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[RC] The warning to Mongol Riders - k s swigart


Melissa said:

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".
?
What this letter tells me is that the promoters of the Mongol Derby event are 
right, this event is a serious danger for the riders and that they are taking 
great risks by undertaking it, but there isn't much of anything in the letter 
that says it is going to be a huge risk for the horses; at least not to me.
?
If the horses are half-wild who will toss their riders or will run back to 
their home or run off with another wild horse at the drop of a hat, this IS a 
problem for the rider, but not much of one for the horse, at least no greater 
problem than it faces every day of its life.
?
If the horse cannot carry the weight of the rider, then the rider will be 
reduced to walking along with the horse dragging it the entire way (if s/he 
wants to stay in the race). And if the rider chooses to abandon the horse, 
well...it will probably run back to wherever it came from, or will revert to 
the wild where it came from, or get eaten by wolves which is a risk it takes 
every day of its life anyway. And the owner of the horse will be compensated 
for its loss (as riders are required to put up a deposit on the welfare of the 
horses they ride).
?
It may well be that the riders are letting themselves in for disaster; although 
participants in the Mongol Rally, the car race staged by the same outfit have, 
so far, managed to successfully negotiate the Steppes of Mongolia without 
killing themsevles, even though most of them probably don't know the language 
(but if _I_ were doing it, I would be sure to bring along my "French Phrase 
Book") and are in a mode of transportation even less suited to the environment, 
but I don't see that the horses are being asked to do much different from their 
regular lot in life.? Assuming that their riders are not hopeless navigators, 
at no time are any of these horses going to be much more than about 12.5 miles 
from the assistance of one of the horse way stations, which will have food for 
the horse and human.? And yes, I have been further out than that from such 
assistance in the middle of the desert in Nevada (also with no working 
communications).? I am willing to
bet that the two riders negotiating the PCT from end to end will be, during 
the course of their excursion, further out than that from assistance, right 
here in California.? I know _I_ have been on sections of the PCT.
?
I don't know enough about Mongolian ponies to know their specific capabilities, 
but I do know that people consistently underestimate the ability of ponies to 
carry weight.? I have a 13.1 hh 600 pound pony who routinely has carried over 
200 pounds on rides of much greater distance than 25 miles (in the desert with 
less access to food an water than it says these horses may have access to).? 
Just this month she carried almost that much over the 23 mile Descanso ride & 
tie course in ~3.5 hours (most of it cantering or standing tied to a tree)?with 
no ill effects and people at base camp telling me that (because she was dancing 
all over the place on the way back to the trailer from the vet check) I "needed 
to take that horse further." And she has been doing this for 13 years now.? It 
wouldn't surprise me in the least if people are underestimating the 
capabilities of these horses to carry weight.
?
Personally, I think the biggest problem that the participants in this event are 
going to face IS the food and water, but that is food and water for the riders, 
not the horses.? The horses will probably be getting their regular fare (which 
may not be what we feed our horses), but I suspect that the participants 
themselves are going to be playing "microbe roulette" if they drink from the 
rivers that they cross and eat the food offered by locals.
?
I am NOT saying that the challenges facing the participants in this race are 
the same as those faced by the 2001 XP riders, but I am saying that what is 
being asked of the horses is probably a lot less than was asked of the horses 
on the 2001 XP.
?
And it is, after all, the horses that we say we are concerned about.? The 
riders can be damned fools if they want to. AND they can cry "uncle" if they 
want to as well, and not be too far from assistance (I have been MUCH further 
than that from assistance out in the Steppes of Siberia with only a rudimentary 
knowledge of Russian...and my trusty "French Phrase Book").?
?
The horses are probably pretty good at fending for themselves if need be.
?
kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)


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