08/10/2026
It has been 8 years since Joel and I rode in, finished, and got married at the finish line of the Mongol Derby. 🇲🇳 🏇
My feelings are the same. 🥰
It’s been 13 years since I rode the Mongol Derby, a crazy amount of time for something that feels like only a year or two has passed. While the race has changed a lot since I rode it in 2013, I hope quite a bit remains the same. I have some thoughts for those watching the race this year.
Firstly, the Mongol Derby was the best thing that ever happened to me. It changed my life for the better, not overnight but over time. Doing that race rerouted my career with horses to where it is today. It also gave me an incredible sense of self-belief that I have carried with me ever since.
I think this was because I rode my own race; I left nothing on the table, I gave it everything I had and more. But in all honesty, it was more a battle to see what I had inside me than anything else. I barely saw other riders. It was just me on a horse pushing myself through every challenge and hardship that came my way, and I loved it.
The challenges were hard, though, they are nothing to be sneered at. The horses, weather, exhaustion, the mental stamina of being in race mode that long, not to mention the sheer physical endurance.
So slightly controversial opinion - I love seeing tons of coverage of the race these days, but for the riders’ sake I wish there wasn’t so much. I really appreciate that I had that space to do the race, and never had to think of what was being posted online. Sometimes I wonder with anything like this if everything the competitors are going through needs to be on social media… Because believe me, some of those riders today are going through some stuff.
I think the race is more a test of adaptability than traditional riding ability. Can you adapt your horsemanship to be able to saddle these things? Can you figure out how to get on quickly and safely? Can you change your riding style when muscles start hurting? Can you sit quietly on the unruliest horses and gently persuade them to go in the correct direction? Can you feel when a horse needs a break, when it can keep going, and whether it is better at a trot or a canter?
I came away with a new respect for horses and their abilities. Aslo feeling that the place my soul feels most at home is on a galloping Mongolian horse heading for a horizon I can’t catch under a never-ending blue sky. Funnily enough, I don’t remember their wildness, which is what everyone asks me about, but I do remember their incredible stamina, speed and heart.
If you came to that race with a game plan, I think your best to rip it up and throw away the script and just ride the horses, wild weather and everything else that comes your way as it happens. From crewing and being on the other side of the race for many years the people with the most rigid ideas about how they were “going to do the Derby” seemed to struggle the most.
Anyone who finishes it is a legend; no matter what’s changed, it’s still the toughest horse race on earth, and it’s an incredible achievement to cross the finish line.
I actually didn’t learn that much about Mongolian culture from the race. I learned their horses were amazing and a few passing things about Mongolian life. But really I was racing, and if I wasn’t racing I was sleeping or saddling a horse. There is just not time to learn that much when you're going that fast; all the nuance, beauty and the parts of Mongolian culture I value most today, I’ve learnt from spending so much time there with my amazing Mongolian friends after the race. What the derby did was leave me wanting more
If I had to sum it up, I would say “ The Derby opened the door and Mongolia changed my life”, but I will be forever grateful that door was opened.
