Update

Hello dear readers! Well I cannot express how happy I was to discover a man from New Zealand taking part in that other Derby who has more than a few similarities with my good self! Like me, he is havin' to loose 12 kilos to bring himself into the weight limit range. I myself have a mere 10 left to loose, also like me this fellow describes himself as "a relatively inexperienced rider". Well my dearies, that might be enough to get you through Mongolia but it won't cut any ice in Connemara!

I find it awful queer now that people are complaining that them lads out East are lacking water supplies. Sure my problem is an overabundance of the stuff! Rain galls, mud-fever, pulled tendons from soggy ground, slippery ground, sodden bogs, we've it all ahead of us. What do them lot have to worry about but a few wee "flash floods". Well if you ask me, if you can't see a huge flood coming then you're a bit of an eejit and had it coming. I'm sorry now but their "adventuring spirit" just ain't up to scratch if you ask me....

For one thing one of them other riders had the cheek to whinge:

""They're going to give us GPS locations to the wells, where we'll be able to get water, and they don't guarantee that the wells will have water."

I don't see what the fuss is about, the horses hooves'll have a nice bit of time to dry out and get a bit of a crack in the heel. Also I envy this lot in that they shall be able to see this thing that I heard about: if you pinch a fold of loose skin for a bit, there's a story about it not springing right back! Well I wish I could see that.