13 Mongolian Horses

1. After we went for a ride, our drivers, waiters, and maids raced.

2. Getting ready to ride. Notice the uncomfortable saddle. Mongolians like them hard, and tight, and then spend all their time standing the the stirrups.

3. The long poll used to catch horses.

4. In the Gobi Desert all the animals rely in the wells. The nomads made no effort to chose which would go first, but the horses, being larger, pushed their way in early and drove all the goats and sheep off.

5. One horse hadn’t had enough when the rest of the horses wandered off. The guide shook his head and said it was a pity, because now that there was only one, the goats would run him off.

6. He stuck it out a while, but was indeed squeezed out.

7. The season in the Gobi is a little later than up north. They were just starting to separate the colts to put them on a line. This was mostly done by riding a motorcycle around them and chasing them on foot.

8. Lots of chasing.

9. Most of the little ones went on the line quickly, but certain ones ran around in circles.

10. Over and over.

11. We left before they got them all seperated.

12. When we went to the slot canyons, another group had horses available to rent individually. My mother opted for that while the rest of us hiked in.

13. Some of the kids were getting on and off the younger horses. I couldn’t tell if they kids were supposed to be learning to ride, or the horses getting used to the kids. Not much bucking, but the horses weren’t the kind of patient I would expect. They played while we ate lunch, then wandered off.

For more about horses and the way Mongolians relate to them, check out my Monday post.