Horse Racing Festival
01 · Historical Records
Records of Kazakh horse racing are scattered through the oral poetry of the Kazakh people and their nomadic life on the grasslands. Herders celebrated seasonal migrations, weddings, and festivals with horse races, gradually giving shape to two parallel traditions: racing of ambling horses (zouma) and racing of running horses.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Kazakh horse racing is a traditional sport loved and widely practiced by the Kazakh people, distributed across the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, the Altay Prefecture, and other parts of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Fuyun County, with its flat, broad summer pastures and convenient transport, is a necessary passage for herders of the Altay and Tacheng prefectures on their summer migrations; horse racing is frequent there and is both representative and influential. Kazakh horse racing is generally held on traditional festive occasions such as akin (bard) singing gatherings and weddings. Horses entered in the races must be selected by people specially versed in training and judging horses, and they must be trained for two to three months in advance. Kazakh horse racing is divided into two types: ambling-horse racing and running-horse racing. Ambling-horse racing judges a horse's endurance, steadiness, and beauty of gait. The riders are generally adults; the contest demands superb horsemanship, the ability to hold the horse in check so that it walks steadily, robustly, and gracefully, without letting it break into a gallop. Running-horse racing, by contrast, tests the horse's speed, with victory going to the side that reaches the finish line first; the riders are mostly children of about twelve years of age. For a race, the horse's forelock and mane are braided, owl feathers are tucked into its tail, and its body is covered with a worsted-woven cape so that it is decked out anew; lightweight tack is also used to lessen the weight the horse must carry. The number of prizes is decided by the number of horses entered, and the riders share part of their winnings with relatives and neighbors. Kazakh horse racing is a sport and pastime in which the Kazakh people widely participate, combining horse judging, horse training, and horsemanship, and it has a broad popular foundation.
Pacing and galloping races
Two kinds of race: pacing judges endurance, steadiness and beauty of gait, galloping rewards speed and is ridden mostly by children of about twelve.
Horse selection and months of training
Horses are chosen by specialists in judging and training horses, then conditioned for two or three months so rider and mount work as one.
Owl feathers and woollen blankets
Racing horses wear braided manes, owl feathers in the tail and a knitted blanket, with light tack to spare the animal's back.
Girl-chasing and goat-snatching
Races are usually held together with girl-chasing, mounted games and goat-snatching, forming a cultural space centred on the horse meeting.
Bajie Ablemajin and his apprentices
Bajie Ablemajin, whose horsemanship is a family inheritance, competes each year, trains riders in the townships and has brought up nearly fifty apprentices.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Kazakh horse racing is found throughout the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, the Altay Prefecture, the Tacheng Prefecture, and the Changji area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; in Fuyun County, races are especially frequent because its summer pastures are flat and broad and herders pass through on migration.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Horse Racing Festival · Horse Racing Festival · Horse Racing Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Kazakh horse racing has been perpetuated as a custom through transmission within the Kazakh community, and it is handed down from generation to generation within families that have a tradition of taking part in the races. Because both riders and horses must meet very strict selection standards, and because riders need long training with their horses to build rapport — and further, as the nomadic way of life has gradually given way to settlement, horses are no longer a principal means of transport — the transmission of Kazakh horse racing has been affected to a certain degree. Horse races are generally accompanied by other traditional sports such as the girl-chase game, mounted contests, and goat grabbing (diaoyang), forming a cultural space centered on the racing festival. It is an important platform for transmitting and spreading Kazakh ethnic culture and plays a positive role in promoting ethnic unity, strengthening cultural identity, and fostering social harmony. Bajie Ablimajin (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Kazakh, born in November 1966; a native of Fuyun County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A performer of Kazakh horse-racing skills. Horsemanship is a "family heirloom" of Bajie Ablimajin's household. Raised on horseback, he witnessed from childhood the gallant bearing of his elders as they moved as one with their horses, and his racing skill was continually honed through constant exposure. Every year he organizes horse-racing competitions in the county, and he often goes to the townships to instruct in racing technique and organize training. Representative inheritor of Horse Racing Festival (Kazakh Horse Racing), included in the fifth national-level batch of national intangible cultural heritage items. The racehorses he has conditioned have repeatedly placed in local and prefecture-level horse racing events. He has trained nearly fifty apprentices, now spread across every township of the county, and has strongly advanced the development of the local horse-racing discipline.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Bajie Abulimajin 05-2553
- Zhawa
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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