10 Days, 620 miles on Wild Horses

By Rachel Harrison

Lara Prior-Palmer, from Hampshire, England achieved a lot of firsts when she won the Mongol Derby last month: first woman, first Brit, and, at 19-years-old, she was the youngest winner ever. An adventure horse race, the Mongol Derby is a 1000 km (620 mile) race along the Mongolian Steppe, organised by The Adventurists. Participants face unpredictable weather and have to ride even more unpredictable semi-wild Mongolian horses. Widely acknowledged as the longest, toughest horse race in the world, only about half of the racers finish out the race each year; many others suffer broken fingers and ribs, riding 13 hours a day for 10 days.

Rachel Harrison: How did you first hear about the Mongol Derby?

Lara Prior-Palmer: Facebook! The Adventurists do a few other cool races and I saw someone post a link to the Rickshaw Run (India) on someone’s wall two years ago.

RH: What did you want to achieve from the Derby?

LP: I never thought to myself, ‘I want to do the Derby in order to achieve x,y,z.’ The main aim was definitely to raise as much as possible for Macmillan Cancer Support and Greenhouse Schools Project, the two charities I rode for. Still trying to reach my £20,000–any donations to my justgiving page would be much appreciated. I didn’t realise until after I’d signed up quite how tough it was going to be. After I’d confirmed I was going, I spoke to two people who’d done it. One told me about his amputated fingers and broken ribs and fractured pelvis from past years, and the other simply said “you won’t enjoy it at all. It is immensely tough.” So there my aim emerged–to endure this mad thing! I certainly wanted to see Mongolia too. I’ve always been excited by the nomadic culture.

RH: How long have you been riding?

LP: My aunt introduced to riding when I was two, and introduced me to a beautiful Shetland. She also put me on my cousin’s race pony when I was about seven, and I can remember it cantering continuously. I didn’t start riding more than once a week until I was 12. It took three years of persuading my parents, and, eventually, we went to Ireland at 3 a.m. one morning with a bunch of drunkards on a ferry from Wales and came back with a lazy, very uneducated, grey four-year-old who was always rude to me in the stable.

RH: What was the age range and level of riders taking part?

Age range was super. There were ‘over-50-year-olds,’ who were incredibly brave, and then there were two or three younglings, myself included. I was embarrassed to be doing it so young so I tried not to tell anyone my age… But the brilliant thing was that all ages got on so well. Nobody cared how old anybody was. It was very international too. There were lovely Mongolian interpreters, and delightful herders, some hilarious vets and crew from South Africa, and also some very gutsy riders from there. Plus there was an entertaining Belgian vet who couldn’t speak English. A 19-year-old French girl called Natacha ended up riding the entire way with a fifty-something-year-old jockey, Antony. Level-wise, I don’t know because I didn’t watch the others ride enough, but you had to be able to ride to sit on the bucking ponies. There was certainly a big handful of very intimidating endurance riders–one or two eventers, some ex -race jockeys, some cool cattle herders, some western riders. Experience in the saddle was the key I think.

RH: What was the hardest point of the whole trip? 13 hours on a horse each day must take its toll.

LP: I shouldn’t moan here because there were others who rode with shocking injuries. Dylan, a South African, made it to the finish with broken ribs that he had before he came out to Mongolia, and Tom rode half the thing with torn shoulder ligaments, just to name a few. I was extremely lucky because I’ve got a young body, after day two my ankles were huge because  I stood up in the saddle cantering for 60% of those 13 hours. My ribs were very bruised from the backpack and my knees felt like big balloons, but my body seemed to suck it up and deal with it. Every time I got off a horse at a station, I had to run about fifty metres to straighten my body up, because it got so molded into this ugly sitting shape. Exhaustion is a nightmare–you can’t get away from it. I’d be knackered as soon as I got off my horse, be it morning or evening, but then I’d suddenly forget the exhaustion in the thrilling company of whichever entertaining vet/photographer/doctor/steward was present at the checkpoints.

The weather was extremely tough, it would get really hot and the ponies would find it knackering but then suddenly the air cooled and the valley was transformed into a grand hall of rain and lightening, thunder and water, resulting in me and my pony at the time becoming this saturated flannel under the weather.

RH: Will we be seeing much more of you in anything else like this?

Whilst I was doing it, I would mutter to myself about how daft I was to have entered because I was exhausted or lost or lonely or on board an unfit horse. But the feeling would soon pass. I’d get on board a bolter, or I’d share a laugh or a look with a random passing herder, and suddenly I was happy again. It was the most phenomenal event, absolutely extraordinary and slightly ridiculous and I can’t imagine any other event like it. But if there were one, I’d sign up straight away. In fact I’d ride the Mongol Derby every year if I could afford it! Apart from riding, I have always had this dream to be a tennis player. I want to beat Laura Robson, which will never happen. Before the Derby I did have a plan and that was to horse ride across Kyrgyzstan alone. I don’t have any plans now though. However, now I’ve got University to think about, and I’m not very good at planning, hence I entered the Derby a month before it took place, without enough thought. Strangely enough, someone suggested to me yesterday that I become a female equivalent of Bear Grylls or Ben Fogle,  which made me laugh because I certainly can’t imagine that materializing! Viewers would run a mile.

Read the entire interview with Lara here.

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Rachel Harrison is writer from Chillisauce.co.uk and loves to report on adventure travel. She contributes to many interesting reads on the Chilisauce blog.

Category: Extreme