Rough Magic

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For fans of Helen Macdonald s H Is for Hawk, this is the extraordinary debut memoir of a young woman who traveled to Mongolia to compete in the world s longest, toughest horse race, and emerged as its youngest and first ever female winner.At the age of nineteen, Lara Prior Palmer discovered a website devoted to the world s longest, toughest horse race an annual competition of endurance and skill that involves dozens of riders racing a series of twenty five wild ponies across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian grassland On a whim, she decided to enter the race As she boarded a plane to East Asia, she was utterly unprepared for what awaited her.Riders often spend years preparing to compete in the Mongol Derby, a course that recreates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan, and many fail to finish Prior Palmer had no formal training She was driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses She raced for ten days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she decided she had nothing to lose Each dawn she rode out again on a fresh horse, scrambling up mountains, swimming through rivers, crossing woodlands and wetlands, arid dunes and open steppe, as American television crews chased her in their Jeeps.Told with terrific suspense and style, in a voice full of poetry and soul, Rough Magic captures the extraordinary story of one young woman who forged ahead, against all odds, to become the first female winner of this breathtaking race. Best Read Rough Magic [ by ] Lara Prior-Palmer [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr NOW AVAILABLE there is a 1,000 kilometer horse race in mongolia called the mongol derby with the reputation of being the world s longest, toughest horse race human riders mount a series of 25 wild ponies, swapping em out every 40 kilometers to ensure the endurance falls on the humans, not the horses participants train rigorously, obtain sponsorships to offset the enormous entrance fees, prepare themselves for the physical and psychological hardships of being on horseback forthan NOW AVAILABLE there is a 1,000 kilometer horse race in mongolia called the mongol derby with the reputation of being the world s longest, toughest horse race human riders mount a series of 25 wild ponies, swapping em out every 40 kilometers to ensure the endurance falls on the humans, not the horses participants train rigorously, obtain sponsorships to offset the enormous entrance fees, prepare themselves for the physical and psychological hardships of being on horseback forthan a week through the heat and the rain and the aches and exhaustion of what is a frequently solitary trek over mongolia s unforgiving terrain despite all these preparatory measures, many riders do not make it to the finish line due to illness, injury, or fatigue long story short attempting this race requires commitment, dedication and sacrifice.or, you know, you could just sor...Image from The Adventurists Many of the people I ll meet on the steppe hold horses as sacred There arelove songs about horses than about women in Mongolia for example, ponies come last in races are sung commiseration songs because no one wants them to feel bad Your horse is an extension of you A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings goes the proverb Even horses skulls are sacred They re made into musical instruments, whose sounds comfort mourning souls What has 25 l Image from The Adventurists Many of the people I ll meet on the steppe hold horses as sacred There arelove songs about horses than about women in Mongolia for example, ponies come last in races are sung commiseration songs because no one wants them to feel bad Your horse is an extension of you A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings goes the proverb Even horses skulls are sacred They re made into musical instruments, whose sounds comfort mourning souls What has 25 legs and covers 1,000 kilometers Why, the Mongol Derby, of course Ring any bells Ummm, me neither Unless one is particularly attuned to the worlds of equestrian sports or extreme competitions we would be unlikely to have heard of it Lara Prior Palmer had heard of it, but had not paid much attention The entry fee was exorbitant about 13K...See my review on Open Letters ReviewThe race was said to be the most difficult in the world Seven days spent traversing the Mongolian steppes on wild ponies Not my cuppa, but fun to experience through someone else Lara, at loose ends decided this was something she needed to do, despite the costly entry fee She prepares little, and becomes a nineteen year old underdog, though she soon has others pulling for her There are vivid descriptions of the Mongolian steppes, many allusions and quotes from Genghis Kahn We meet dome of t The race was said to be the most difficult in the world Seven days spent traversing the Mongolian steppes on wild ponies Not my cuppa, but fun to experience through someone else Lara, at loose ends decided this was something she needed to do, despite the costly entry fee She prepares little, and becomes a nineteen year old underdog, though she soon has others pulling for her There are vivid descriptions of the Mongolian steppes, many allusions and quotes from Genghis ...Riding is a dance that demands each muscle in your body answer to an ever shifting floor Put aside the fact that the outcome of this race is known before Lara Prior Palmer begins her story, here is proof positive that it is the journey, not the arrival, that is most important How Lara, a woefully under prepared 19 year old decides to participate in a horserace that traces the Mongolian course of Genghis Khan s pony express, 1,000 kilometers with no preplanned route, is the stuff of almost myth Riding is a dance that demands each muscle in your body answer to an ever shifting floor Put aside the fact that the outcome of this race is known before Lara Prior Palmer begins her story, here is proof positive that it is the journey, not the arrival, that is most important How Lara, a woefully under prepared 19 year old decides to participate in a horserace that traces the Mongolian course of Genghis Khan s pony express, 1,000 kilometers with no preplanned route, is the stuff of almost mythic stamina and excitement At times I was reminded of Cheryl Strayed s Wild, as both young women embark on their quests with little or no preparation, but merely a will to complete it At first, she just doesn t want to come in last, but somewhere along the line the race grabs hold of her, and she becomes a competitor, not the least reason of which being peeved at the arrogance of the frontrunner, a Texan who has been...This was a really interesting read about the youngest and first female winner of the Mongolian horse derby I was sent a preview of the book through a marketing email and the preview was the whole book I don t know if that was an error or what, but I really enjoyed it and enjoyed being insid...Jump on, hang on, and don t fall off as Lara Prior Palmer s ROUGH MAGIC recounts her riding and winning the world s longest, hardest horse race in Mongolia at the age of nineteen This story is outrageous and told with lyrical intelligence I couldn t put this down and read it in one dayI could not pull out of the race so I let the terror energize me instead Asked afterwards if I would dare attempt the race again, I d reply that I could never again be scared enough to do so The supernatural power of fearing the unknown stunned me into a state of readiness Rough Magic, Lara Prior PalmerWhat a thrill, what a journey Prior Palmer writes with the galloping speed of a restless somebody and the unyielding ambition of a true underdog By turns a tale of tribulation and trium I could not pull out of the race so I let the terror energize me instead Asked afterwards if I would dare attempt the race again, I d reply that I could never again be scared enough to do so The supernatural power of fearing the unknown stunned me into a state of readiness Rough Magic, Lara Prior PalmerWhat a thrill, what a journey Prior Palmer writes with the galloping speed of a restl...

Rough Magic
  • English
  • 01 June 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 288 pages
  • 1948226197
  • Lara Prior-Palmer
  • Rough Magic