Mongolian Wild Horse

In the 15th century, Johann Schiltberger recorded one of the first European sightings of the horses in the journal of his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan.The horse is named after Russian General Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839--1888) (the spelling of the horse breed as "Przewalski" derives from the Polish spelling of the name. He was an explorer and naturalist who described the horse in 1881, after having gone on an expedition to find it, based on rumours of its existence. Many of these horses were captured around 1900 by Carl Hagenbeck and placed in zoos. As noted above, about twelve to fifteen reproduced and formed today's population.

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Gobi desert

Shamanism

Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world.A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman.
Shamanism encompasses the belief that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.

Buuz

Buuz are a type of Mongolian steamed dumpling filled with minced mutton, or beef meat. The meat is flavoured with onion or garlic and salted. Occasionally, they are flavoured with sprouted fennel seeds and other seasonal herbs. Some households add mashed potato, cabbage or rice depending on their preferences.

The meat ball is then placed inside a small pocket of dough which is folded around the ball with a small opening at the top and in the chef's own personal style. The buuz is then steamed and eaten by hand, with the dough pocket catching the juices of the meat.

Buuz is an example of authentic Mongolian cuisine. The dish is traditionally eaten at home on Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year. It is also offered at restaurants and small cafes throughout the capital of Ulaanbaatar[1]. It is similar to another Mongolian dumpling, khuushuur, except that the latter is not steamed but fried.

Huushuur Recipe

1 kg minced mutton or Beef, with fat included
3 ½ teaspoons salt
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
water to mix
Mix the filling ingredients together into a firm paste.

For the dough:

4 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
water to mix
Directions

Mix the dough ingredients together and knead into a dough. Divide into smaller pieces and roll these into cylinders about 3 cm in diameter. Cut the cylinders into 4 cm lengths. To assemble: Take one length of dough and Squash it into a circle. Roll it out until it is 8 to 10 cm wide. Roll more at the edges than in the middle, so the dough is slightly thinner around the edges. Put 2 ½ dessertspoons of meat mixture onto one side of your circle, leaving a space around the edge. Fold the other side over, pinching the edge flat. Leave one corner open and squeeze out the air, then seal the corner. Fold the corner over and pinch again, then work around the edge folding and pinching into a twist pattern. Repeat the process with the rest of the filling and dough pieces. To cook: Using 2 litres cooking oil, heat the oil in a wok (make sure the oil comes no higher than 5 cm below the top). Fry three or four pasties at a time for two minutes each side, until they are brown and the meat is cooked. Eat with tomato ketchup or soy sauce.

Mongolian bear

The Gobi bear is a subspecies of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. At present they are listed as "very rare" in the Mongolian Red Book, and may represent a threatened subspecies, as the small population of Gobi bears makes them vulnerable to outside threats. Some estimates place the population as low as 30 individuals.

Mongolian wolf

Horse racing

The Mongolian horse is the native horse breed of Mongolia. The breed is purported to be largely unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan. Nomads living in the traditional Mongol fashion still hold more than 3 million animals, which outnumber the country's human population. Despite their small size, they are horses, not ponies.
In Mongolia, the horses live outdoors all year (at 30°C in summer down to -40°C in winter)and search for food on their own. The mare's milk is processed into the national beverage Airag, and some animals are slaughtered for meat. Other than that, they serve as riding animals, both for the daily work of the nomads and in horse racing.

Mongolian horses are frugal, arduous, somewhat wily, and tread safely in rough terrain. In Mongolia, most animals are kept roaming free, and only a small number of riding animals get caught and tethered. Once the animal has become familiarized with carrying a rider, it will be calm, friendly, and very reliable.

The Mongolian saddle is very tall, with a wooden frame. It only allows marginal control of the gait. In most situations, the horse will decide the gait on its own, while the rider is occupied with other tasks (such as herding cattle). Very often, a Mongolian horse will choose to canter.


Child racing at the Naadam festivalRacing horses with a child in the saddle will run in full gallop over 35 km at a time. They are trained to keep running even after losing their riders. In such a case, they need to be stopped in the finish zone by aides waiting there especially for that purpose.

Horses are greatly cherished in Mongolian culture, particularly among the nomads because horses are very useful to people's daily lives and livelihood. A nomad with many horses is considered wealthy, and having many horses which are also in good shape is considered honorable behavior. Mongols almost never kill their horses for food unless they are in a state of extreme hunger and cattle or sheep are not available. Mongol people individually have favorite horses, each family member has his and her own horse, and some family members value their favorite horses by saving them from working under a lot of pressure.

The Mongol bow

The Mongol bow is a recurved composite bow renowned for its military effectiveness. The old Mongolian bows that were used during the times of Genghis Khan were smaller than the modern weapons used at most Naadam festivals today. Modern Mongolian bows are larger and have string bridges. The modern design is very similar to the Manchurian bows used by the Chinese military during the Qing Dynasty. The Mongolian archery tradition may be continuous, but archery was officially outlawed in Mongolia after it was conquered by the Manchu dynasty.

Traditional wrestling

Mongolian wrestling is a martial art and a traditional style of Folk wrestling that has been practiced in Mongolia for nearly 2,000 years. Wrestling is the most important of the Mongolian culture’s historic "Three Manly Skills", that also include horsemanship and archery, and plays a key role in their sacrificial ritualsand festivals.Genghis Khan considered wrestling to be an important way to keep his army in good physical shape and combat ready. The Manchu dynasty (1646-1911) Imperial court held regular wrestling events, mainly between Manchu and Mongol wrestlers.

Hotels

Tsaatan people and Mongolian Reindeer