Genghis Khan Lives

Just look at that face- It's easy to be impressed by the stern, resolved stare. He conquered most of the "known world" from Korea to Europe, leading an army of invincible horseman. But when he got to the Great Wall that was protecting China, the story is that he played smart and simply bribed the guards. John Wayne played him in the movies! (I read somewhere recently that Mickey Rourke is playing him in an upcoming film - I will pay good money to see THAT.)

The modern Mongolians are rightfully proud and have named just about everything you can think of after him. Airports, candy bars, condo projects, several brands of vodka - you name it.

When I first visited Mongolia in 2008, I opened my hotel drapes and found him staring in my window. He looks quite pleased with the new surge in construction that was underway.

If I am reading the legend on this map correctly, most of this territory was conquered within an amazingly short 50 years.

Ancient Horses

A little more than seventeen thousand years ago, someone entered a cave in what is today southern France. Their hands were full of brushes and pigments and their mind was fixed on the image of an animal that had captured their imagination. By the light of a fat burning lamp a few simple strokes were applied to the cave wall and preserved the memory of that horse for us to see today. The cave at Lascaux is full of images that might have been painted yesterday but many of the animals shown now are extinct. The wild horses on the cave wall are nearly extinct too - modern horses have evolved through centuries of our human management. 

But in Mongolia, there are about 250 descendants of this ancestral horse who roam freely. It is highly unlikely that we will be anywhere one of the wild herds of Takhis, as the Mongolians call them, but it's nice to know they will be there.

Don't Call Them Ponies

My interest in traveling across Mongolia on horseback for a week was tempered by the fact that I had never ridden before. Needing to set that straight, I have been riding once a week for the past couple of months at a local equestrian center in Lakewood. So far so good - I am enjoying the experience, although there is more physical conditioning than I would have thought. Lately I have been riding Lady Bird who is a bit overweight and needs the exercise as much as I do. She is a sweet horse but sometimes my encouragement is not enough to keep her in a trot. At this point I am feeling pretty comfortable - meaning I don't think I will be embarrassed (or injured) on the trail, but I still have a lot of ground to cover in my lessons - like maybe learning something faster than a trot.

I have learned that Mongolians tend to maintain an attitude different than ours towards their horses. They keep the herd wild, and rotate the animals that they will ride. After a period as a working horse, that are returned to the herd. No names for individual horses, and they only approach them from the left side for mounting - keeping one side of the animal "wild". (Do NOT approach from the wild side.)

Mongolian horses are much smaller than American horses, but DON'T call them ponies. Horses and riders are both a bit touchy on the subject.