Fearless: The life of adventurer, equestrian and endurance rider Chloe Phillips-Harris

by Chloe Phillips-Harris

The real-life adventures of a young woman pushing the limits, trusting her instincts and living her life off the beaten path



Suffering through searing pain and delirious illness in frigid, makeshift conditions, Chloe Phillips-Harris, at the age of 25 years, summoned every ounce of determination to brave the world's most gruelling horse race - the Mongol Derby. This 1000-kilometre endurance race across the wild steppes, desert and mountains of Mongolia - a competition with no marked course, no support team, that requires riders to switch horses every 40 km - saw almost half the competitors drop out along the way, but Chloe persevered.



Fearless recounts Chloe's childhood growing up on a run-down farm in a remote corner of New Zealand, with the odds stacked against her, and shares her life-long dedication to animals that has led her to train wild stallions and help save neglected working animals, travelling to some of the most remote and diverse places on the planet - all of which prepared her to overcome unimaginable challenges during a ride like no other.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2019

Reviews

[Lx Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cool to read about someone from NZ doing some crazy shit- I got so hooked on her story that now I want to go research her more!

[Tatyana Kooznetzoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning is a little slow. I thought it was supposed to set the scene but was of little relevance as the book progressed. I understand it being interesting for her, as they were stories about her family, but as the reader the relevance is important.

I enjoyed reading about her career changes. It gave me inspiration that you don’t just have to do one thing. You are allowed to have uncertainty.

I also enjoyed the big adventure, it was motivating to hear of Chloe’s resilience.

Quite a few spelling / grammatical mistakes.

Would recommend as it is a short read that is somewhat inspiring

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me think about courage and resilience. "It seemed to be slicing my knees and ankles apart tearing at every joint in my body".

The writer is teaching us about courage and resilience because life can be very hard when going out of your comfort zone but sometimes you have to take risks and .sometimes those risks can be dangerous.

In my opinion courage and resilience are very important and can take you a long way only if you take the right ones.

[Emily Cavell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! I really loved this book, Chloe told her story in a very engaging and inspiring way. Best impulse purchase of a book yet :)

[Naya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an amazing story! The Mongol derby sounds incredible and Chloe did a great job of writing this. As a 15 year old equestrian this book showed me that you can go off the beaten path and do something new and different with horses. I loved how she wrote about all her adventures and not just the derby. Thank you for the great book and I really hope you can write another story soon!

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging story and made you wish you had more photos to see all the amazing sights for yourself (or to do it - wow how great would that be!)
Zoomed through this as wanted to know what happened next!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing story about both her life and her amazing raw experience of what the Mongol Derby is really like.

[Dayna Cargill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book by an amazing writer, her ability to draw you in to the events of the Mongol derby is thrilling and makes a very good read I was hooked and finished it too fast! I didn't want it to end!

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned of Chloe while listening to her being interviewed on a podcast.

This book was a joy to read!

What an amazing life this woman has led so far!
💞

I hope there are more books in her future.

[Tess Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing! Such an inspiration in her actions and words

[Shalyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her story was pretty fascinating and what crazy stories from the Mongol Derby! Certainly will make you consider chasing your dreams more and going for crazy stuff.

Her editors let her down in not helping to refine the writing more.

[Megan Baragwanath · Rating 5 out of 5]

From reading this book, I learned how dedicated and hard Chloe had to work to ride horses. She worked extremely hard to get to shows and compete - she was never given a “perfect horse,” she had to endure all the problems, and go through all the rearing, bolting and bucking before she could ever think about competing. “I had never realised that some people were just there for fun. I guess because, for me, it was an ongoing struggle and a sacrifice of everything else to make my dream possible.” Chloe through dedication to not only the sport but her horses, worked for everything she had, and in my opinion, this makes her a far better rider and person because of it. In the world today, many people will succeed to greater heights than others. Yes sadly often money can get them there, but hard work plays a tremendous role. Although money can buy a lot, one thing it cannot buy is skill. Those who work and struggle for the highest level of skill and don't just try to buy themselves into the sport will always be the better competitors and people in the end for what they endured and learned along the way. This is why people like Chloe, because of their tremendous dedication and hard work to what many might have given up on, are the real role models and real success stories we should all aspire to.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!

What an amazing journey this young lady has lived. Great can’t believe how much life she’s packed into such a short existence. I really enjoyed the backstory of her parents and family growing up and how and why she ends up in Mongolia. The details of the derby kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The writing is terrific.