It’s a test of endurance that some may call crazy, but those who know the medico well are not overly surprised, he says.

Dr Nott was selected as one of 44 riders to compete in the 2016 Mongol Derby, which entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2013 as the world’s toughest and longest horse race.

A recreation of Genghis Khan’s ancient messenger system, participants tackle up to 160kms a day astride hardy and semi-wild horses.

Dr Nott, who grew up at Dunedoo, is setting out on the feat to push the cause of rural mental health.

He said the training had been going well, but was not without its hurdles.

“Who would have thought that working fulltime as a doctor and trying to get the backside battle-hardened is a difficult task given the short days of the Dubbo winter,” he said.

But there were also some fantastic moments along the way.

“I have embraced endurance riding, completing training rides most recently in Mudgee on my little Arab mare that I acquired late last year as something that may reflect the type of horse I’ll be riding on in Mongolia,” Dr Nott said.  

“Also riding on the family property in Dunedoo has never been so enjoyable given how green and beautiful the countryside is looking these days.”

With the countdown on, the immensity of the task is not lost on the rural product who’s been riding since he could walk.

“Some days I think that no amount of training will prepare me for what’s ahead but that same feeling is also what excites me,” Dr Nott said.

“ You never know what is going to happen to you.  

“I’ll be in a foreign environment, on foreign horses, heading to a foreign destination.

“That’s the thrill of it and I can’t wait.”

Dr Nott is calling on individuals and organisations to get behind the rural mental health cause and people can find out more at www.outbushmedicine.com/mongol-derby