The Mongolian Competition was hosted outside Ulaanbaatar in the historical Genghis Khan village.
Landing at the airport and driving no more than 30 minutes out of the capital, the venue was set between high mountain ridges. The accommodation was in original yurts with wild horses roaming freely a stone’s throw away. Eagles soaring through the skies above it felt like nothing had changed for the last 1000 years.
The horses still used the same rawhide bridles that have been used for the last 1000 years.
The entire competition was a massive cultural enrichment. The evenings were filled with performances from musicians, contortionists, and dancers.
We visited museums and the Genghis Khan monument which includes its own museum with a 10,000-year timeline on how the Mongolians evolved.
The competition horses were small but very fast. For example, the Korean 5 over 150 m is 23 seconds across the world. In Mongolia, the cut-off time is 14 sec.
I picked a very nice horse used by the military and was able to get him to go slow and fast.
Mongolia will see us again.
