Good result in Mongol Derby
Ben Wilks from Katikati, whose story appeared in Rural News in April, finished a creditable third-equal at his first attempt riding in the Mongol Derby endurance race.
Believed to be the toughest horse race in the world, starting near Ullan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, the Mongol Derby travels 1000km across the country to an as yet-undisclosed destination. The race has to be completed within seven days and has a ten-day time limit.
“I had read about it and a friend from Hamilton and I filled in the large application form, were interviewed and were both accepted,” Wilks told Rural News.
He believes there are two other entrants from New Zealand and about 40 starters in total.
The event is organised by Adventurist (www.theadventurists.com), a UK organisation running extreme adventures.
The Mongol Derby has been run for the past six years. The entrants will assemble on August 2 for three days of training and orientation before the August 5 start.
Checkpoints are at 40km stations along the way. The horses are supplied and are checked at each station for heart rate, cuts and scratches and lameness by a vet. Time points are deducted for any faults. At each stop, riders are given GPS coordinates for the next stop and supplied with food and a new horse.
“There will be 40 horses lined up with a local Mongolian herder,” Wilks says. “It will then be up to me to choose a horse and negotiate with him any details about the horse – as to whether they are slow/fast, quiet, liable to buck, kick and so on. It will be in broken English, as I cannot speak Mongolian.”
Most of the horses will have been ridden and he believes each changeover will take 30-40 minutes.
Eating will be another challenge for Wilks: there will only be two options – goat stew and fermented mare’s milk. He is a vegetarian, so has started eating some meat to prepare his stomach for the change. He will also be taking plenty of snack and energy bars to feed him between stops. They can sleep at each station, but if daylight is available they will ride on and sleep under the stars or with a local Mongolian family in their homes (yirts).
Day temperatures are 30-40 deg C and down at night about zero.
Wilks will have his own saddle, saddle bags and bridle, plus a backpack for his camera, GPS, drink bottles a collection of zip ties and duct tape for running repairs and snack food. “These are my basics; if I lose the horse I can survive for a while.”
His saddle bags will include wet weather gear and a bed roll. He will also have riding pants, chaps, riding boots and a helmet.
Wilks is not expecting to have a change of clothes till the end of the race. He will ride weighing 74kg – well below the maximum weight allowed of 85kg.
Wilks has a certificate in large animal technology and has worked as a vet assistant, ridden track work, worked on a dairy farm and was a riding instructor for two years. He has just quit his job of 15 months working for Asure Quality doing TB testing in the Hauraki Plains.
“I am now concentrating on getting riding fit by assisting a local racehorse trainer doing up to four hours of track work daily and another 3-4 hours a day exercising local horses.
He has lived most of his life on his parents’ dairy farm at Katikati, near Tauranga.
His entry fee is $14,000 and he needs more for personal costs to get to the start line. He will raise $2000 for charity: $1000 for Adventurist’s charity Cool Earth and $1000 to his charity of choice. See www.kiwicareteam.co.nz to donate.
“It is going to be gruelling, long and tedious and will be the hardest thing I will do in my life,” he tells Rural News. “But I am a competitive person and it will give me a great sense of achievement.”
