Why a Booktrail?
2013: A young girl is determined to enter the most dangerous horse Derby in the world
Rough Magic
What you need to know before your trail
In 2013 Lara Prior-Palmer – nineteen, underprepared but seeking the great unknown – decided to enter the race. Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose, and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses. In one of the Derby’s most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race.
A tale of adventure, fortitude and poetry, Rough Magic is the extraordinary story of one young woman’s encounter with oblivion, and herself.
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style and take part in the Mongolia horse Derby
The Mongol Derby is an equestrian endurance race which started in 2009 and it’s the longest horse race in the world.
The race takes participants along a 1000 km track through the Mongolian Steppe. The course recreates the horse messenger system developed by Ghengis Khan in 1224 and so there’s a lot of obstacles such as low valleys, high mountains, impossible river crossings and floodplains.
Riders change horses every 36 km at the support stations and there are vet checks to monitor the horses’ health. These horses are wild and they don’t always obey the rider, but they are used to the terrain although not at this speed. As for the riders themselves; they spend up to 13 hours in the saddle and the race lasts for ten days in total. Not every person or every horse will finish the race.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Rough Magic
Destination: Mongolia Author/guide: Lara Prior-Palmer Departure Time: 2013
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