Rough Magic

Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race

By: Lara Prior-Palmer

Narrated by: Henrietta Meire

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

At the age of 19, 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 25 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 10 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.

Told with terrific suspense and style, 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.

©2019 Lara Prior-Palmer (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

great book!

loved it! great story with exciting turns! I would recommend to horse lovers & non horse lovers alike!

loved!! and se well written!

lots of quotes from this one. loved the reader also.

wish you did not have forced limit of 15 words. should be enough i want to rate

an inspiration for all young women

You don't have to be a horseback rider to appreciate Lara's grit. As a keen child with a desire to grow into my strength and courage, I can relate to her story.

Lara's love for horses and her innate skill to ride them, exposes the champion within her.

May every adolescent girl, aspiring young woman and mature adult tap into her natural gift.

fun

lovey story. decent descriptions. a little difficult with it being from one point of view

Loved every minute.

I'm not one for reviews, but I loved this book so so much. Lara is hilarious and gentle and sturdy and wonderful. Nor am I one to reread a book --- but I will be doing just that.

Word Magic

The magic in this story comes from the beautiful prose and vivid imagery mingled throughout the telling of the tale—a compelling adventure, both physical and psychological. The juxtaposition of poetry and horse racing and the refreshing young woman at the center of the story charmed me from beginning to end, and the appreciation of nature and Mongolia’s people (and ponies) made me want to see it for myself. This book is for horse lovers, adventurers, poets, and those trying to discover their places in the world. The narration is perfectly suited to the story and I loved everything about this book.

Laid back teen who wins a race, I guess

I could not finish the book after listening repeated story of a teen who seems very laid back, probably wins a race by default. I would have preferred if she was more determined to win the race and more of a book about Mongolia, instead of England.

Rough magic book

Story is great, narrator disturbing.
Hope story will be presented by different narrator again. Dont recommend book.

Loved every minute!

Delightful writing, action, adventure, history, connection to horses and nature… very easy listen. Highly recommend.

1/3 Horse Race, 2/3's Unburdening of Soul

This is the chronicle of a somewhat troubled, but highly observational and soulful young lady who undertakes the adventure of a 1000 mile horse race across Mongolia. I expected more waxing poetic about the landscape and the horses, but that was me projecting my own feelings about the outdoors and the equine race. To me they are simultaneously adventure and relaxation, fulfilling both roles as needed. The horse itself seems to mean something different to Ms. Lara, like an outlaw of yore; it's an escape vehicle, though on a metaphorical level that she needs to break out of what seems to be a stuffy and unhappy childhood. However, her appreciation of the land, the history, and the horse shines through in it's own way.

The adventure of the great race is fully present, described somewhat self deprecatingly. The author sees herself in a comic farce more than as a player in a great epic, but she nonetheless triumphs. And beset with what I would call a nervous disposition, this seems to bother her, as if winning disrupts her octagonal piece in a round hole self image.

I greatly enjoyed the book, and the mental exercise of riding along on the journey. Wherever the author is, I hope she's in happier times, and has come to terms with herself and the world in a more comfortable fashion. Most of all, I hope she's still riding, but because she truly wants to.