SEPTEMBER 2023 THE RIDER /17 Second place for US ex-marine in the world’s toughest horse race The Mongol Derby, the


world’s longest and toughest horse race, has been thundering across Mongolia’s steppe for the last ten days. In one of the clos- est ever races, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Massachu- setts, Matthew Perella, took sec- ond place.


Based on the ancient horse


messenger system used by Genghis Khan, in a country where the horse is king, at 1000km the Derby is the tough- est test on the planet for eques- trian endurance riders. Whilst horses are changed roughly every 35km, at checkpoints


strung out throughout the coun- try, riders must endure being in the saddle for up to 200km a day and face the challenges of riding over


twenty-eight different


semi-wild horses - from the an- imals’ varying temperaments and bucking abilities and the in- evitable falls and mishaps that happen along the way to navi- gating through challenging ter- rain, including giant sand dunes and freezing mountain passes. The thirteenth edition of


the Mongol Derby kicked off on the 2nd of August and looked set to be a firecracker from the off, with 42 riders, from eleven different nations, competing for the prestigious win. Day one saw Spanish rider


Riders with their steads during the 2023 Mongol Derby. Pakistani rider Omer Hayat Khan in the foreground – credit Shari Thompson


A rather spirited horse - Credit Kathy Gabriel


Xavier Ferrer riding at the front of the pack for most of the day, but he wasn’t in the lead as evening fell, having had a rever- sal of fortune when he abruptly parted ways with his horse en- route to HS3 (horse station 3) – resulting in him having to hitch a ride back to HS2. This left German rider Judith Jaeckle at the front of the race as night fell. Over the next eight days


Judith Jaeckle getting ready to ride - credit Kathy Gabriel


Judith was never far from the front of the race and showed true horsemanship skills by never having to redraw a horse (new to the race this year, every horse station was a ‘lotto’, meaning riders had to ride the horse they were given, rather than picking a horse themselves, testing their horsemanship all the more. You could however choose to ‘redraw’ a maximum of three times in the race, if you didn’t like the look of the horse you were first given). The real battle of the race


would come on its final stretch, as Swedish rider Linda Her- mann, who’d been in a game of cat and mouse with Judith over the previous days, finally man- aged to overtake the German rider to take the lead…but only just, and it certainly wasn’t a two horse race. Hot on the ladies’ tails was American ma- rine Matthew Perrella, who’s navigation prowess and luck-of- the-draw, with some seriously fast race horses, now put him in contention for the win. As it came down to the last


Matthew Perella in full flow - credit Kathy Gabriel


two horse stations, Linda would find herself deep in a bog. Luck- ily her and her horse were fine, but it was a very tense moment and a vet team was dispatched before her horse was cleared to continue. This slowed the Swedish rider down, and al- lowed Judith and Matt to both gain ground, riding on very fast horses. It was down to the wire, but Linda was able to make it to the final horse station, before the finish line, in the lead clear the vet check (these checks hap- pen at every check-point to en- sure all horses are ok and they haven’t been ridden too hard), and remount on a seriously fit race horse. The win seemed hers, as long as her horse passed the final vet check at the finish line.


But Judith and Matt had


Erdene-Ochir Uuganbayar winner of the August 2022 Mongol Derby, was a host at one of this year’s horse stations - Credit Kathy Gabriel


other ideas and had reached the final horse station almost within eyesight of Linda. They both changed horses swiftly. With Matt on one of the most feral and fastest horses on the course, he crossed the finish line shortly after Linda, with Judith a mere few minutes behind him. With bated breath every-


one waited for Linda’s vet check to clear (a penalty would lead to


her losing the win), but finally the news came that her horse’s heart rate was below the 56bmp required and the win was hers. Matt and Judith cleared their vet checks shortly after crossing- with Matt claiming 2nd place and Judith 3rd. Not only was the race an


incredible success for all those involved, but it also helped raise a huge amount of money for charity. The Mongol Derby to date has raised over $1 million for charities, with each rider asked to raise funds for good causes, including the race’s of- ficial charity partner Steppe and Hoof - www.steppeandhoof.org - whose objective is to support the herders and their animals and work to save the unique tra- ditions that are part of the Mon- golian nomadic lifestyle as it comes under fire from climate change and urbanisation. Matthew Perella was also


race


raising money for The Right- eous Life Rescue Ranch - www.therlrr.org – which he founded to help retired horses and death row dogs and also provide equine therapy to veter- ans with PTSD, those with spe- cial needs, and anyone seeking inner peace, and overall im- proved health. For more details on the visit


www.equestrianists.com Comments from the win-


ner at the finish line: Linda on being stuck in the bog enroute to the last horse station “I had a lot of pressure today…but he (the horse) just got up and nothing was wrong with him, the vet


cleared him and we continued to the final station” Linda on her favourite part of the race: Riding alone. Linda on expectation vs re- ality The rodeos at the horse sta- tion, I expected that, and I got it. Most notably being kicked in the


ORHA News Continued From Page 16


definitely an experience that I will never forget, and I am grateful that I have gotten to live this at least once in my lifetime. Quite the experience, and


great results! Brooklyn can add great reporting to her list of skills, as well! Thanks for sharing this


stomach. Linda on the horses she raced on The thing is, when you’re going so fast on some of these horses, there’s a feeling that if my horse trips, I am dead, but they did- n’t trip, the risk and the feeling was just incredible.


with us, Brooklyn, and good luck as you work towards all of your goals, in and out of the show pen! Will Brooklyn cross win-


ning a Derby off her bucket list at our next ORHA show: the Grand Finale, Futurity & Derby? We hope you’ll be there to find out, September 14-16th, at Fletcher’s Horse World in Waterford. Best of luck to Brooklyn and all competi- tors!


ORHA Coming Events


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