"Not much to do for the horses" reports Mongol Derby vet

The Mongol Derby

Article written by Jenny Weston, an FEI accredited 4* endurance vet and one of the team of world class foreign vets flown into Mongolia to oversee the extensive horse welfare and veterinary provisions for the Mongol Derby

I was privileged to be invited to assist with looking after the welfare of about 800 horses that were ridden in the inaugural Mongol Derby.  This adventure with an equestrian twist was the brainchild of The Adventurists  - a Bristol based company with close ties to Mongolia and a history of motorised adventures such as the Rickshaw Run and the Mongol Rally (London and other European capitals to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia). This was their first foray into equestrian adventures and was a steep learning curve for all involved.

Some 24 months in the planning, the horses were initially selected and appraised by Mongolian veterinarians then put on a supervised training and health programme by local respected horse trainers.  The horse features strongly in Mongolian culture – outnumbering the human inhabitants 7 to 1 and they are highly revered and essential for the 75% of the population that lives a nomadic lifestyle on the steppe.

The plan was for a group of carefully selected riders (experienced in both equestrian sports and survival skills) to re-create the postal system that existed in the days of Chinggis Khan and his descendants when Mongolia ruled most of Eurasia. This involved riders carrying messages from one end of the Empire to another, changing horses about every 40 km at specially set-up Morin Urtuus (horse stations).

The riders also underwent a rigorous selection process ensuring that they all had adequate riding and survival skills and were whittled down to 25 for the event. They would be the ones undergoing feats of endurance while the horses were ridden in a relay fashion, each horse only being ridden for 25-45 km.  The riders were each supplied with a Barefoot™ saddle and numnah but had to provide their own bridle, girth and stirrups. 

Six foreign vets (from NZ, Scotland and South Africa) were each teamed with a local veterinarian as well as a translator and a driver.  We each brought in a supply of veterinary drugs and equipment that would be left for the local veterinarians to use after the event and I/V fluids were sourced locally. Not much ended up being used so the remainder was all left in Mongolia for distribution as the organisers and Head Vet for Mongolia saw fit.

From a veterinary perspective there was not much to do for the horses involved in the Mongol Derby apart from assess their suitability before the riders arrived. All horses were checked for age, soundness, temperament and hydration when we arrived at each station just ahead of the riders.  Horses that had just been ridden had a heart rate taken on arrival and then again about 15-20 minutes later to ensure that they were all recovering well.  Other things such as hydration, gut sounds, lameness and also evidence of any saddle sores or girth galls were also assessed.  The difficult terrain being covered meant that 2 horses required first aid for minor injuries received on the track and a couple of horses were also treated after completion of their stage despite being ridden conservatively. 

I think the combination of high daytime temperatures and the horses riding in small groups and wanting to keep up with each other contributed to this.  Riders were given time penalties if their horse required treatment. I was impressed with the tough nature of the local horses (rude to call them a pony even though they only ranged in height for 12 - 14.2 hh).  I spent more time providing veterinary services to the locals for their livestock and first aid for humans (riders and locals) than attending to the horses that were participating in the Derby

An excellent medical service was also provided by Prometheus Medical group with a specialist trauma doctor and a paramedic keeping in touch with the riders and able to respond immediately.  Two riders had to withdraw on the second day after serious falls with concussion and back injuries.  One of these was evacuated to Ulaanbaatar for xrays which meant a short compulsory halt for the other riders until the medics were back in the field and able to respond in case of another emergency.

The terrain for the event was mostly flat with a bit of rolling hill country in places.  Navigation to the next horse station was by GPS which meant deciding on whether to try and go “as the crow flies” or to detour around the bigger hills and to try and follow half-formed roads.  Most riders would have covered 10-20% more than the reported distance simply by not being able to take the most direct route.  Several rivers had to be crossed which involved wading or swimming the horses and, for some of the riders who crossed after rainfall, a trip on an improvised car ferry.  Hazards included the semi-wild nature of the horses, the climate (hot days, cold nights, and occasional cold, wet days), wolves and foxes, marmot holes that a horse could break a leg in and the nemesis of every traveller – diarrhoea.  Facilities were very basic but whatever the locals had they shared, often giving up their bed so you could get a better night’s sleep while they slept on the floor. 

Riders had initially set off with up to 10 kg of equipment including tent, sleeping bag, dried food, gas cooker, emergency medications in addition to the essential GPS and SPOT tracker.  The SPOT tracker meant that HQ could find the exact location of all participants (or at least where their tracker was) and provided a means of emergency callout.  The “Help” button triggered a veterinary response and the “911” button called out the medics. 

Tying your SPOT tracker to your saddle was a mistake no-one made twice as if your horse dumped you and took off you were stranded with no means of help.  For safety reasons and for companionship most riders rode in small groups throughout the event.  In addition, all the veterinary, medical and support teams in the field were provided with satellite phones to guarantee that we could be contacted (cellphone coverage was non-existent for much of the course).

After the first couple of days it became apparent that the serious contenders for the event were an experienced South African endurance rider (Charles van Wyck) and the one local entrant (Galbadrah) who had the benefit of home advantage, speaking the language, carrying no extra gear and probably choosing the best horses.  These two rode together from very early on and were eventual joint winners.  All the other riders came from different equestrian disciplines and it was quite clear that a background in endurance riding was a huge advantage in pacing yourself, rider fitness and managing the horse.  Riding horses that you are completely unfamiliar with, that have short, choppy gaits but great stamina made it a different proposition for even experienced endurance riders but I suspect that in future years more will take on this challenge.

The biggest drama that I attended involved providing first aid to the occupants of the 4WD vehicle that had rolled just ahead of me on the course.  No life-threatening injuries were sustained and we were also able to use our vehicle to right it.  Being a Toyota, it started first up and was able to be driven to the finish line.

Overall, 23 of 25 riders completed the ride with most averaging 100 km per day at about 10 km/hr.  Some riders managed about 140 km in a day on the better days and when conditions were cooler, some riders were averaging 14 km/hr.   

A couple of horses were involved in freak accidents (that’s just what horses do) but ultimately less than 2% of the horses required any treatment and that was all minor first aid, which compares favourably to most other equestrian sports.