Mongolia Trip: Horse Riding I

Day 6 - Saturday 13th August 2016

Earlier this year, I was on a horse for the very first time in my entire life. I wanted the experience as I knew that I would be horse riding on my trip to Mongolia. I honestly forgot that 2 days of horse riding would be included on my tour which was very exciting. Mongolian horses are a lot smaller than the typical horse. They are said to be half wild since the families let the horses roam freely except when they need a horse to ride. That being said, the family do select the same few horses for the tourists to ride. Mongolians only ride male horses as the female horses are for milking.



The first horse that I got on kept on lying down randomly. It wasn't as scary when it happened since they are quite short that the distance to the ground isn't that great. However after the 3rd time it happened, the horse guide swapped my horse with the tour guide's. This was my second time on a horse and crossing the river was quite an experience. The word to make a horse go faster is "choo". It was quite a funny sight to see all of us just 'choo-ing' our horses across the river.


Lunch was cold pasta with, you guessed it lamb, fat pieces, potatoes and carrots! Luckily our guide had brought some hot sauce which made everything taste a little better. By lunch time, I realised that I do have an allergy to horses and kept sneezing non stop. It was really horrible; my eyes and nose kept running and I could not stop sneezing. I had my bandanna up to try to block some of the dander. It was quite an uncomfortable experience.

I didn't take too many photos on the first day since I was a little nervous on the horse; second time horse riding without a helmet and also first time on trotting horse! We travelled 20km to a nomadic family and we had some free time. I was quite tired from sitting in the saddle for close to 5 hours and laid down in the grass for a little while.










The horse guide's saddle which looks incredible uncomfortable.


Inside of a ger.



The nomadic family was so incredibly welcoming and it was such a lovely experience. The horse guide went to the bush and picked a whole bucket of berries and we had some for dessert. Even though we didn't speak Mongolian, it reminded me that communication is more than speaking the same language. They showed us how to eat the berries - which were quite sour- by dipping it in sugar, or dipping it in fresh yoghurt and then sugar.

This was my ninth trip as part of #take12trips. To see previous trips please click here.