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Reining supreme in untamed Mongolia www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

A Tyrone-born businessman has said finishing third in the world’s toughest horse race was “beyond his wildest aspirations”.

Patrick Heffron and his co-rider Chris Walker completed the infamous 1,000km-long Mongol Derby last month, which is considered a feat in itself.

They managed to place in the top three and were even in with a chance of winning the gruelling cross-country challenge when heading towards the finish.

“It was an amazing experience and fairly demanding. Physically and mentally, it’s quite tough but one hell of an experience,” Patrick told Sunday Life.

Officially the longest horse race in the world, it sees competitors from across the globe ride unsupported through the vast, untouched wilderness of the Mongolian steppe.

Riders change horses every 35km or so and either sleep in tents or befriend the local nomadic people, who are world-renowned expert horsemen themselves.

Their mounts are often wild from the steppe and not fully tamed for riding, but competitors can be penalised for breaching time limits imposed on each leg regardless of the terrain.

“One minute you’re in a bog, 30km later you’re riding past camels and it’s desert-like,” explained international property developer Patrick.

“You also have these marmot holes and mouse holes when you are galloping through the steppe, and the next thing the horse just disappears into a hole and you are catapulted out.

“So, you have to hold on to the bloody horse before it disappears because if you’re only halfway in it’s a long walk.”

Explaining the sheer grit required to make it to the finish line, the 44-year-old said: “You are riding up to 130-140km per day.

“You are riding semi-wild horses. You might be lucky and get one that’s relatively tame, but you might also get one that really doesn’t like you being there.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with the food, but goat noodle soup... (after) day five it becomes quite tedious.

“It’s such a vast country that we didn’t see a fence for 940km. (There was) no evidence of agricultural cultivation until near the finish station.

“We were sleeping in bivvy bags or finding a local herding family, ideally with livestock, and it’s amazing because they really do take you into their house.

“They really welcome you. You sleep in a yurt (a portable round tent), or a ger as it’s called there, on the floor with the family who feed you, water you and despatch you to the next morning.”

The language barrier wasn’t a total block on getting on with the locals, many of whom are now used to encountering riders from the annual event.

“I learnt (to say) ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’. It’s not an easy (language) to speak, and there was a lot of hand gestures with lots of ‘hellos’ and lots of ‘thank yous’, along with my pidgin Mongolian,” explained Patrick.

Patrick also said he was lucky to have an excellent co-rider in the shape of Gloucestershire man Chris.

“We rode together, which is crucial, because it’s a long way to go alone and also if something happens,” he added.

Asked if he was daunted by the prospect of taking on the longest horse race in the world, Patrick said: “It’s a bit of fun, (but) it’s not for the faint-hearted or for somebody who has not got a lot of experience riding.

“If you said to me, ‘What are your aspirations?’, I would have said that I would love to complete it because only 25 out of 46 (teams) completed the race.

“The next aspiration might have been a top 10 placing, but to get into the top three was beyond my wildest aspirations.

“Luck is definitely an element of it. There is absolutely no chance I would do it again.”

Published Date:2022-08-14

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Reining supreme in untamed Mongolia www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

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