For all the racing fanatics out there this is the post for you….
Jockeys and trainers
Jockeys can officially race at 7 years old and as they must be less than 30Kg they generally retire by the age of 12. To put this in to perspective a bag of horse feed is usually 25Kg. After this some become trainers. There are roughly 60,000 trainers in Mongolia. A day in the life of a jockey during term time includes studying during the day and training in the evening. Some children go back to the city in the autumn and do not continue training until the spring.
Racing levels
There are 21 provinces in Mongolia. Province level racing is the lowest level and does not require any qualification. Regional is the middle level. There are 5 regions (North, South, East, West and Central) which are made up of 3-4 provinces. Regional prize money is funded by both the state and external companies and can be up to $7000 for a champion. State races are the highest level of racing and are associated with the highest level of honour however, these races are only funded by the state so the prize money is lower at $2000 for a champion. For state and regional races, you enter your most successful horses. A champion is a horse that is awarded 1-5th place. In a field of around 300 horses though this is no mean feat. Horses are entered in to different age categories and the distance the horse will run depends on the age. The age of the horse is verified by a vet who looks at their teeth.
There is a break from racing on October, November and December but apart from that racing happens all year round. Horses could be racing in the snow in -30 degreed celsius or in the blazing heat +30 decrees celsius.
Horses complete double the racing distance as they must walk out to the start line and then race back. This makes Mongolian racing a serious test of endurance. There are two categories in Mongolian racing; Mongolian horses only and mixed breed horses.
At 5 years old a horse will become a stallion or be gelded. This is important as races are split in to stallions and geldings for the Mongolian breed racing. Mares are not raced as racing a mare is thought to have a negative impact on her fertility.
Mongolian only racing
11Km for 2yo
14km for 3yo
18km for 4yo
22-23km for 5 yo or stallion – this is the most important race
25km geldings, 6yo or older
Mixed breed racing
This category is for horse which is a crossbred of Mongolian and any other breed.
Young – 2yo 11km
Middle – 3yo and 4yo 14km
Mature- stallions and geldings and 5yo 22-23km
Race in the same way as the Mongolian only - double the distance as they trot out to the start line and race back
There is no way of assessing pedigree to define whether a horse is a crossbred or not. If the horse looks like a Mongolian horse, then it can race in a Mongolian only horse race. This mean that by the 5th generation of a crossbred horses, descendants generally look Mongolian so can compete in Mongolian only racing.
Breeding
Breeders and trainers look for the same things in a Mongolian race horse as you would do in a Thoroughbred race horse: bone diameter, conformation, past performance and pedigree. Trainers select the horses to be broken for racing as foals. If they are not selected, then they continue to live out on the steepe unhandled. Some foals are sold.
Foals from the Eastern provinces, such as, Khentii and Sukhbaatar, are larger because it is not traditional for humans to drink mares’ milk. Consequently, foals get all the milk improving their growth. Mongolian horses from the Eastern provinces were historically selected for racing as they had to travel 20-25km every day to drink water making them naturally adapted for endurance. Horses stayed in this region despite the lack of water due to the quality of the grass. Western regions on Mongolia are more mountainous and have better access to water reducing their adaptation for endurance.
Champion stallions have their own ‘family’ (harem/ herd) of mares which are out on the steepes with them. Every morning they are brought in to the corral for food and water as the natural supply is limited.
If you wish to move a mare to a different harem belonging to another stallion, you have to physically separate them and reintroduce her to the new group.
Horses are brought in before they give birth they do not give birth on the steepe
The foals wean themselves off the mares naturally. If the mare conceives to give birth the following year then she will start to reject her older foal before the birth of her new foal. If she does not reconceive then foals can suckle from the mare for up to 2 years. This is the most natural way of keeping horses I have ever seen. I was a delight to see!
Buying a Mongolian race horse
Horse for riding $500 broken
Foal (unbroken) for racing $500-10,000
Unraced broken or unplaced racing $1,000 -$10,000
1-5th provincial champ $5,000-$15,000
1-5th regional champion $10,000-$20,000
1-5th state champion $20,000 -$500,000 (only one horse ever sold for $500,000)
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