Our First Mongolian horse-riding experience

Well you would think being in the middle of nowhere you would get a good night sleep. Far from it. The dogs kept barking like they were talking to each other across the valley. The wild horses would come munching right up close to the ger, and the marmots could be heard robbing the woolly insulation around the ger for their nests. So it was quite a noisy night. A walk up the hill to fetch more fire wood, today was warmer and slightly brighter than the day before. We decided to go for a horse ride to Turtle rock about an hour away by horse. The horses are much smaller than in England but the are well looked after and looked good. Bryan had the honour of wearing a traditional Mongolian overcoat so warm and cozy, donated by the uncle here. We rode off, well the horses walked off. Bryan was left to ride for himself where as Jody was being lead by a lead as if she was a beginner and did not know what she was doing! It was so funny but Jody did not think so. The men here seem to be the horse riders and we haven't really seen any women riding. I think the Grandad just thought he was being considerate to Jody and just assumed Bryan knew what he was doing, but when you think Bryan has only been riding a year and Jody about 30 years we think they got it the wrong way round! Well it didn’t take long before they let Jody off the leash and we reached Turtle rock after about an hours riding. We dismounted our horses and headed for the rock. We made an Ovoo offering by circling a piles of sacred stones (like a stone cairn) three times clockwise, and throwing a stone on it each time around. Next a small shop selling Mongolia craft souvenirs like the felt goods,key rings and jewellery. They also had fortune telling ankle bones which Jody bought. The four ankle bones tell your fortune depending which way they fall, either Sheep, Goat, Camel or Horse. You hold the ankle bones to you mouth, make a wish or a request and the throw them and depending how they land they tell you what you want to know. So say! Heading back on the horse we wanted to gallop or even a trot would be nice, but the guide just plodded on at a walking pace. At one stage we got up to a trot and then it turned in to a canter. Oh how excited we both got an then just as quickly as it started we went back to a walk. Later in in the day the family were in the process of building a ger, we offered to help. It was interesting helping out see which parts go together in what order. They stopped half way through building it to go off an milk the mares, we were asked to keep back as they not only were wild not they had to tie the back legs to stop the mares from kicking or bucking. The uncle would grab a foal to suckle on the mare only to start the milk coming then he would pull the foal off and the grandmother would milk the mare. This process happened over and over again with varying degrees of success. After the milking we all headed back to finish of building the ger, mainly just to put the wrapping around and over the wooden structure we had built earlier. The uncle then took us to his ger where he was setting up the process for making Airag - the fermented mares milk potion they all drink here. They use a cow hide to hold the milk then beat the milk with a giant potato masher - all day! Midnight, Jody said let's go and see the Mongolian stars like we have everywhere. What we used to do at Bryan's house was wrap blankets around us and lie on the grass outside. Slightly cloudy, but clear enough to see the stars and we both caught sight of a shooting star an made a wish. Another perfect day!