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I have read with interest the assorted posts here regarding the "outrage" of 
the planned Mongol Derby including going to the Long Riders page and reading 
their many letters to all and sundry proclaiming what a disaster this will be, 
and going to the website of the event itself and that of some of the sponsors 
(those that didn't ask me to log in).

Given this information, I would like to inject a certain amout of reserve to 
the (what I consider to be) hyperbole that has been posted here.

For starters, despite the promoters contentions to the contrary, this is NOT 
the world's longest horse race.? At a mere 1000 km (~600 miles) it pales by 
comparison to the 2001 XP AERC sanctioned event that covered 2000 miles, and 
the 2007 Great Santa Fe Horse Race covered 700 miles. and for those races, the 
horses required to cover at least 50 miles each (and some of them were asked to 
do much more than that) not just 25.

I wasn't at the Santa Fe event, so I don't know how it was?managed, but I was 
there for at least the first half of the 2001 XP and ride management did not 
provide anything more than a GPS track and monitoring of the horses or riders 
(or providing water for the horses) more often than every ~25 miles, everything 
else was up to the riders and their support crews (and it wasn't very far into 
the excursion that participants realized that that it would be prudent to 
arrange for it themselves because ride management wasn't).? Granted, the "race" 
was across Kansas and Nebraska paralleling Interstate 80 and not far from any 
civilization or communications (this became less true as the ride got into 
Wyoming, Utah and Nevada) and not Outer (or more accurately Inner) Mongolia, so 
it isn't a completely parallel comparison.

However, in many ways the horses for the Mongol Derby are going to be asked a 
LOT less than the horse for either the 2001 XP or the 2007 Great Santa Fe Horse 
Race were being asked. Here is to hoping that the rumor that the horses are 
going to be denied food and water for the 24 hours prior to being ridden is 
false or rethought; although if I had to guess, it is false, especially since, 
after the first leg, nobody will know when any of the horses is going to be 
asked to go, because, unlike the AERC sanctioned rides mentioned above, after 
the first leg there is no specified start time, and for none of the legs is 
there a minimum speed requirement.? By the end of the Derby the participants 
are anticipated to be spread out by more than a week and the horses will need 
to be ready to go when any one of these riders arrives asking for a mount.? 
Logistically, there is just no way to withhold food and water for 24 hours 
before the horse goes.

And while some people have bemoned the small stature of the Mongolian horses 
that will be asked to do this, it is probably no smaller than the stature of 
Skjoldur, Joh n Parke's Icelandic who did 1600 miles of that "race" almost 
three times the distance of the entire Mongolian Derby.? And since John rides 
as an AERC middleweight, he weigns in at at least 185 pounds.? Skjoldur and 
Remington have both carried John for many miles over many years 50 to 100 miles 
at a time. Asking a small stature mongolian to do the same for one 25 mile leg 
does not seem completely unreasonable to me.

Additionally, the rumor that there will be no care for the horses' welfare is 
not borne up by the statement on the website of the event itself:

http://mongolderby.theadventurists.com/index.php?page=horses

Which states, among other things: 
The Mongol Derby is being staged in collaboration with some of Mongolia's most 
renowned and respected horsemen and equine veterinarians. Their expert 
knowledge combined with the logistics put in place by The Adventurists will 
ensure the horses are properly looked after throughout the adventure. The 
Adventurists ordinarily specialise in adventures with no back-up or marked 
route but the Derby is a unique beast. It includes an emergency system with 
fully trained expert medical proffesionals for the riders in addition to the 
extensive veterinary provisions for the horses before during and after the race 
and a GPS tracking system so we know what is going on along the whole route. 

Nor is the contention that the participants are nothing but a bunch of novices, 
as some of the participants that I have heard about DO include a Champion 
Steeplechase Jockey, a long time dressage rider, and a South African endurance 
(among other things) rider.? One would assume, that for those people who do 
have little riding experience, they will be doing a bit of practicing between 
now and then.? 

From their website in answer to the question "How good do I need to be at 
riding to enter the Derby?"

"This is the toughest horse race in the world and you will need to be 
physically fit, in good health and have a good level of riding ability to take 
part in the Mongol Derby. This does not mean that you once went on a half-day 
pony trek when you were twelve. It means you are confident in your knowledge of 
horses and your ability to ride long distances across difficult terrain. You 
have ridden regularly, understand how to handle horses in general and have a 
strong understanding of horse welfare. It is vital that you understand the 
risks involved in taking on such a huge adventure. 
If at the pre-race training session in Mongolia it becomes apparent that your 
riding ability is not as stated in your application, the organisers reserve the 
right to withdraw you from the Mongol Derby without notice, for your own safety 
and that of the horses. 

"You will also need a good understanding of horse welfare as you will be 
responsible for each horse you ride. We will have vets on hand throughout the 
race to deal with any incidents, but it's you who will need to be able to 
recognise and report anything untoward with your steed."

Lest one think this is impossible, the winner of the Great Santa Fe Horse Race 
had pretty much no experience before he signed up for the event, but availed 
himself of the oppurtinty to educate himeself (and hire competent support) 
before doing it. Participants will also, like we did for the 2001 XP, have the 
option of quitting at frequent intervals if they decide that the effort is 
beyond their capabilities.

I have never been to Mongolia, so I have no idea the extent to which that 
country is not like Kansas and Nebraska (I suspect that it is not as flat--but 
then NOTHING is as flat as Nebraska), so I cannot say what this will be like, 
but in many ways, I am pretty sure that it won't be any where near as 
"gruelling" for the horses as the 2001 XP was; the horses won't be asked to go 
50 miles at a time, and they won't be asked to go day after day after day.? I 
doubt that it will be a bunch of novice yahoos galloping little unfit ponies 
across the Mongolian steppe to their deaths; it certainly won't be after the 
first leg.

The possiblity that there won't be any water or food for the horses for the 25 
miles that they are being ridden (notice I say possibility, it is not a given) 
is also not HUGELY concerning to me.? There are many endurance riders who say 
that it is common for their horse not to drink before 20 miles, even if water 
is offered, and I confess to having done more than one 25 mile training ride 
with no food or water for my horse. As the Duck often repeated at the 2001 XP 
ride, horses CAN go 25 miles with no water, and it is especially not that 
difficult if they don't have to go on after having done so (e.g. on the 
pre-ride for the Main Divde 100 we went up Harding Truck Trail to the top of 
Santiago Peak (14.1 miles) and back (14.1 miles) with ~4700 ft of climb and the 
same in descent with no water or food for the horses). Additionally, I know how 
to beg water from the locals (which is what I did often on the early days of 
the 2001 XP).? However, additional
reading of the FAQs on the website state that the course will frequently take 
you across rivers and that most of itis on the steppe where grass is not in 
short supply.

A description that does not fit the 400+ miles from Salt Lake City Utah to 
Virginia City Nevada at all, yet the AERC sanctioned an endurance race across 
this terrain, and no horses died despite the fact that ride management did not 
provide more than a GPS track, water for the horses and a vet check every 25 
miles.? Much more was asked of the horses, and much less was provided by ride 
management.

I am not convinced that the concerns posted here or by the Long Rider's Guild 
are much more than Chicken Little bemoaning that the sky is falling.

The only hyperbole that I found on the official website of the event is the 
assertion that this is the longest horse race in the world.? It is not; there 
have been others that are longer; and probably will be again.? I found a LOT of 
hyperbole on the Long Riders website, and a lot of what I consider to be rather 
knee-jerk reactions here.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

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