A day in the life..........

An AMAZING day horse riding in Mongolia

Of course, the main thing is when you go riding you need a horse and sometimes in Mongolia they prove damned dastardly to catch, especially since they have a few million acres that they can escape in.

Armed with a light pole about 5 metres long with a loop of rope on the end - called a 'uurga', our herdsman singled out his victim and showing great skill and dexterity, usually at full gallop, he placed the noose over the horses head. As soon as the animal felt the tug of the rope it became resigned to it's fate and quietened, not even attempting to struggle further.

 Feeling the tug of the rope, calmness descended.

Some showed a canny ability to evade the noose without exhausting themselves but the herder outsmarted them all and all succumbed to the uurga in the end.

A great shot of the uurga showing noose and pole. I just can't imagine always having to catch your horse like this even though the years of practising they do, make it look relatively easy. This one was very determined not to be caught but the determination of the herder was far greater - the horse gave him a good run for his money though.

 Still galloping....

 

 Caught and calmness descends.

This intrepid group of 15 women from all over the world gathered together for a completely incredible experience. It wouldn't have been possible without Julie and her husband who have taken the Mongolian experience to another level, not just for them, but all who have become involved in horse riding every week.

They have purchased a 'ger' and all the trappings as a second home in the country-side. With this involvement, Julie also felt a responsibility to increase not only the richness of their lives but also the Mongolians who have so kindly allowed them to put the ger on their land.

Digressing slightly but this is how riding every week at Julie's ger came about. After I had been out for another ride, with a registered tour outfit, I was disgusted (to say the least) with the state of the horses and got Nigel and his Mongolian vet colleagues to become involved to try improve the lot of the horses - which they did but it was going to take many months before they were suitable to ride.

In steps Julie with the great thought that we could ride the horses, which her landlord, Baggi, owns plus other herders in the area, bringing them an income which would not only improve their lives but also the lives of their animals, as they would be able to afford fodder to see them through the winter.... win, win all round, although I think we get the better end of the bargain. I hope they think that they do.

Rugged up against the cool, biting breeze and stirrups adjusted one last time we set off towards our destination some 25 kilometres away - Turtle Rock.

With the sun shining overhead, the Tuul river was the first of our obstacles to cross, although to be honest, some may say it was the saddles, bridles and horses first as many of the riders out for this adventure have only been in the saddle for the past 6 weeks, some having never ridden before in their lives, so this was quite something to be taking on.

 Julie and Gita stayed dry for this crossing but some others weren't so lucky a little later.

 The wonderfully indomitable Julie kitted out in the latest riding fashion including a new saddle.

Others getting a little deeper in the water than they hoped, fortunately they only got wet feet. We were a little behind and managed only to get the horses hooves wet further up the river as we used the ford.

Out into open country and everyone was beginning to get to know their horses and thoroughly enjoy the day although some were beginning to feel the strain of muscles unused to such a workout .

So much so that we had to shed many layers of clothing, thank heavens there was a support vehicle where we were able to dump them all - our coats, jackets, gloves etc. Baggi was well loaded up taking them to the vehicle.

The other Julie stepping out in style on the Steppe.

Susie with her new riding equipment and Charlotte enjoying the ambience of the day.

A quick pick for the horses and the opportunity for riders to send a quick text!!

Susie enjoying the peaceful stroll along the rivers edge.

One of the many herds of horses seen on the ride and this would be about an average size herd in this area - 30 to 40 horses.

Horses at 2.5 million are certainly not in the numbers that sheep and goats are in Mongolia at about 50 million - 25 milllion sheep, 25 million goats. The high numbers are causing untold damage to the land and if things don't begin to change soon, Mongolia is going to be all desert in just a few years as nothing gets to flower and reseed. Just like Saudi and so much of the Middle East.

First smoko break and I am not sure if they were discussing the direction we were taking or not!!

Love this photo of Baggi and his mobile phone, which has pretty good coverage all over Mongolia and we can't get coverage at our home in Australia only a few hours drive from the capital city of Australia.

Back in the saddle we leave the valley floor behind us to cross the mountain to reach Turtle Rock

Spectacular scenery unfolds before us wherever we look. We are heading up the valley to the left.

Looking back riders are a little more strung out now as the climb begins and I am sure most of us are begining to feel muscles we never knew we had.

Nearly to the top......

Julie looking very relaxed seated in her shiny new saddle

Finally to the top and looking an an Ovoo - Mongolian Shamanistic shrine, which you generally circle three times in a clockwise direction and leave a small offering of some kind.

 
If you look really, really hard you will see a turtle shaped rock under where the cross is.... that is where we are headed.

 Jenny behind Baggi heading down the mountain.......

 With the others all following on behind

 We have just crossed that mountain behind the gang - awesome effort by all.

Another smoko break for the herders - cum - guides. Interestingly, most Mongolian men smoke and and an awful lot of womem as well, cigarettes are very cheap.

 You can now see Turtle Rock a little more clearly, only about a kilometre and a bit to go.

 Susie leading the gang coming down the home straight.

Picked up a few stray expat here riders on the way but I know they didn't have as much fun as we did nor had they ridden so far.

 Turtle Rock in all it's glory............ and you can see the size of it from the cars parked below.

 Not sure what he is saying but it is interesting to see how they tie the horses together so it makes it difficult for them to gallop off and if that doesn't work you hobble them - tie their front feet together.

 A hearty bowl of soup was a very welcome, very late lunch, enjoyed by all, well almost, there wasn't quite enough meat in it for the Mongolians

And it was an experience worth celebrating with a touch of bubbles... some lined up quicker than others and I have to say I didn't miss out on a little drop.

Time to farewell our trusty steeds and herder friends as they head back over the mountain to home. Amazing people and, without their generosity, kindness and care, this day wouldn't have been the extraordinary time that it was for all of us.

Some of the horses even seemed rather reluctant to leave us

but it didn't take Baggi long to gather up all the horses and depart for the two hour journey home.

 An amazing day and enjoyed by all... certainly the expats, but I think our Mongolian friends also enjoyed it

 And just to prove I was on the trip, thanks for this photo, Susie.

Horse riding in Mongolia can be for any level rider although I recommend that you don't come to Mongolia until, at the earliest, April next year as winter is upon us with snow in the hills and down to -15C tonight. Mind you, we hardy 'locals' will continue the riding experience through the winter months.

It is an extraordinary place to be and I know most of the expats here feel the same way... or at least the ones I associate with do.

I hope you enjoyed the journey.