Postcards From The Saddle: Mongolia

By: Alexandra Manon

I had just arrived in the capital, Ulanbataar, when I immediately obtained a very good idea about how much horses are a part of the culture in Mongolia. I was discussing with the tour guide about Australia and the popularity and importance of swimming.  I commented that children in Australia generally start learning to swim around 4-5 years of age, to which she replied, 'ah, that's when children start to learn to ride horses here'...

This became more obvious when I saw a number of horse races as part of the Naadam festival (the national holiday held around early July each year). Firstly, they don't go around a race track, instead they travel pretty much in a straight line, for a distance of many kilometres, and there can be anything from 30 to 300 horses participating.  All the jockeys are children, most start around 8 years of age, many of whom were riding bareback, just unbelievable!

I did a horse riding and camping trek for a week in the Naiman Nuur (eight lakes region) which is part of 11,500 hectare Khuisiin Nature Reserve about 400 kilometres west of the capital, at an elevation of 2000-2500 metres.  This is one of three areas popular for horse riding in Mongolia.  It has sweeping hills, beautiful valleys, rocks formations and unlike other parts of Mongolia, forest areas of Siberian pine, which makes for a very interesting ride with plenty of diversity. Whilst the plains of Mongolia are beautiful, they can be come a bit monotonous. We did about 4-6 hours riding per day, covering around 15-25 kms each day.

Mongolian horses - even though they are only about 12-14 hands high, you should never call them 'ponies' in front of the locals - have rather short legs and large heads but don't let their small stature fool you, they are quite strong and sturdy.  It was observed by one of our group, that when a Mongolian horseman was trying to catch one of the horses, he was able to get the lasso around the neck but the horse just kept going, dragging him along the ground and then into a swollen creek where he went water-skiing for a few metres! Most of the horses are not shod, nor do their hooves require trimming, it seems to happen quite naturally. Generally, they are very tolerant and responsive but like any horse, they can get spooked by things to which they are not familiar. In our case it was the noise of our wet-weather/adventure gear and the removing of backpacks or jackets. Whilst riding, I also kept in mind that they can shy from certain objects on the ground (litter or items left from 'ger' camps) or when a bird took flight (Mongolia has an amazing variety of birds).

I also looked out for the numerous Mongolian hamster holes (big enough for a hoof to get caught) and rocks dotted throughout the countryside that were left from volcanic eruptions centuries ago.  However, these incidents were rare and even though I've only ridden for approximately 2 years, I felt very confident with my horse's ability; as he crossed rivers, climbed mountain tracks of mud and rock, went through marsh land and manoeuvred over small boulders, not to mention getting slapped in the face numerous times by tree branches as we tried to find an alternative track through the forest due to flooding of certain areas. 

All the horses that we rode were geldings.  Mares are not used for riding, as they are needed to be with their foals and also they are milked to make 'Arakh' - a fermented drink which we were offered everytime we visited a nomadic family at their ger.

The saddles were really very comfortable and are made in South Africa. They are similar to the ones used by the South African police (one of the ladies has been working in Kenya for many years, so she recognised them). The owner of the company told us later that he had had them custom made for Mongolian horses by the same people that organise the Mongol rally, which is a race where people have to get to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from Europe by any means and any route!

In Mongolia horses, in some ways, are treated similar to other herds of animals; they are free to forage around the countryside with very little or no fencing and rounded up by horseback or motorbike!

Thank you so much to Alexandra for sharing her adventures in Mongolia with us! Have you got an interesting story from your horsey adventures? Email jo@horsezone.com.au with the details and photos and we will share your story on Horsezone!