Taking part in the annual Naadam Festival in Mongolia is an important part of the Mongolians’ year. The still largely nomadic community take preparation for the three major events, Mongolian wrestling, horse raising and archery, very seriously. This nomadic herdsman has taken every spare opportunity to getting his horse fit…
Mongolia’s wild horses
AT first, as the bright, late-afternoon sun plays on the craggy hillsides and bleached boulders, it is hard to make out the horses, so well do they blend in.
Then gradually, as our eyes adjust to the sharp shadows, we can see them, a herd of about 40, several of the mares with foals by their sides.
These are Przewalski’s horses — takhi, the Mongolians call the breed — that were once thought extinct. But they are now back in the wild, thanks to an international conservation program.