walk. Children were often placed on sheep to practice riding when they
were still too small for horseback.
Horse racing in Mongolia is over natural terrain tracks that range in
distance from 15 to 35 kilometers. The riders are children usually between
5 and 12 years of age. Today most races include the use of saddles, but
sometimes riders, as they commonly did in the past, use modified saddles
or no saddle at all.
Horse breeders pay close attention to and place equal emphasis on
both mare and sire when making breeding decisions. Horses are not usu-
ally raced until about 2 years of age. As for the winners, both horse and
rider are celebrated equally. Prizes are given for the first few finishers. Cer-
emonial songs are sung for the victorious horses. An interesting side note
is that the last-place finisher also receives a ceremonial song of encourage-
ment and promise for a strong showing next year.
Clearly, the traditional martial arts of Mongolia grew directly out of
the methods of economic production dictated by life on the steppe. In
essence, a Mongol was in constant preparation for war, as the horse and
bow were tools of daily survival as well as war. Today we find the remnants
of these methods in competitive archery and horse racing. Wrestling also is
a traditional Mongolian pastime, which continues today in popularity and
has widespread participation. Overall, Mongolian martial arts have be-
come national sports as the combative uses have decreased over time. Nev-
ertheless, today the passion among the people for their sports is still strong,
and their sports elicit memories of the traditional lifestyle, which is still
held in high regard.
Aaron Fields
See alsoChina; Wrestling and Grappling: China
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