Thank you!
Michael was part of a four way tie for first place! The other three actually waited for him for a while so he could catch up (the luck of the draw stuck him with a slow horse on the final leg) and they all walked their horses in on foot to the finish. Great horsemanship and great sportsmanship. Congrats!!!
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I think our ideas of a vacation budget are vastly different 
lol
Mine is more like throw on a backpack and hit the trail and eat ramen
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The four-way tie is so keeping with the spirit of Mongol Derby–everyone works so hard to complete the race, but almost always people are rooting for others to succeed and helping others along the way. Years ago, I wrote a novel set during the race, so I always follow it. So cool to see an eventer up there with the finalists!
Here’s a link to the FB page with the photos of the finalists.
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That made me tear up a bit…what an amazing adventure.
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Never knew much about the Mongol Derby, but the thread here made me start following. Fascinating!
What a fit looking bunch of people! And those horses! Adorably tough.
Interesting that most of the COTH postings were in Eventing, not Endurance.
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Me either. Between this thread and someone local giving it a try (so people I know posting about it), it was so fun to learn all about this race.
Hopefully someone will give us the heads up next year when it happens again.
Some of the ponies are cute things! Even if they are kind of naughty.
Edit to add - Laughing, I did not ever see the thread in Endurance. So weird the things that get missed. I read the forum by going to Latest and New, so in theory I would see this stuff.
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It did get a thread in Endurance, but nothing after July 1st:
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““I got off of that horse, and I told the organizer, ‘It was worth the money to come here just to ride that horse.’ That was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever felt. It made me cry three times!” Michael continued. “I couldn’t believe that a horse that size had that much try. It was crazy. I’ve very rarely ridden a horse like that, and I’ve ridden amazing horses my whole life.””
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Wow. The way I thought this was Michael Pollan literally until this morning when I saw a post about him on the COTH Instagram page.
I was blown away such a successful journalist and author was also an accomplished equestrian…and not exactly young to be undertaking the Mongol Derby.
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There are time penalties if your horse does not pulse down within a given time frame.
Quote:
“Michael said he was especially proud of being able to complete the race without any penalties, feeling that he kept the horses’ best interests at heart, even when they conflicted with his own competitive ambitions.”
A combination of good horsemanship and eventing experience:
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I saw something about it on Denny’s FB page today which made me interested in the COTH article. What a huge accomplishment for Michael Pollard and reading about the sportsmanship and the other three contenders waiting for him so they could finish together almost made me cry. I can’t wait to follow the race next year.
In case anyone is interested…I did the math and the $19K fee paid monthly (listed as a payment option) for 2027 is ONLY $791/month…
In seriousness, listed what’s included in the price tag, it seems well worth it. I have looked at horse vacation destinations before (I know this isn’t vacation, just comparing similar activities) and always felt they were overpriced.
