Day 2 of Pre-Race Training, and our crew and riders woke up to a glorious first morning on the steppe. Sunny but relatively cool with promising clear skies and innocent fluffy clouds: the dream training day. A positive omen for our riders’ first brush with some famously spicy Mongolian horses. As riders rose and tucked into breakfast, our herders were already up with the larks and rounding up our test drive mounts ready for later in the day. Generally, horses in Mongolia range totally free in large herds. One or two reliable horses are always left hobbled or tied together close to home (or, in this case, Derby start camp) so herders have a willing steed to help them track down the others when the need arises.

While the start camp squad of horses were being rounded up, our riders began their first briefing of the day. Start camp training is made up of a combination of briefings delivered by our team of experts, and practising the real deal: tacking up, riding and navigating independently. First up today was potentially the most important briefing of all: navigation. Riders are responsible for choosing their own routes between horse stations, and navigation is very often the key skill that sets the most successful Derby contestants apart. They’re all great riders, that’s why they’re here – but will they have a clue where they’re meant to be going? Deputy Race Director Adrian taught everyone how to use their GPSs, trackers and gave a crash course on how to read topographical maps. This is a serious business. The last thing you want to do when planning your routes is mistake a cliff for a nice flat field, or plug the wrong horse station into your GPS. Many brows were furrowed in deep concentration, and maybe a bit of confusion.

Now all having emerged as military grade navigators, our riders were ready for the vet briefing. Head Vet Fred stepped in to hammer home to the riders our main guiding principle in every Derby: horses before humans. The vets are positioned around the course at every horse station to perform vet checks on all incoming and outgoing horses to ensure horse welfare is constantly upheld. Riders have to present their horse to the vets at each vet check on arrival. Each horse is checked for gut signs to check he’s not too hungry, hydration to make sure he’s been drinking, soundness to make sure he’s not lame or uncomfortable, and his heart rate: each horse must present with a heart rate of 56bpm or less within 30 minutes of arriving into the vet check, or his rider will receive a heavy vet penalty. Our penalty system is time based, so for your first vet penalty you are whacked with a 2 hour time penalty which you must sit out before being allowed to pick your next horse and ride on. They’re painful and costly to your competitive prospects, just as they should be to remind all our riders that their horses must always come first. As any Mongol Derby veteran knows, 56bpm is a pretty tough standard: it’s a fine art riding your horse conservatively and carefully for around 30km to make sure he arrives at the station as relaxed and well-rested as possible to pass the stringent vet checks, while still moving fast enough to get round the course.

Now all equine veterinary experts as well as pro navigators, our riders each received their set of specialised Derby tack they’ll use throughout the race. Everyone is equipped with a specially designed, lightweight endurance saddle with saddle pad, and a traditional Mongolian leather bridle and snaffle and attached long lead line. Bridles can double as halters: in halter mode, you simply slip the bit out the horse’s mouth and hitch the thing up tighter. Ingenious. Just make sure your house doesn’t seize his chance to escape when you loosen everything off to drop the bit out his mouth. Some of these guys are seriously crafty when they have better places to be than spending the night out camping with you, as many Derby veterans can attest.

Every rider is also provided with a traditional Mongolian hobble, used to prevent any would-be equine escapees doing a runner during the night while you doze in the wilds. Then it was time to get creative: each rider grappled with their new and mostly unfamiliar tack to attach their own stirrup leathers and stirrups, which they’re free to choose themselves. Some have brought fancy gizmos including plump seat savers and woolly stirrup leather covers, in an effort to stave off the dreaded chafing for as long as possible. Josh Dales (JDA) looked thrilled with his new tack, and immediately set to work measuring his stirrup leathers on an invisible horse. Yolande Steyn (YST) was showing off her personalised caged stirrups, bearing adorable messages of encouragement from her kids back home. Christina Asklund (CAS) meanwhile was baffled by her new hobbles. Luckily for her the demo was coming shortly.

Kat Sibley (KSI), back for her second crack at the Derby having had to retire due to an injury in 2018, has brought some tried and tested gear back to the steppe: her trusty fenders and stirrups are back too. Fingers crossed this time they make it the whole way round along with their owner. Meanwhile, our Mongol Derby Academy graduates from last year who have come back to tackle the real deal are showing their camaraderie and team work. Peter Dargie (PDA) and Ying Jiang (YJI) were spotted working together to assemble all their kit, pooling their mutual expertise gained with the same tack last year. Apparently sadly lacking the same experience, Gideon Kotkowski (GKO) appeared unsure whether his bridle was intended for him or his horse. Similarly puzzled was Charles Read (CRE), bearing a confused expression while trying to fit all the bits together. Never fear CRE, your saddle bag is indeed on the right end of the saddle.

Now with all the gear but still no practical idea, Event Manager Maggie and our local vet and expert horseman Orchibat stepped in to give the riders a practical briefing on all things Mongolian horse handling and tacking up. Unless you’re a native Mongolian or you’ve done this before, this one is really worth paying attention to. Mongolian horses are used to being handled in a very specific way, and some of them are real sticklers for the rules: any false move, and they’re likely to smell an amateur and disappear off into the distance without you (in the worst case scenario, with all your tack and gear already attached). Riders learnt how to handle, tack up, mount and hobble the horses safely. Riders looked on in silence and with some mildly troubled expressions, no doubt praying their own string of 28 horses during the Derby prove to be as docile and co-operative as our demo ponies (spoiler: we doubt it).

The theory lesson over, each rider stepped forward to meet the mounts and have a crack themselves. We have to say we’re pretty proud of this carefully curated crew already. All nailed the tacking up and handling. Missy Morgan (MMO) handled the tricky Mongolian bit dangle technique to slip the bridle on like a pro, and even made the hobbling look easy. Monica Erickson (MER) also stayed calm under the pressure of a watching crowd of fellow riders and crew to tack up smoothly.

Then, the real test came for all 44 of our riders: time to bite the bullet and get on the horse. All the carefully assembled kit was lugged down to the horse lines as each rider decked themselves out in all their Derby hardware. Riders were sent out on a randomly drawn horse from our start camp training pool to navigate to a set point at an old monastery and say their final pre-Derby prayers, before heading back to run through their first mock vet check with the waiting vet team at start camp. Nerves were jangling: where’s my helmet? How do I switch on this GPS? Please don’t let me be the first to get dumped.

Fred Berry (FBE) explained he was mostly concerned with working out the “strappy bits” on his backpack, years of experience having taught him to “never ever go out without your s*** tied to you”. Wise words: Mongolian horses do not look kindly on flappy gear. Colby Coltrain (CCO) was joking that he was “waiting on a woman, as always” while chuckling onboard his relaxed horse, as fiancé and riding buddy Gianna Aycock (GAK) subdued a slightly feisty mount. Happily for his relationship, CCO was quick to admit his own mount had in fact been a dawdle to mount and tack up, much to his relief. Kelly Westlake (KWE) however seemed immune to the usual anxieties – potentially due to her experience as a colt starter – and looked relaxed and the consummate professional as she headed down to the horse lines armed with all her Derby kit. Ross Colbert’s (RCO) bridling was so smooth his chosen mount practically slept through it, and Brydie Black (BBL) looked chuffed to bits with her first partner. Claire Morgan (CMO) had a slightly unconvinced looking pony who shot a bit of side-eye back at her stirrups, but behaved himself beautifully once she hopped on.

Out on the test ride, nearly all of our riders had a cracking first cruise around the area. The start camp scenery delivers: gorgeous rolling hills between rocky mountains above a river valley, it’s hard to imagine a better setting for a first ride. Some took things steady while they familiarised themselves with the new tack and horses, while others wasted no time in hitting the gas and testing out their acceleration. All enjoyed a cracking first ride on a stunning day on the steppe. What a start.

Things all looked to be going splendidly for GKO, who was snapped cruising along in perfect harmony with a handsome chestnut sporting a wall eye, a lucky feature on a horse for Mongolians. But luck didn’t seem to be on GKO’s side today, and things took an unfortunate turn when both horse and rider somehow became the first to join the 2024 Mongol Derby Tumblers Club. Vets and medics swooped in straight away, and both were given a clean bill of health but took a precautionary stroll back to camp to be on the safe side. Kelly Dudley (KDU) had perhaps the most memorable test ride of all: she was observed by a massive eagle sat on a perch checking out all the drama. No pressure.

Back at the horse lines, riders returned chuffed to bits with their debut rides to face their first vet check. YST headed like a pro straight to the water supply to help her horse cool down and recover in fine form. CAS’s horse was busy posing for the camera during his heart rate check, and Marieke Schnebeli (MSC) took a moment to give her steed a grateful pat for taking good care of her. The bonds and memories these riders will form with their horses during the Derby is arguably the most special part of the race: touching moments like these are what it’s all about.

With jockeys safely returned to start camp to ride another day, everyone has settled in tonight to take on board any lessons learnt, most likely some frantic rearranging of packing and gear adjustments. Tomorrow, they ride again and face a whole new challenge: the dreaded saddlebag. Optional today but compulsory tomorrow, riders will have to squish all their gear, food and clothing for up to 10 days’ hard riding on the steppe into their hydration packs and saddlebags. Good luck guys, you’re going to need it.

We leave you tonight with some more of our favourite images from today, featuring the Mongolian crew dodging the sun in classic steppe style, MER’s inspirational slogan on the back of her helmet (presumably for the benefit of those eating her dust), and team Australia’s invasion of one of our gers. See you back here tomorrow for an update on the riders’ final day of training before we let them loose on the steppe to conquer the Derby.

Photo credits: Kathy Gabriel and Tulgaa Skizz