Ever heard of the Mongol Derby? Yeah, we hadn’t either. But one Fort Worthian gets to add completing it to his saddlebag. Local rodeo cowboy Josh Edwards finished third in the “world’s longest and toughest” horse race over the weekend.
The Mongol Derby crosses different terrains like steep mountain passes and sand dunes.
Photo by Richard Dunwoody/Flickr
Meet the Mongol Derby
The race was inspired by the ancient horse messenger system set up by Genghis Khan circa 1224. In the world’s first long-distance postal service, relay riders galloped from Kharkhorin, Mongolia to the Caspian Sea — think: a 2,500-mile Pony Express, but much more successful.
Continuing the legacy, the Mongol Derby is held over 10 days in August when daring riders from all over the world race 1,000K on semi-wild horses across the Mongolian steppe — which ranges from giant sand dunes to freezing mountain passes. They trade horses at stations called urtuus every 35K-40K.
Meet Josh Edwards
A lifetime horseman, Edwards was the 2023 PRCA Pickup Man of the Year — the person who assists the competitor in getting away from the bucking animal after their ride. He retired from the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo in January after 25 years in the arena.
But a relaxed retirement wasn’t in the cards — on August 7, Edwards set out from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia with 41 other riders. He completed the race in just nine days + was the only rider not from Australia to finish in the top five.
“My life is a competition, the derby was more of a competition with myself than about winning the race,” Edwards said. “You meet some great people, and you’re around a lot of different personalities, but there’s also a lot of solitude, and that was really what I was kind of desiring. After retiring it was about kind of finding what chapter two of my life is and to search for it in myself.”
