The Rider and Horse in the Kazakh Culture: Traditions and Modernity

Abstract

   This article traces the development of the horseback riding tradition of Kazakhstan until the present time. A systematic assessment of a wide range of ideas about the role of the horse in the life of people is provided. Based on the authors’ field materials, the study uses also linguistic, folklore, and ethnographic data, which help to evaluate the place of the horse in rites of the Kazakh lifecycle, largerly determining the upbringing of a rider. In the Kazakh traditional socio-normative culture, horses are an indicator of a person’s status, wealth, and dignity. In present-day Kazakhstan, the culture of horseback riding has undergone modernization and is being creatively reinterpreted. Horse-breeding has become incorporated into the economy of conspicuous consumption, and is manifested in the development of equestrian sports and tourism, increased interest in horseback riding, and a revival of festivals tied with horseracing and the culture of the traditional drink kumis. The high status of the horseback riding culture in Kazakhstan is evidenced by its inclusion into the UNESCO Representative World Heritage List. The current study shows the central role of the horse among the cultural and ideological values of modern Kazakhs. The Kazakh worldview still includes the idea of the intrinsic connection between the horse and man.