ProRodeo Sports News - Sept. 6, 2024

PRORODEO TOUR

Retired PRORODEO pickup man Josh Edwards crosses a river during the Mongol Derby from Aug. 7-17 in Mongolia. The Equestrianists photo

typical jeans and cowboy hat were out of the question. But he found a workaround. Resistol partnered with Edwards to give him the next best thing to keep a helmet with the exterior of a cowboy hat. “I went to Resistol, and they had developed a ride-safe helmet, but a lot of people haven’t seen or used it,” Edwards said. “It’s more of a reactive product than a proactive product, so I talked to them and said. “I’m wearing a cowboy hat. This is what I have to do. But I feel like, hopefully, I can get some exposure for this as a proactive product.’” The event organizers also strongly suggested that participants wear breeches to avoid severe chaffing from 12 hours of riding per day over 10 days. “I said, ‘I’ve got some breeches, but they’ll have my own spin on them,’” Edwards recalled. “So, even the organizers were like, ‘OK.’ I had a pair that actually had pockets, and they looked as much like jeans on the top as you could find.” The suped-up riding pants allowed Edwards to sport a belt and an NFR buckle as he navigated the Mongolian countryside on half-broken horses. “I put my belt buckle on and felt like I was representing our rodeo background and Western lifestyle,” he said. “And I hope I represented well.” Edwards decided to apply for a spot in the Mongol Derby after stumbling on a documentary during the pandemic. The event didn’t occur in 2020 or 2021, and after submitting his paperwork, Edwards was set to get his first crack at the event last year. But a full rodeo schedule led him to defer his acceptance to 2024. He initially planned to take a year off of rodeo for the race. Life changes, though, and Edwards retired from the arena after the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo in December. “That was the last time I was going to those rodeos anyway because of my retirement at Fort Worth the following winter. And I went right into the Mongolian race in the summer,” Edwards said. “What a blessing that it worked out the way it did.” Even after months of training to get into shape for endurance riding, the Mongol Derby tested Edwards physically, mentally and spiritually. Contestants were provided with a map, GPS and a satellite phone to communicate with HQ, but the long hours on horseback in the middle of nowhere tested the will of riders. “Some of those days, it was like 14 hours of slack at Pecos (Texas) in the heat,” Edwards said of how his rodeo background prepared him for the challenge. You’re used to being in the saddle all day long riding, and some of those aspects really helped. Being a pickup man, you’re always riding colts for our next crop of pickup horses and riding five or six horses a perf.” During the race, Edwards rode three to four colts each day from station to station. For the first half hour, each new equine partner put up a fight while he tried to stay on course. The relationships between competitors also reminded Edwards of his rodeo background. “There was such a parallel between rodeo and this race with the camaraderie of the contestants,” he said. When he finally crossed the finish line, the 45-year-old Texan finished in a tie for third place with Josh Dales of Tasmania. Edwards was the top finisher from the United States, and a pair of Australians finished in the top two spots. His biggest takeaway from the Mongol Derby wasn’t the pride of finishing or placing. It was the kindness and hospitality of the Mongolian people who allowed competitors to tie up their horses, eat their food and sleep in their gers (huts). “That’s what probably affected me the most, is the humility and patience with people (of the Mongolians) and seeing how people with nothing would give it to a total stranger for no reason at all and no gain,” Edwards said.

Ambassador

The grueling race over the rolling hills of a faraway countryside asks a lot of its competitors. There’s a maximum height of 6-foot-1, a maximum weight of 187 pounds and a hefty entry fee of over $17,000. Edwards put in a lot of work over four years to mentally and physically prepare for the arduous journey on the other side of the world. But despite making the necessary changes to compete, he served as an ambassador for rodeo and the Western lifestyle in every way possible. “I felt like that was not only important for our discipline, the Western and rodeo discipline, but it was important for me,” Edwards told the ProRodeo Sports News. “I went over there to do this race, and there were rules that I had to adhere to and certain parameters that we had to ride under. But I had to be me as much as I could.” The Mongol Derby has certain restrictions on riding attire, so Edwards’

BY ALEX DODD J osh Edwards made significant life changes to compete in the most strenuous horse race in the world, but he stayed true to himself.

Josh Edwards stays true to himself, Western lifestyle at Mongol Derby

in the Mongol Derby from Aug. 7-17, a 1,000 km horse race across the Mongolian Steppe that featured 44 world-class riders.

The two-time National Finals Rodeo pickup man competed

ProRodeo Sports News 9/6/2024

ProRodeo Sports News 9/6/2024

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