Could show more engagement” etc…

Katy

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Read all of Katy’s blogs

Sunday saw my endurance riding debut at the Black Knight ride, organised by Endurance GB South East Group. Thanks to the combined efforts and unstinting generosity of Maggie at On the Hoof, Caroline Cowley, who rode with me and showed me how it’s done, and her dad Chris Baker, who lent me the beautiful and arrow-swift Mirage (pictured above) despite having never even met me, I was able to get my first taste of what you might call “race pace”. And, no mistaking, it’s fast! I learned so much watching Caroline and trying to emulate her, and over the course of 24kms and about 90minutes (16kmph), gradually put some of the dressage rider to bed and learned to consider aspects I would not need to in the dressage arena.

I started off with Mirage on a contact, trying to set the rhythm and generally interfere, as she felt like she was running and out of balance. Normally I am thinking about balancing the horse all the time, making corrections, having an input in every footfall. I quickly learned that she needed no such help from me. On a loose contact, with me attending to my own balance and leaving her to handle her own, she was more than able to sit and half-halt where she needed to, and crack on in a huge-striding trot or a flowing canter which we sustained for the whole ride. This is by far the most efficient way to cover long distances. My running and triathlon experience would definitely support this approach, as I know how hard it is to keep changing rhythm and sustain your speed. So a constant clip ought to beat a galloping horse which needs to stop and walk every few miles.

A lot of the principles of dressage still apply though; the importance of working both sides of the horse and considering the symmetry of their development, for example. I scored brownie points for changing diagonal regularly and was amazed at how this refreshed her later on in the ride. I have no idea if rising trot will even be an option on the wild steeds on the steppe though.

I came home filled with admiration for my new Arabian friend — her intelligence, quality, appetite and stamina. I can’t wait to go again next weekend. Caroline is vying for a team place this year on Mirage’s daughter Mistral, and we made a very glamorous foursome on our two grey mares. As we prepared to set off, me attaching Camelbak, sponge on a string, map and all sorts of other sundries I would never consider useful for riding, Caroline was focusing on the true essentials. “Lipgloss?” she proferred. Damn right! I estimate a slick of gloss increases ground speed by c.5%.

Maggie ‘crewed’ for us, although with no vet gates this was more of an academic exercise for my benefit. The recovery rate of these horses was remarkable, with Mirage back to 45bpm while mine was probably still in hamster mode.

The burning question, clearly, is what I am going to do underwear-wise. Big pants, said Maggie. No pants, said Caroline. Not these pants, said my backside, as I was legged up onto Ella, final lot of the day, on Sunday evening. Further experimentation required on this front, I think.

Katy

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

Read all of Katy’s blogs

I am just back from a decent run round Hyde Park. Googlemaps says 10kms, which feels about right. The sun was still out and strong so I worked up a good sweat and thoroughly enjoyed having no watch on, no train to catch, nowhere specific to be.

Tonight was supposed to be a riding night, but events conspired and I found myself in London, with, wait for it, a spare couple of hours. Lloyds had still failed to send me a new cash card after purse-theft last week, and having hammered the credit card in the interim and maxed it out completely (oops!) I was once again at a financial impasse, and, facing imminent nationalisation or stealing the money from our house kitty which is supposed to be for tin foil and loo roll, I … stole a tenner from the kitty for the train home. I felt guilty though! And it turned out that I couldn’t get any horses lined up for this evening anyway.

Actually, I don’t mind. I am sat out on my little balcony for the first time, the herbs are looking plush and miraculously the wifi seems to stretch out here. I have just eaten my first meal not in front of an offensively cumbersome excel model since the weekend, and it tasted all the sweeter. Now clean and showered, and ready to slog my guts out all over again tomorrow- weights circuit #2.

This week has mainly been about non-equestrian reconnaissance. As my Dad likes to remind me, time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted, and there are a great number of contingencies which I can cover off right here in SW9. So, from the top…

Learning Mongolian: yes, I have been trying to get some useful language under my belt. It was recommended to me last night that I learn the Mongol for “call your dogs off!”. Apparently this is by far the most useful greeting when approaching a nomad’s ger, (yurt) as the advanced welcome party is likely to consist of a slavering rabid dog, trained to attack me, and no doubt then eat me and do something very resourceful with my skin, hair and teeth. So, repeat after me “NOKHOIGOO!!”

Also bound to come in handy are:

Morior – on horseback

Moriig avav – “he took the horse” (I can see me using this one in a plaintive voice when trying to explain how Dunwoody beat me to the finish by 8 days…)

Mal sureg targan tavtaiyuu? – “I hope your animals are fattening nicely?” (an excellent civility for once you have safely negotiated the rabid dogs and are installed in the ger)

Naash ir! – “Come here!” (to the horse)

Ta naash ir! – “Will you PLEASE come here!” (to the more sensitive horse who prefers a more formal tone)

Zail! – “Go away!” (wolves, mosquitoes, snakes, bears, crocodiles, tigers, etc. Actually I need to do further reconnaissance on the exact critters I will be up against. May not be crocodiles, for example)

And, if it all gets a bit too much, there’s always “Khaan bain ve avtobusny buudal?” – “where is the bus station?”. More of a back-pocket phrase, that one.

I have a few things to add to my kit list which I hadn’t really thought about, hobbles being the biggie. I need to be able to secure my steed overnight should we find ourselves alone under the stars, especially as I will probably be stuck in a bivvy bag, or maybe even a super-high tech tent (if you have one of these and I can borrow it, please get in touch!), and hence not in a position to go chasing after the neddy if he makes a bid for freedom. Logically, we are riding out from each station on a horse belonging to the nomads at that station. Ergo, home is always going to be behind us. Up to 25 miles behind us at times. That’s a pretty long run, so I really, really don’t want to let them run away. Quite how I am going to wash is a bit of a mystery, and I suppose the horses are going to have to get used to me using the facilities with them on the end of a lead rein. Not sure if this is in keeping with their magical status in Mongolia.

I will also need some sort of charger/solar cell thingy. We will be using GPS, most likely switched on all day, and it would be a bit of a disaster if they ran out of juice. Apparently thanks to their Soviet landlords throughout most of the 20th century, the mobile phone coverage is actually pretty good, and if I can get my mitts on a local SIM card in Ulaan Batuur before we transfer to the start line, I am all set to blog from the steppe. Hell, I can send you some video footage of me wowing the locals with my Wuthering Heights rendition after a bowl or three of fermented mare’s milk.

Actually there are more hazards than I could possibly list in one sitting (some more problematic than others. Mum asked me this week what I was going to do about the sunburn. “umm….take sunscreen?” I ventured. This seemed to cover that one off) so this might have to be a serial feature: Willings’ Worry of the Week. I feel a new blog category coming on…

In other news, Maggie Pattinson, endurance guru, has come up trumps again, and I will be making my debut, courtesy of the South East Riders Endurance Group, in a pleasure ride near Ashdown Forest, bright and early on Sunday morning. Pleasure ride it may be but I will be going at endurance rhythm and pace with another of Maggie’s protégées, Caroline, who is kindly lending me a horse. Have been told to wear sensible knickers. Hmm, that might have to be a job for tomorrow lunchtime…

Katy

Read all of Katy’s blogs

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Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

I am currently up to my eyeballs in Def14As. For those of you uninitiated in American SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings, it’s the really, really long one, which describes, in eye-watering detail, just how much Executive teams in corporate America are earning. I will be plugging all the relevant numbers into a clever model which will spit out, hopefully before the bell goes (and the axe falls) on Friday night, whether these Free Market Titans make our client look underpaid or not. The deadline is already looking a trifle ambitious given the volume of extra-curricular stuff on the agenda, hence operation Data Monkey now.

I had a big weekend in the saddle, with four different rides (well, five if you include a quick guest-slot on Tucker on Sunday morning &mdash a straw-poll of two determined that the Mors L’Hotte double bridle suited him better). I have picked up another spare ride; on account of my silky skills in the saddle on Owl, I have graduated to her very zippy stable-mate Sky, a 21-year-old Arab who likes to party, and who piaffe-passaged round the local farmland to the amusement of her very generous owner Kate Parker.

I also had some sublime evening riding on Thursday night, just after my last bulletin. I arrived off the train to Basingstoke, where Mum had left me her car, complete with riding kit and little picnic basket of coffee and sandwich. Zipped round to livery yard where Logan, who I am stealing from Tamsin Thorne while she looks the other way and does her GCSEs, was innocently grazing as the sun set. I had a bit of a job locating the little fella as he had his fly sheet on in jousting charger style, but he gave himself away with a wary look in my direction and I fished him in and tacked him up. Church Brook Farm is a lovely yard in Tadley with beautifully manicured cantering tracks, which we took full advantage of as the sun sank below the horizon. Ah, the romance! Snapped out of it sharpish when a deer got up and leapt out in front of us, sending Logan launching sideways and me grabbing a fistful of mane. Drove home to Local Hero theme, all was right with the world.

This was in stark contrast with Friday’s morning session on Tucker, which was fairly sub-prime on account of my failure to wake up at the allotted time (5.40am). With absolutely no slack in the schedule, not waking up until 6.05 was a grave error and I rode like a chump. No romance here, just a barked reminder of how late I was running from Mum at 5min intervals. Tucker, at least, was on the ball and showed some lovely expression in his trot work, which is coming along in leaps and bounds now.

Also had my first personal training session with Bruno, erstwhile diet and fitness guru, on Friday night. I was tired, and it hurt. He might as well have picked up a big spade and just hit me with it really, but I have found myself absentmindedly poking myself in the abs ever since and murmuring appreciatively. The supine hamstring curls were miserable but it’s always fun at the end when you lie there and they just pull you about and say “now don’t try and resist” (no sir!).

After all that conditioning it was time to go out and undo it all, so I donned something that wasn’t a sports bra and went out in Angel. Now I had been labouring under the misapprehension that Jack Daniels does NOT cause a hangover, but I can absolutely confirm to the contrary. I felt like roadkill all day on Saturday, and was lucky to not start riding until 6pm. Kate Willings — being an idiot so that others need not. No, no, you’re welcome.

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Find out more about the Mongol Derby

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Stay up to date with the trials and tribulations of former British pony dressage team rider, Katy Willings, as she prepares to ride 1,000km across the Mongolian wilderness in the Mongol Derby.

To support Katy visit: www.justgiving.com/katywillings/

I survived, but I didn’t win [25 September 2009]

This missive brings to a close a summer spent in preparation for, and joyful participation in, the trip of a lifetime for me — The Mongol Derby…

Read Katy’s final blog in full

Outward bound [18 August 2009]

I have already succumbed to the most pedestrian, least pioneering, least lion-hearted food substance on offer in the gargantuan terminal at Seoul airport….

Read this blog in full

D Day minus 4 and counting [13 August 2009 at 13:32]

So, I am nearly there. In a week I will be in Mongolia. Crumbs. My final weekend in the Shire was spent in one continuous kit-test. Here is a quick run-down of the contestants and their performance…

Read this blog in full

Girl afraid [6 August 2009 at 18:54]

Apologies for the radio silence of late – it has taken until now for me to draw anything remotely amusing from my chaotic goings on, and life is hard enough without someone blogging about how miserable they are…

Read this blog in full

Boxing clever [28 July 2009 at 18:21]

Going great guns this week. I had my first ever boxing lesson on Monday night at the gym and really enjoyed myself. I always suspected I would have a talent for it, and, apart from a few instances of failing to guard my face (tip: no point keeping your hands high if they are actually behind your head) I think Bruno was quite impressed.

Read this blog in full

Man alive! [24 July 2009 at 14:46]

I am back in the land of the living, back on the horse, back in the gym, and already wondering if all that sleep was just a dream (does that make any sense?) as I am back to being on my knees.

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Knicker nirvana and swine flu [16 July 2009 at 16:20]

Bit of a setback this week; I have been struck down with swine flu. Or, if not swine flu, some other random virus which is making me sweaty of forehead, racing of pulse, intolerant of food, ulcerated of throat and generally a bit pathetic. I am writing from my bed in the middle of the day, which is unusual, both because I never get sick, and because the wireless internet doesn’t ever reach my bedroom.

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Left, then left, then left again [13 July 2009 at 19:28]

Here’s a conundrum. You can only approach your horse from the left. Wolves, evil spirits and the like approach from the right. The horses will, quite reasonably, object if you follow suit. But in order to travel 40kms at a zippy pace without tiring your horse unnecessarily, you need to load him as equally as is possible… so how do you put stuff in the saddle bags on the right hand side of the horse?

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A life in numbers [9 July 2009 at 15:40]

Training sessions with Bruno: 2. He has been a bit kinder this week; it has got to the stage where, as I pick up my kit bag and tramp across Trafalgar Square to the gym, I start getting phantom pains in my back and limbs as my body realizes what it’s in for. I told him this. He laughed.

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What’s Mongolian for “it hurts here”? [5 July 2009 at 19:49]

Had two sessions with Bruno the Personal Trainer this week, and I’d say he has finally broken me. He tried to console me today by saying that my forearms would return to their normal shape and size by about tea time. Well, Bruno, it’s tea time now, and I still have two very fat forearms, and I can’t lift my arms above shoulder height. This is not very becoming…

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“I’m gonna need some bigger pants” [29 June 2009 at 22:22]

Sunday saw my endurance riding debut at the Black Knight ride, organised by Endurance GB South East Group. Thanks to the combined efforts and unstinting generosity of Maggie at On the Hoof, Caroline Cowley and her dad Chris Baker I gradually put some of the dressage rider to bed and learned to consider aspects not required in the dressage arena.

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Kitten’s Got Talent [29 June 2009 at 08:45]

This is not me blowing my own trumpet. I am not referring to my skills on the ukulele, or in the karaoke bar. I am referring to the SuBo-style emotional breakdown I flirted with all weekend during a series of giddy highs and scream-inducing lows…

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Lather, rinse and repeat [25 June 2009 at 23:46]

I am just back from a decent run round Hyde Park. Googlemaps says 10kms, which feels about right. The sun was still out and strong so I worked up a good sweat and thoroughly enjoyed having no watch on, no train to catch, nowhere specific to be…

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Data monkey HQ [22 June 2009 at 19:23]

I am currently up to my eyeballs in Def14As (don’t ask!) but have managed to squeezing in four different rides since my last update. I also had my first personal training session with Bruno (ouch!) and found out that my belief that you don’t get a handover after drinking Jack Daniels was wildly inaccurate.

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The missing kilo [18 June 2009 at 18:29]

I have lost a kilo. It’s been gone for over a week now. If this were a household item, such as a sink plug, favourite sock, or something else I habitually lose, I would not be confident about ever seeing it again. Kilos are different. Nevertheless, Bruno the personal trainer will be delighted. Although possibly less so if I explain how I have lost it.

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Your ego’s writing cheques your body can’t cash! [15 June 2009 at 17:37]

It’s Monday morning and I have landed in a heap at my desk again, though the feeling of crash landing is happening earlier and earlier with each passing week. Over the course of the weekend I have laid waste to my parents’ house in my quest to squeeze every minute of Derby training from the time I had. Here’s a quick inventory, to add to my working week of Monday circuits, Tuesday x-train and weights and 9pm ride on Tucker, Wednesday 6am ride, Thursday running sprint intervals and weights. Zzzzz….

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The ministry of funny walks [10 June 2009 at 13:17]

People are starting to stare. As I thundered over Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo last night for another riding double whammy in the Shire, people seemed to be giving me a wide berth, and literally slowing to watch me stride past. No, it was not a good hair day.

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10 weeks to go [7 June 2009 at 22:37]

It’s been a decent first week’s Derby training. In a flurry of adrenaline i went to the gym TWO DAYS RUNNING in my lunch hour at work. This is another military-style operation which involves a series of calculations of the sort “how sweaty am i going to get/ how many more minutes can i keep this up/ when will colleagues notice i am awol/ what chance of seeing Carlos the fantasy spinning instructor if i just loiter by this here weights stack a little longer?”.

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Once more into the breeches [4 June 2009 at 23:01]

The weekend saw my competitive re-debut in the dressage arena on Tucker, after five years in the equestrian wilderness. Not exactly Derby training, but in a way it’s working out well as i am compelled to get out of bed at strange hours of the morning and ride. Getting into a good working routine which goes something like this….

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To support Katy visit: www.justgiving.com/katywillings/

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

It’s Monday morning and i have landed in a heap at my desk again, though the feeling of crash landing is happening earlier and earlier with each passing week. Over the course of the weekend I have laid waste to my parents’ house in my quest to squeeze every minute of Derby training from the time I had. Here’s a quick inventory, to add to my working week of Monday circuits, Tuesday x-train and weights and 9pm ride on Tucker, Wednesday 6am ride, Thursday running sprint intervals and weights. Zzzzz….

Dressage tests: 3. Wins, 0, placings, 3. Total times my mother expressed dismay at the professionals who beat us being “pot-hunters”, and the judges who put us second being “in their pocket” c. 12.

Spare rides picked up: 2. the strapping Logan, and the elegant Owl, with a slim possibility of Owl’s feistier housemate, Sky, to follow.

Total hours in the saddle: c. 8

Total hours in the bicycle saddle: c. 2

Total time spent in a sports bra: c.37

Total waking hours: c.37

Total sports bras used: 4

Total sunburned area: c. 15cms squared — those dodgy racer-back marks from cycling. Dang!

Total flies or other flying insects swallowed/stuck down sports bra/sucked into eyes/up nose: c. 50. Bit of a shocker as I winged through the lovely Hampshire countryside on aluminium (with carbon seatpost) horse, hand stuck down top in attempt to release pesky flying insect which had taken a serious wrong turn… I wheeled round a bend and passed quite a slick middle-aged peloton of gentleman riders, the sort who wear those mini little caps on their heads in homage to Tom Simpson, who looked suitably disapproving. I’d like to think I could have been adjusting my heart rate monitor. I think my look of shame confirmed to the contrary.

Total “love my family!” moments: countless. Some selected highlights here, it’s not really relevant, but here they are anyway… Mum and I polishing one riding boot each under the shade of an old apple tree in the garden. I express surprise at the almost deafening cacophony of birdsong. “I know”, she sighed dolefully. “they are costing us a fortune in birdfeed”. Hmm.

We have also accumulated 4 chickens, rescued from sudden evisceration and the pot by my step-father who fancies some eggs, and they arrived to be enthroned in their new run — “it’s actually big enough for eight, but I wanted them to have some space” — on Saturday afternoon. I was riding so missed the ceremonies, but did get involved in the naming of them, so they are suitably ridiculous. From largest to smallest, Lavinia, Hettie, Delia (a blonde), and Marjorie. On more than one occasion I have been asked to go and ‘check on them’, though to be honest have no idea what I am checking for. They could be perilously sick for all I can tell, but, to my eye, I think they are feeling pretty lucky, the punks. Eggs to date: 0. I wonder how long this is going to last…

Top Gun was on on Saturday night. You probably missed it, as you probably had a social engagement, and more energy than me. Anyway, I had forgotten that I knew pretty much the whole script. Having just pre-empted the old guy with the cigar warning Maverick and Goose that they would be flying fake dog turds out of Hong Kong if they so much as screwed up this much, my older brother, for whom Mum and I had been babysitting, returned from his night out, promptly plonked down next to me, exclaimed the same delight at ITV1’s movie offering, and repeated the same phrase, verbatim. He even did the same silly voice. I think Ma was a bit horrified. We had to leave shortly after that.

Katy

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

People are starting to stare. As I thundered over Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo last night for another riding double whammy in the Shire, people seemed to be giving me a wide berth, and literally slowing to watch me stride past. No, it was not a good hair day. Far from it.

On Monday lunch time, flush from a weekend’s excess, I signed up for a circuits class called Last Man Standing at the gym. Memories of rowing ‘land training’ came flooding back, including the odd reflex which appears to happen only to me, of starting to cry when in the middle of a medley of squat jumps. Hopefully none of the Men Standing noticed.

Anyway, time galloped on in the haze of press-ups, burpees, dead lifts etc, and I had to forego a shower and wobble back across Trafalgar Square to the office in the interests of time. One of those special ‘get naked and wave your arms around under the air-con’ showers (in the gym, not the office). Bit scummy, I know, but all good training.

My walk has got progressively funnier since then really. Another gym session yesterday lunchtime didn’t really serve to loosen me up. Bruno the fitness guru prowled past and turned my cross trainer up to make me sweat a bit more. And proceeded to grill me on my navigating and fending for self skills (as yet these only exist on paper). He is apparently ex-military and can teach me all sorts of useful stuff besides hamstring curls. I love this guy!

By last night I had a kind of Simon Schama walking lunge on — and this despite consuming most of a foil of Nurofen. Hmm. Anyway, add to the Schama 2 hours in the saddle, with about 6 hours sleep in between, and you have yourself a very, very funny walk. Competing Tucker on Friday and Sunday, so some useful practice under out belts this morning. Will not be doing any more squat jumps between now and then…

Katy

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

It’s been a decent first week’s Derby training. In a flurry of adrenaline i went to the gym TWO DAYS RUNNING in my lunch hour at work. This is another military-style operation which involves a series of calculations of the sort “how sweaty am i going to get/how many more minutes can i keep this up/when will colleagues notice i am awol/what chance of seeing Carlos the fantasy spinning instructor if i just loiter by this here weights stack a little longer?”

I explained the concept of the Derby to one of the trainers whilst on the ergo, and he said we could do a training session to target my riding muscles and also consider some other stuff to get a programme together for me. So day two involved some strategising. Obviously, losing weight will be a priority, he said. Was that so obvious, I mused, whilst trying to make a plank with elbows on one swiss ball and feet on another. Hmmph. Lots more fairly undignified exercises followed, generally involving an unstable surface (half Swiss ball) and pulling a cable weight in a big arc across the body to make my core muscles work extra hard.

Other homework: all endurance work to be done outside, ideally in the heat of the day, to get used to the kind of water loss I’ll be dealing with. I was able to simulate this most effectively today by going for a long run in Oxford with a steaming hangover, hence compounding the dehydrating effects of sun and sweat to a level I can only describe as ‘blinding’. A big group of friends had gathered for the memorial dinner of Elis White, whose sudden death last year was the catalyst to my adventures in India, and hence my Derby entry. We had the kind of night he would have thoroughly approved of, and I am sure he had a good laugh at my wobbling 6 miler this afternoon, while all my mates had another Bloody Mary.

I will be reporting back to Bruno, he of the compound exercises and the diet advice, tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll mention the 3am chips and cheese. Probably just focus on the running…

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

The weekend saw my competitive re-debut in the dressage arena on Tucker, after five years in the equestrian wilderness. Not exactly Derby training, but in a way it’s working out well as I am compelled to get out of bed at strange hours of the morning and ride. Getting into a good working routine which goes something like this…

7pm: leave work, scuttle over Waterloo Bridge, catch train home to folks in Basingstoke

8.15pm: home, change, goose-step across yard in new and very stiff riding boots, quick brew while tacking up.

8.30-9.30pm: work Tucker. He’s a good humoured little guy which is just as well, with 15 hours of daylight it IS a bit perverse to be finishing up in the dark….

10pm: dinner, Horse & Hound, a few bends and lunges to beat the new boots into submission a bit further.

11pm: bed

5.40am: up, out, tack up

5.50am: back on board Tucker. Play chicken with a particularly territorial pheasant who has taken up residence on the centre line of the arena. Run through a few sequences from the tests I will be doing.

6.50am: off, hand T over to waiting Mum who cleans him up and turns him out. That’s him done for the day. If only I could say the same. Shower, race for the station, back on the 7.29 back to London. Avoid hairy moment when train pulls in and Slavic barista is still faffing with my cappucino… dash for it… make the train!

8.15am: scuttle through Waterloo, pick any remaining hay or shavings from hair, back at desk in Trafalgar Square for 8.30 on the dot. Seamless!

I’ll be looking to build on this routine, just as soon as i can actually get through the rest of the week at work without nodding off c. 5pm… watch this space.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Former international pony dressage rider Katy Willings’ latest update on her progress training for the Mongol Derby

I have lost a kilo. It’s been gone for over a week now. If this were a household item, such as a sink plug, favourite sock, or something else I habitually lose, I would not be confident about ever seeing it again. Kilos are different. Nevertheless, Bruno the personal trainer will be delighted. Although possibly less so if I explain how I have lost it. He advised plates of steamed broccoli. To date there has been no broccoli, and definitely no steaming, but I have been very busy and not generally around at mealtimes. My training commitments have also meant I haven’t had any alcohol (well, apart from the remains of a bottle of Chenin Blanc after a particularly rubbish day at work on Tuesday — ok, I haven’t actually been OUT drinking. I think that’s the crucial determinant of calorific intake) in the last week.

Training so far has been a bit less hardcore than last week’s burpees barrage. I went swing dancing on Monday night with regular partner Ed, we generally work up a reasonable lather and are getting quite twinkle-toed. So much so that we are going to graduate to the “intermediate/fast improvers” class next week. It’s all immaterial anyway, come 9pm the whole floor goes freestyle, a fabulous retro band shimmy on, and everyone goes bananas. Weirdly it’s the old duffers who are the best dancers — it’s a much better pulling place for Ed than me unfortunately. Lots of glam girls in red lipstick and pincurls. Anyway, 3 hours’ lindyhopping in the 100 Club, the dark underbelly of Oxford Circus, and I am pretty well cooked. Bit of a low point waiting for the bus home when I succumbed to a MacDonalds. Whoops. Still, was one of their taster menu little wraps, about the size of a matchbox. I reckon that’s ok.

Yoga class and a little run on Tuesday — nice sensation of having your limbs pulled out of all their sockets. Feel slightly taller. When you are this small that’s significant. Also, everyone has a little lie-down at the end. Super! I knocked out a decent gym session at lunchtime today, having met two important deadlines at work. Zen-like calm this afternoon, for an hour or two at least.

Riding has had to take a back seat this week on account of my getting my purse nicked at the weekend. I can’t buy any petrol, or a train ticket, and I have a rubbish poker face so there is no point trying to fare dodge. It’s now Thursday and my replacement credit card has arrived, which means I am slightly more liquid, but only slightly as have put flights to Ulaan Bataar on said card and a fair slug of other stuff too. It’s been a frugal week of cycling everywhere and inventing “new ways with home-grown lettuce” at mealtimes. Rob, step-father, he of chicken-fancying fame, is also quite the kitchen gardener and insisted I bring one back to London. It’s been a lifesaver. In the absence of bread and cash, lettuce is a good receptacle for eggs, the only other foodstuff in my fridge. Egg mayonnaise on lettuce, anyone?

Digressing. I can now go home, and have lined up two neddies for tonight and tomorrow morning respectively. No shows this weekend, and in fact it looks like I have been jocked off by Mum, who is much better than me anyway. I will jock her back off when the Basingstoke Gazette come to photograph me, on fabulous steed, looking wistfully into the distance (beyond the chicken run) on Saturday.

Katy

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Former international dressage rider Katy Willings is taking part in the Mongol Derby, which will see 26 experienced riders crossing 1,000km of wilderness in Mongolia astride semi-wild native Mongolian horses.

Katy, 26, was on the British pony dressage team from 1996-1998 with Forester’s Gold, who she sold on to Laura Bechtolsheimer. Katy now works full-time in the city and fits in riding her mother’s dressage horse Urlando as and when she can.

In January she took part in the Adventurists “Rickshaw Run” and it was then that she decided to apply for the Mongol Derby, which is organised by the same group.

“I was very attracted to the extreme physical challenge it represented,” said Katy. “And to have the chance to experience one of the last truly nomadic cultures — riding across a true wilderness with no permanent human traces — made the whole thing irresistible.

“To make the cut from the hundreds of entries is astonishing, there are some amazing adventurers and horsemen on the start list, so to be among them is a real privilege. I’m nervous about some of the practicalities though.

“As a dressage rider I have no concept of matters endurance, but Maggie Pattinson, who has been chef d’equipe of the Home International Endurance Team, has offered to give me some training, and so I will be on a steep learning curve in matters of pacing, navigating and looking after horse and rider over long distances.

“I also need to learn to fend for myself in one of the world’s last true wildernesses, and survive on a diet of mutton and fermented mare’s milk — I’m not yet sure how I will train for that specifically!”

Horse & Hound will be following Katy’s progress as she prepares for this ultimate challenge of rider endurance. Read her blogs at www.horseandhound.co.uk/mongolderby.

To support Katy visit: www.justgiving.com/katywillings/

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

This summer 26 riders will tackle the Mongol Derby — dubbed the longest and toughest horserace in the world.

The race, which runs for the first time this year, is over 1,000km of wilderness in Mongolia and is billed as the “biggest, baddest equine affair on the planet”.

“It’s dangerous, it’s unsupported and you could die,” warn Bristol-based organisers The Adventurists on the race’s website, www.mongolderby.theadventurists.com.

Twelve of the 26 riders are British, while other competitors come from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Denmark, America and Spain.

“We had about 100 applications and selected just 26,” said a spokesman for The Adventurists. “We have polo players, endurance riders, eventers, amateur point-to-point jockeys and more. They are all experienced riders.”

Former champion jockey Richard Dunwoody will be hosting a pre-race training session for riders on 20-21 August before taking part himself. He will only have finished his previous challenge — walking 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours — a month earlier, as he is due to complete his walk on 10 July.

Richard told H&H: “You ride 1,000km, stopping at 25 stations, ride 25 different horses, picked on a first-come, first-served basis. I’m more daunted about that than I was about walking 1,000 miles. It is another massive sleep deprivation exercise.

“I have about two to three weeks between finishing the walk and going to Mongolia and will have to lie in a darkened room for a while!”

Among the other riders taking part in the race is former international pony dressage rider, Katy Willings. Katy, 26, took part in the Adventurists “Rickshaw Run” in January and it was then that she decided to apply for the Derby.

“I was attracted to the extreme physical challenge it represented,” said Katy. “And to have the chance to experience one of the last truly nomadic cultures — riding across a true wilderness with no permanent human traces — made the whole thing irresistible.”

Horse & Hound will be following Katy’s progress as she trains for this extreme adventure, so log on to Horseandhound.co.uk/mongolderby for regular updates.

The idea of the race was thought of about four years ago by The Adventurists, who also run the Mongol Rally.

“We do a lot of work in Mongolia, and because the horse is sacred over there we decided to try a horse race,” said the spokesman. “It is based on Genghis Khaan’s ancient postal system — where riders crossed Mongolia to Eastern Europe in about 14 days changing horses at urtuus, horse stations, along the way. It’s a massive logistical challenge.”

The race starts on 22 August at the ancient capital of the Mongol empire Kharkhorin. The riders will swap horses every 40km at urtuus and more than 700 Mongolian horses will be used during the race. The semi-wild Mongolian horses stand at 12-14hh.

Each competitor is given a race-map with the locations of each urtuu, but are essentially on their own. Throughout the race riders will stay with nomadic families, sleeping in tents and eating mutton and drinking the traditional fermented mares milk.

“This will be no ordinary horse race. The Mongol Derby is not a test of the horse’s speed, but the rider’s skill, endurance and the toughness of the skin between their legs,” say the Adventurists.

The race costs $4,450 (£2,800) to enter and competitors must raise a further £1,000 for charity Mercy Corps, which supports rural communities in Mongolia.

The closing ceremony is planned for 5 September, but because this is the inaugural race, organizers do not how long riders will take.

“We’re allowing two weeks for the slowest riders, but are expecting the fastest ones to complete in about five days — it just depends how much the riders are in for the race or the adventure,” added the spokesman.

Visit the Mongol Derby website

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now