A Journey Across the Mongolian Steppe
Next month, Jenn Laidlaw, a resident of Humboldt County, will make history as the first local from the Lost Coast to compete in the Mongol Derby. This 1,000-kilometer (over 600 miles) race across the Mongolian steppe is known as “the longest and toughest horse race on Earth.” Riders will mount semi-feral horses each day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., navigating the same routes that messengers of Genghis Khan once traveled nearly 900 years ago.
The event requires participants to travel between 26 horse stations, where they will camp and stay with locals. Each station is spaced about 35 kilometers apart, and riders must change horses at every stop while ensuring their mounts remain in good health. The course is unmarked, and there are no packed lunches or beds to sleep in—just the rider, their team of horses, and the vast Mongolian wilderness.
The organization behind the event, the Equestrianists, aims to provide an unforgettable equine adventure. The route includes high passes, valleys, wooded hills, river crossings, wetlands, dunes, and open steppes. It's a far cry from the quiet community of Fieldbrook, located northeast of McKinleyville, where Laidlaw grew up.
From Fieldbrook to the Mongolian Steppe
Laidlaw moved to Fieldbrook when she was around 6 or 7 years old and attended Fieldbrook Elementary School, where her class had just over a dozen students. She graduated from McKinleyville High School in 2004 and was involved in 4-H and FFA. As a child, she took riding lessons, but it was the Humboldt County Fair that sparked her passion for horse racing.
“I fell in love with horse racing at the Humboldt County Fair,” Laidlaw said. “I was supposed to be in the barn getting my animals ready, but I’d be on the track grooming horses for others. My mom hated that, but that’s where I fell in love with it.”
On a whim, Laidlaw applied to the University of Kentucky and was accepted. She moved across the country, made new friends, and started managing farming operations. By 2019, she had secured a role at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, one of the best thoroughbred farms in the world. There, she managed the barn for five or six years before becoming the assistant broodmare manager and eventually taking over as the manager.
In 2023, Laidlaw began managing Blue Diamond Stud’s Stonereath Farm outside of Paris, Kentucky, accepting the job literally the same day she was accepted into the Mongol Derby.
Preparing for the Race
Laidlaw learned about the derby from a former roommate who had participated in the event. Although she has worked with horses her entire life, her busy schedule as a farm manager doesn’t always allow for regular riding.
“I don’t ride that often, honestly,” she said. “I just thought, ‘I’ll apply for it. It’ll be something fun to say I tried.’ Then I got the call, and I was like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’ Well, what could possibly go wrong? Let’s just go on an adventure and see what we can do.”
Training for the race, known as the Mongol Derby Academy, began this week. The 10-day race officially starts on August 4. After arriving in Ulaanbaatar, Laidlaw will trek out to the steppe, where she will be essentially “cut loose” to navigate the course. She will draw lots to select from 1,500 horses prepared for the event. These horses are smaller than those typically ridden in the U.S., ranging from 12 to 14 hands, and are a source of immense pride for the local communities along the route.
“Everything’s really well kept, and it’s a big area of pride for the local people,” Laidlaw said. “They want to have their horses out there running. They want to have people out there doing this. They really look forward to it. The horses are semi-feral, so they’ve been ridden before. They’re not pampered, they don’t live in barns, but they have been ridden at some point.”
Embracing the Adventure
Laidlaw doesn’t plan on winning the event, which emphasizes horsemanship over competition. Instead, she hopes to experience the journey and connect with the local community. She has been in contact with three other riders and hopes to navigate the course together.
She has been preparing physically and mentally for the race, focusing on cardio and riding, as well as mental endurance. “You’re going to get tired. You’re going to have a bad day. It’s going to be raining and all that,” she said. “Well, I’ve been through some pretty bad stuff. I heard you can do anything for 10 seconds, and you just start counting over again.”
For Laidlaw, competing in the Mongol Derby is the culmination of many life-changing decisions—moving to Kentucky for school, pursuing her dream of working with horses, and becoming a manager of successful breeding farms. Despite her global adventures, she still holds a deep love for Humboldt County, particularly the Oyster Fest in Arcata and the Humboldt County Fair, where she has bred horses that have competed in races.
“There are amazing things to see there. You take it for granted while you live there, but every time I go back, I’m just in awe of how beautiful it is,” she said.
