Born in the saddle: Mongolian kids impress with horse racing skills

World
Europe

4 a.m. – usually a time reserved for stumbling home blind drunk and passing out. Not so in Inner Mongolia.

Today, on the steppes of Hulun Buir, one of China’s largest grasslands, thousands of spectators wait in anticipation. Many have traveled several days to come here, some on motorbikes, others in SUVs towing trailers.

They’ve all come for one thing: The Horse Race.

Competitors at the starting line / CGTN He Tianran

The rules are simple: 25 kilometers, five groups of contestants. The players – horses aged 2 to 7. They’ll compete according to their age bracket, with 7 year old steeds going first – adults in the prime of their lives.

They’re the reason everyone’s gathered at the crack of dawn; the temperature right now is still relatively low, so it won’t be as tough on them later when they’re galloping at full speed.

High stakes

Inner Mongolia’s child jockeys / CGTN He Tianran

There’s a lot riding on the race. In the past, the first prize was a camel; coming second won you a horse. Now, the winnings are in for hard cash.

Owners will do everything to give their racehorse a competitive edge, which is why all the jockeys are children – they’re the lightest riders.

The youngest are just 6 years old, little boys (and one girl) barely out of kindergarten. Some don’t even reach the belly of the horse they’re riding.

They’re not to be underestimated though. A common saying goes that “Mongols are born in the saddle”, learning to ride before they can walk.

Those that lag behind literally eat dust. / CGTN He Tianran

The race begins without a bang. One horse just cold not hold it in anymore and shot off the starting-line, spurring the rest of the field into action. Waiting further down the course, we had no idea it’d even started. The dust clouds appeared first. Then came the thundering – muffled to begin with, like drumming your fingers on a heavy table.

Finally, specks emerged on the horizon. As they grew in size, the ground beneath our feet began to tremble. Then all of a sudden, they were upon us; a storm of sinewy steeds with tiny jockeys screaming and whooping, flanked by motorbikes and 4x4s like something out of a Mongolian Mad Max.

Like fish in water

Racing towards the finish line / CGTN He Tianran

We chased after them for a glimpse of the magnificent beasts and their kid riders in action. Many are riding bareback; those that aren’t perch atop traditional Mongolian saddles about the size of a MacBook.

After a while, the leaders pulled clear of the rest; with their backs hunched and right arms dangling to the side, they make horse riding look like the easiest thing in the world – some even chatted with each other at full gallop. For them, this is all in a day’s work – once they finished racing these 7 year old mounts, they’ll go back and compete with horses from other age groups.

The winner of the first race was a waist-high cherub from New Barag Right Banner, colloquially known as West Banner. An old superstition goes that the champion will come from whichever direction the wind was blowing in when the race began. It was north-westerly.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the first province-level ethnic autonomous region in China. Various events were held to celebrate the anniversary, include gala evenings, exhibitions and the Nadam Festival, a traditional event featuring horse racing and Mongolian-style wrestling.