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[RC] Mongol Derby Lessons - paul

Well.... While my wife is warming up my meal of crow and humble pie,  it seems 
a god time to start thinking about possible lesson we can take from the Mongol 
Derby.  Here are some that occur to me.

#1) As many long time riders believe, a sound reasonably fit horse should be 
able to do 25 miles in 6 hours or so. In the Mongol Derby, about 700 of them 
went between 15 and 25 miles. There were no reported problems with the horses, 
although we need to wait until the dust settles to determine the accuracy of 
that.  These horses were free range which should have helped in their base 
level of fitness. 

#2) They put 26 riders with zero known endurance riding experience out there in 
the middle of nowhere, on strange horse after strange horse,  with little or no 
crew support doing about 60 miles a day until they had covered 600 miles. 
Instead of a train wreck, they  had 20 of the 26 finish, with three still out 
there on trail, and expected to finish tomorrow.  What occurs to me is that if 
there is no viable Rider Option to pull, many people will suck it up and 
complete. If the only way out is forward, then more people will keep going that 
way. When they did the XP in 2001, and the Santa Fe in 2007 and 2008, many 
riders were able to go a lot further  than they ever had.

Any other thoughts on this?

Paul N. Sidio
Spokane MO 

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