From Sept. 2-8, Kyrgyzstan hosted the World Nomad Games in Cholpon-Ata, along the shore of Lake Issy-Kol, which is the world's second-largest alpine lake. The WNG’s first games were held in 2014, then two years later in 2016. These were the third games, all hosted by Kyrgyzstan.
"Kok-boru" was the game of the day in the Hippodrome, a large arena designed for horse events. Kok-boru is a game played with a dead goat or sheep. It is a traditional nomad game that harkens back to the days when Kyrgyz nomads herded animals on their pastures and had to defend them from wolves. As played traditionally, it was fairly free-form, but for purposes of the WNG, there are official rules and a referee.
The sheep is dead, the head has been cut off and the wound bound up with black cloth. The legs are attached and they are wrapped in black cloth. Both teams have a goal, a giant, stabilized tub, about 10 feet in diameter. It is big enough to hold the sheep and a rider, as it turned out. Everyone, including the referee, is on horseback.
The sheep is placed in the center of a circle in the middle of the arena, with the riders gathered around the circle. At the signal, they all try to get a hold of the sheep carcass, which means leaning down from their horse to grasp it. Horses push forward to get closer so their rider can get a grip, and everyone is in very close quarters, riders and horses pushing each other.
The crowd waits anxiously to see who and which team successfully grabs the carcass. Someone gets it and rides toward their goal, and the crowd cheers him on. The carcass has to be passed at least one time, from player to teammate, before it can be tossed into the goal. Riders on the same team try to keep the opposing team riders from grabbing the carcass away. The rider with the carcass has only one hand free for guiding the horse, and sometimes no hands because the carcass is heavy, about 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds. This game requires strength and skill in riding.
Sometimes the rider dropped the carcass and chaos ensued as he and other riders pushed and shoved again to grab the carcass. It is not a game for the faint of heart. As the rider with the carcass neared the goal, riders defending the goal would put themselves and their horse between the aggressor and the goal, pushing their opponents back if possible. Sometimes the defenders were able to grab the carcass away from the aggressors and ride toward the other team's goal.
Successfully scoring meant throwing the carcass into the goal. Sometimes the heavy carcass didn't make it into the goal and fell down beside the goal. Riders and horses fought to grab the carcass in order to re-throw it or to gallop off to the other goal, depending on who got possession.
When a foul was called, the carcass was placed in another circle, one on each side, between the goal and the middle circle where the game started. One rider from each team tried to grab the carcass for their team, and action would resume. The crowd cheered and applauded for their team.
There was a team from the USA! I hadn't seen the U.S. listed among the participants, and I was pleased to find that we had a kok-boru team! Who knew? We didn't do well, but the audience cheered and applauded, and not just the Americans, because the Kyrgyz are nothing but friendly and hospitable.
Gladd Howell was the big scorer for the U.S., scoring five of our seven goals when we played against Kyrgyzstan. On four of those goals, he fell in over the head of his horse, and both rider and carcass were in the tub. The crowd had a good-natured laugh over it.
We played China and the Kyrgyzstan and lost both times, but scored goals. At the end of the week, the Kyrgyzstan team was the overall champion.
After the game, the sheep carcass is barbecued and eaten by the winning team members, who often invite their opponents to share the meal. The spirit of the games is to bring people together, and everything about the games is conducted that way. It was refreshing and inspiring.
By Suzanne Sinclair
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