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TH N S EE ER W V O C
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IN THE LAND OF GENGHIS KHAN
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A group of MISFIT BOHEMIAN STRANGERS met on a beach in Thailand and decided to cross Mongolia by horse.
e arrived at some gers. Whilst the horses ate and Ozzy protected the cart, we had tea, cheese and cream. Mirko commented that since consuming all this dairy produce, he was having great difficulty defecating. “I can’t shit; it’s been three days now. Things are looking critical,” he complained. We all nodded in knowing agreement. It was indeed looking critical. With this in mind we all politely declined the next round of tea and cream, instead opting for farewells and thank yous. Whilst guesting at gers you not once have to worry about your horses. The children are sent to saddle/unsaddle or water/ tether them. As we rolled out of the ger our noble steeds awaited us: Surprise saddled up and Exodus harnessed to the cart. Mirko took Surprise while Stella, Jang, Katya and I jumped onto the cart. Just as Mirko mounted Surprise, a combination of outside influences (the flapping of an unusually large bum-bag and a pink rope flying in the breeze) caused an unfortunate series of events to unfold. The usually dormant Surprise jerked into animation. Jumping high into the air and kicking out with both hind legs at Exodus, he unseated Mirko, and galloped straight through the settlement’s collection of horses. Mirko’s foot was caught in the stirrup and his body was being dragged across the plains as dozens of horses were running around us in a panic. It all happened in a millisecond. Exodus was totally spooked from all the chaos, tossed his head, ripping the reins through Stella’s grip and took off at
An excerpt from Exodus, reprinted with permission from Ruth Cox.
a gallop. This was so dangerous. All we could do was hold onto the cart whilst trying to pull him up. There was no stopping Exodus. Horses were running wild around us. Surprise and Mirko had their own story going on somewhere in the distance and we were on a runaway cart heading straight towards a river. “We’re going in the river, we’re going to die,” screamed Katya. Stella’s hands were being ripped as she pulled on the rope reins. “Use one rein, turn him!” I shouted as I threw myself towards her to take the reins. The fear was real and everything moved in slow motion. I could see the huge knoll in the ground ahead, as the cart wheels hit it we bounced high in the air and I heard Katya scream. “Jang, it’s Jang, he fell off!” There was no time to look behind. We really were heading straight for the river. There were two choices that lay ahead of us. Either we accepted that we were going to die, close our eyes and jump off the speeding cart, or try to think calmly and quickly. Exodus was still at a full, fear fuelled gallop. I started to stretch myself along the shafts of the cart. My plan was to reach Exodus’ head and grab the cheek pieces of the bridle so as to bring his head round and gain some control through trying to make a circle. I edged my way along the shaft, hanging next to his powerful shoulder, his hooves pounding away beneath me. I was completely filled with adrenaline and fear. The river was dead ahead and Exodus was not slowing. With my body stretched, I let my fingers reach out to try and catch the leather cheekpiece. I missed and lost balance. Then, gathering my breath and courage, I tried again and my fingers caught the bridle and I tried with all my might to bring his Continued on page 28
26 | EQ UE S T R I A N L I V IN G | J U LY / AU GU S T | 2024