Derek joins the
Blue Wolf Totem 2026
"On the Trail of the Ancients"
4,000 km on horseback in 120 days to help Mongolian children in need.
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#RideLikeChinggis
Quick Donate!
Just scan the QR code or click the Donate Button Below to sponsor Derek and
his epic ride across Mongolia in support of the children!
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American & International Residents
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100% of all received funds will go to help the children!
Join the Veloo Foundation's Monthly Sponsorship Programme in support of Derek's ride and 1 year's worth of Sponsorship donations* will be credited to Derek's fundraising profile total & you'll be making a difference all year long!
*except for bank fees
A Message from Derek:
The opportunity and challenge of riding in the Blue Wolf Totem in 2026 for 120 days and 4000km will be life changing. As our boys grew up, we enjoyed many vacations. And whenever we could, we tried to include a horse ride.
Our son Jens, despite seizures and left sided paralysis, always had an amazing oneness with horses, from the time he was very young. As a family, we had epic rides in the Red Deer River valley (Alberta), followed a few years later by an overnight horse trek in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. Three years before his death, Jens rode bareback in the Caribbean Sea. He loved it. 
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My Mongolia adventure started in December 2022 when my wife, Doris, applied and was accepted for a teaching position at an international school in Ulaanbaatar. We had always wanted to live abroad, but Doris only had two more teaching years left. I think in many ways Mongolia chose us. We certainly didn’t know what to expect. But we both knew that we wanted to fully experience Mongolian horse culture. Connecting with Horse Trek Mongolia led to our “introductory” ride (a 53km two-day overnight trek) in August 2023.
Subsequent horse treks and my participation in the Gobi Gallop 2024 has deepened my love for the wide and varied landscape of Mongolia. The highlight of any trek is experiencing Mongolian nomadic culture, in its many forms. 
I have had the opportunity to visit the Veloo Foundation’s Children of the Peak Sanctuary kindergarten and Gandys Community Library multiple times. In a community which has so few resources available to them, I am moved by the incredible power and potential the library brings. This vibrant gathering place is so important to children, teens and their families. Libraries have always been important to our family. Doris has been a teacher-librarian in disadvantaged areas of Toronto; our sons, Oliver and Jens, volunteered and were involved with libraries in every stage of their lives.
And now my participation in the Blue Wolf Totem 2026 will allow me to raise funds to continue the exceptional work of the Veloo Foundation. Doris and I will be matching each dollar donated up to the $3500 US goal in honour of our remarkable son, Jens, who died at age twenty-eight of seizure-related complications. |
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