The Mongol Derby

The longest and toughest horse race in the world.!

A 1,000km multi-horse race across the wilderness of the Mongolian steppe.

This is no guided tour or pony trek! There is no marked course, no packed lunches, no shower block, no stabling. 

​It's just you, your team of horses,

a thousand kilometres of Mongolian wilderness and your GPS.

A bit of history

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In 1224, Chinggis Khaan, the Mongolian Emperor at that time, set up the world's first long-distance postal transmission system. Using a massive network of horse stations (morin urtuus in Mongolian) so his hardy messengers could gallop from Kharkhorin to the Caspian sea in a number of days.

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For ten days, the Mongol Derby recreates a legendary system, building a network of urtuus (horse stations) at 40km intervals along the entire 1000km course. Each urtuu will consist of a small collection of gers (canvas and felt tents which the nomads live in), a supply of fresh horses to ride, a vet team and a few nomads. The riders get some rest at the nomads in their ger, drink some airag (mare's milk) and eat an awful lot of mutton.

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The rider must change horses at every station at 40km and deliver their horses in mint condition.
The riders get a satellite tracker and emergency beacon which allows Derby HQ to see where the rider is at all times and to dispatch veterinary assistance if required.

Riders need to be prepared for everything as the Mongolian steppe is very hostile and the weather can be very unpredictable. The riders are responsible for assembling all of the equipment they will be using during the race. This includes a GPS, which riders will use to navigate, and any survival equipment riders wish to bring with them on the ride, a sleeping bag, torch and spare clothes. The total weight of additional luggage that riders can carry with them on the horses is only 5kgs!​