>>982148I don't have access to the rest of my photos right now, but, Mongolia has very few fences so you can ride just about anywhere as 95% of the country is public land.
The horses there are short, stocky, and half-wild. In the winter they release them all out to the steppe and, whatever survives the brutal winter, is the herd for the next year. In spring, when it thaws out, families go and catch the number of horses they had last year with long catch polls. Due to this, the horses can be hard to control. They don't really have a "stop" you just kind of angle them up hill so they slow down enough for you to hop off. They'll also gallop at the drop of the hat and we would find ourselves at full gallop pretty often. Best horses I've ever ridden.
The mongols ability to ride is amazing, they break horses by throwing their kids on them so they learn how to ride at a very young age. One family we stayed with had an 8 year old kid who won bronze in the Nadaam for his age group and that race is fucking brutal.
Want to rest? Stop in at a ger you see on the way, knock on the door and they'll invite you in for some tea. Just make sure to leave a gift for their hospitality. Batteries are usually a good bet.
We had one lady let us try some Mongolian milk vodka known as arkhi. They distill it out of kefir which is usually cow or yak milk. The drink is rather sacred, so you have to offer a bit to the sky, the wind, and the land before you drink. It was damn good too, sweet and a little sour.
We had a guy with us who wasn't that great at horseback riding and his horse would wander off to go hang out with other herds. One time we were waiting on him and he came back and told us that this old Mongolian wandered over to him, handed him the reins of his horse, took off a stirrup from his saddle, reached into a hole, pulled out a screaming marmot, bashed its brains in, cleaned it, skinned it, tied it to his horse and rode off. It was dinner that night.
