Ben certainly gave us a good insight to his creditable 3rd equal placing in this Mongolian 1000km horse race. The race is actually the 1224 to 1949 Genghis Khan legendary postal route. Race competitors had to complete the 1000km in less than 10 days. "Not an easy ride by any means" and was thankful for GPS navigation aid. Which also relayed the riders position to race organisers, plus streamed live on the internet, which gave some angst moments for his Mum at times!!!!!. The supportive Mongolian people made available over a 1000 local bred "pocket rockets of about 13/14 hands" breed of horse, for each rider used 28 horses over the race course. Checkpoints were every 30/40 km where horses and riders were checked out. Mongolian horsemen revere their horses, hence that vet check with dehydration an issue the medics also checked the riders for. Temps varied along the route between +40c  to below zero and rain to boot on occasions. Ben said he was lucky in the horses given him to ride on each of the 28 sectors of the race. 40 riders from around the world participated, Mongolian horsemen not allowed to enter due to their skill and inherent  knowledge of the land. He showed some video sequences of his race endeavours, that also showed children display great horsemanship. " Ben reckons the kids ride horses before they can walk!!!" He shared overnight accomodation with those families in their Gers, with local cuisine also being quite 'unique'. So on day 8, he crossed the finish line with two rider buddy's with that same smile as seen above. What an adventure to have participated in.