Competing in the Gaucho Derby in February, Jessie Dowling placed 15th out of a field of 40 international riders. The 500-kilometer race is billed as the “Toughest Horse Race in the World.” (Photo courtesy The Equestrianists)
In February, Jessie Dowling, of Whitefield, completed the Gaucho Derby, a 500 kilometer horse race set in Patagonia, Argentina. Dowling placed 15th out of a field of 40 international riders.
The founder and former owner of Fuzzy Udder Creamery, Dowling sold her business shortly after successfully completing the world’s longest horse race, the Mongol Derby, in Mongolia in 2023. Dowling said she sold her dairy business to pursue her true calling: working with horses.
Whitefield resident Jessie Dowling is all smiles during The Gaucho Derby in February. (Photo courtesy Becky Torres)
Both races are organized by a United Kingdom-based company called The Equestrianists. The races are multi-horse endurance races set over a 10-day period where riders navigate their way using a handheld GPS. Dowling finished on day nine.
The Gaucho Derby is billed as the “Toughest Horse Race in the World” and is as much a survival race as it is a test of horsemanship. Contestants carry their own tent, food, and other essential gear, limited to 10 kilograms or 22 pounds, in saddle bags and receive resupply bags of food set along the course route. Riders draw eight horses at random to ride throughout the race and horses must pass strict veterinary checks along the way.
The course runs through some of the most rugged wild places in the world, navigating through steep mountain passes, down scree-lined cliffs, across bog-filled valleys, barren mesas, and wild Patagonian steppe.
The winds of Patagonia are epically strong, and the weather can change in an instant from sun to hail.
“The best part of the race is getting to spend time with so many amazing criollo horses (the native breed of Argentine horses),” Dowling said. “The challenge of meeting a new horse each day and quickly developing a trusting partnership with these strong fast agile horses is indescribably exhilarating and fulfilling.”
Now that Dowling is back in Maine, she brings back new inspiration to her budding endurance horse training business in Whitefield.
At Iron Ledge Farm Dowling teaches lessons, trains horses, coaches endurance riders, and leads endurance focused riding retreats throughout Maine. She is also excited to give talks around the state, sharing stories about her experiences riding and training for these extreme endurance horse races.
For more information, go to ironledgefarm.com.
