In the land where horses were first domesticated over five thousand years ago, one breed of horse was so valued by ancient armies that an entire war pitted unconventional enemies- the Greeks and the Chinese- against each other over their supposedly divine stock. Twenty-first Century horse breeders still consider the historical Kyrgyz horse as one of the top breeds in the world after millennia of breeders using the horse for meat, agricultural work, and leading light vehicles like travois.
Contemporary culture in Kyrgyzstan still revolves around this horse including their culinary traditions using horses' milk, clothing using horse hair and leather, and subsistence practices relying on the horse for mounted hunting expeditions. Even in sport, the Kyrgyz horse often appears in baigue- endurance horse races which began in the Post-Soviet Era- and equine tourism helps rural Kyrgyz families benefit from tourism through guided horse riding for visiting tourists- leading to improvements in the animals' welfare. It's no surprise that the Kyrgyz horse has become the symbol of Kyrgyzstan's national identity.
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