Over the last few months I’ve spoken to a lot of people about the adventure that I am undertaking this year. And I’ll be honest the more I learn about the Derby the more daunting yet truly exciting it becomes.
I must admit that I went into this with a bit of a romantic notion of what I was about to undertake. I first heard about the Derby nearly 10 years ago and decided then, that one day, I was going to have a go. So this year when I knew that I was able to apply I did so without even thinking about it. I was 50% convinced that I wouldn’t actually get a place. I was applying late in the day, I have never owned my own horse or done any competitive riding never mind endurance riding so I wasn’t sure that I would have the necessary credentials. But clearly whatever I said in my pre-race ‘interview’ convinced the organisers to give me a go.
Don’t get me wrong I knew it was 1,000km on semi-wild horses with a support team for emergencies but little other help during the actual race, and I knew that it was always going to be an immense challenge and not like anything I had ever undertaken before. But what I don’t think that I had really appreciated was the practicalities of the challenge.
The potential of 10 days riding at 9/10 hours a day has a romantic notion for many riders, but actually doing it is a totally different thing. That plus the speed of the ride being a steady canter for most of the time. Whilst out in Ecuador I worked out that we were riding at an average of 6km per hour which is faster than I would usually ride back home in the UK, but is still 6km per hour slower than I will be riding across the Steppe! And then there’s the kit, all 5kg of it… Changes of clothes therefore will be forgone for medical kit, baby wipes and water sterilisation tablets! Oh and of course the sleeping bag.
So why would I take on this crazy adventure?
Because sometimes in life we have to challenge ourselves. We go through the day to day living in our own little worlds and not really experiencing what the world has to offer us. So this year I am making the most of the situation that I have found myself in, to take every opportunity that arises, to experience new things and new places and to cross a few things off that bucket list. I’ve already found that for every thing that I cross off a new wish is added to the list but no-one ever sees or experiences the whole world so that’s not really surprising.
To go an live with nomads on the plains of Mongolia, which after all is the birth place of the horse, is an opportunity that so few people in the world get to experience. There aren’t many wildernesses left so to go an experience the way that people actually live in this spectacular place is, I consider, a privilege. So I’ve grabbed it with both hands and aim to make the most of it.
And then there is All the Wild Horses, a film shot by Ivo Marloh a 2013 and 2014 competitor which I have just watched,
http://allthewildhorsesmovie.com/trailer.html
And if I wasn’t already convinced this was the challenge for me, I am now….
So please please support me in this adventure and help me raise funds for some great charities
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/gemmaractliffe
https://www.coolearth.org/campaigns/22215/journey-to-the-derby/