Inverleigh local Judith Jaeckle finishes third in Mongol Derby

An Inverleigh woman has finished on the podium in one of the most gruelling endurance races in the world.

Judith Jaeckle is currently coming 2nd in the Mongol Derby.

Local horse trainer Judith Jaeckle has finished third in the Mongol Derby, a race described as the “toughest horse race on the planet.”

This year’s race saw 45 riders from around the world race semiwild horses 10,000km in 10 days across the Mongolian Steppe with only a GPS to guide them, in a test of horsemanship, riding and navigation skills.

Contestants were allowed to ride from 7am to 7pm each day, but had to swap horses every 40 km to avoid exhaustion.

Mrs Jaeckle was second going into her final day of riding on Thursday, however was overtaken on the home stretch.

Speaking to the Geelong Advertiser on Friday morning, Mrs Jaeckle’s husband Michael said she was happy to just finish.

“That was her goal,” he said.

“She was the only one in the top three to finish without a horse mistreatment penalty, which as a horse trainer she is proud of.”

Along the trek Mrs Jaeckle lost her mobile phone, but was able to Mr Jaeckle from a public phone after the race on Thursday night, after more than a week without contact.

She will return to Australia on Tuesday.

Riders still have until 9pm AEST on Saturday to finish the race.

Judith Jaeckle is currently coming 2nd in the Mongol Derby.

Most entrants don’t complete the ride in the allotted amount of time, they’re in what is called the adventure class.

Mr Jaeckle told the Geelong Advertiser on Tuesday that his wife wasn’t planning on being a part of that group.

Through dislocated fingers and the troubles that come with riding a group of semi wild horses 120km a day across the Mongolian desert, Mrs Jaeckle finished with two days to spare.

As of Tuesday, it looked as though she was in a position to overtake the eventual winner, Linda Herman from Sweden.

“She was catching up with the girl that was in number one position on Monday,” Mr Jaeckle said.

“There’s so many factors that are part of what they call the ‘toughest horse race on the planet,’ that’s not advertising by me, that’s what they say about their race.”

The Jaeckles moved to the area from Germany in 2021, where Mrs Jaeckle began studying at the Diploma of Equine Management at the Marcus Oldham College.

She was inspired to take part in the ultra endurance horse race after one of her lecturers told her that they had completed it in 2017.

As part of the derby, Mrs Jaeckle raised funds for Racing Hearts, a Victorian charity that specialises in equine assisted therapy, pairing people with horses to help with their mental health.

Donate at gofundme.com/f/racing-hearts-therapy.

Originally published as Inverleigh local Judith Jaeckle finishes third in Mongol Derby