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Kat, I too read ALL of the articles and ALL of the info to be found on 
both the Long Riders Guild 
http://www.thelongridersguild.com/mongolia.htm web page and on the 
various "The Adventurists" websites http://www.mongolderby.com . I HAVE 
been to Tuva on the Steppes of Outer Mongolia though not on a Equi-tour 
as yet, but I can still attest that it is not like Kansas, Toto. To 
compare an XP Duck ride across Kansas and Nebraska along interstate 80 
where if your horse or you got into trouble and all you had to do was 
grab your cell phone or wave down a trucker to pass along an SOS for you 
if you needed so much as a candy bar from any number of "support team" 
members following the whole group, to riding across an unpopulated, 
primitive, remote area of Mongolia with no support group whatsoever, no 
cell service, and probably not fluent in Russian even if you did stumble 
across a soul to help you, is hardly a fair comparison. To compare rider 
John Parke who has 13,825 miles of documented AERC completion miles and 
experience and his Icelandic well conditioned, trained, wormed, well fed 
ponies, Skjoldur with 4,400 completed miles under him and Remington with 
10,600 miles on him to a "half-wild" (as stated by the ride organization 
itself) unprepared, unwormed, unconditioned 12 hand high Mongolian horse 
who is most likely NOT used to carrying this much weight for even a 25 
mile distance, is just a VERY SAD comparison. John is a rider who is 
VERY experienced and knows his horses and their needs inside and out and 
has spent miles and YEARS getting and keeping them prepared for rides. 
I'll bet he replenishes their electrolytes when they need it too. Let me 
also re-emphasize the point that a previous person made, that the horses 
that the Mongolian families are willing to sell for use in this race are 
probably NOT their heartiest, healthiest, fittest and strongest.
Here is one of the happy admissions and a direct quote from "The 
Adventurist" main website: "To sum it all up, The Adventurists is all 
about getting out into the world, getting yourself into as much shit as 
possible, then hoping to God you can find a way out. Glorious mayhem if 
you will."
Here is a link that Karen Chaton has, to a letter of heads up and 
warning to the Mongol Derby riders and their families from Bonnie 
Folkins, an experienced long distance rider very familiar to riding in 
Mongolia, informing them of what they will be encountering and it DAMN 
SURE doesn't sound like a "Duck ride" through Nebraska! A warning of the 
real dangers in Mongolia 
<http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2009/06/warning-real-dangers-mongolia/> 
A very informative letter well worth the read before "choosing a position".

Oh, the participants WILL receive two whole days of "training" prior to 
the ride, with riding tips from the UK's foremost Jumper Jockey, Richard 
Dunwoody, as well the experience of a Gymkhana, and a pep talk to be 
given by the infamous Benedict Allen who the ride organizers thought 
would be a good choice, despite the fact that he had left his horses to 
die on a previous ride in Mongolia. Quote: He decided instead to go with 
Mongolians to celebrate the Nadaam carnival instead. “/I agreed to go 
along to the festival and try to forget the dying friends on the hills.”/
After the party, Allen returned to find his horses had been killed by 
the carnivorous pests./“They had been dead since morning. What a 
waste/,” he lamented, as the saddle sore on one of his now dead horses 
“/was healing nicely.”/

Because of this incident, Benedict Allen is prohibited from joining the 
Long Riders’ Guild.

Kat, an organization that chooses THIS guy as the keynote speaker for 
"the worlds hardest and longest endurance horseback race" while trying 
to get us to believe that they will indeed be watching out for the care 
and welfare of the horses during the race only draws skepticism from me.

Here is the complete up-to-date rider list:
Annelie Simmons, Carina Oliver, Charles Van Wyk, Charlotte Davison, Dave 
Murray, David Coddington, Emily Morris-Lowe, Julian Peppit, Julie 
Burridge, Katy Willings, Rowan Love-Fielden, Hannah Ritchie, Holly 
Budge, Jeremy Pemberton, Jim Lawless, John Munro, Martin Kaan, Matilda 
Branson, Nick Farhill, Paul Chew, Sabrina Verjee, Saskia Van Heeren, 
Tara Reddy, Tomeu Mestres, Ben Fogel, Will Kemble-Clarkson, and Richard 
Dunwoody.
The site says: "These riders, amongst them are hardened adventurers, 
polo players and eventers" are from New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, 
South Africa, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Scotland, USA and the UK.
Does anyone recognize any names of American Endurance riders who may be 
AERC members and can give us some more info on this ride and how the 
organization has helped to prepare the riders who are new to this type 
of adventure?
Melissa Margetts

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