Mongolia
Mongol Derby 2014: In the Hoofprints of Genghis Khan
Day-One, Time-Zero, The Start! Foxhunters, race riders, and racehorse trainers were the frontrunners by Day-Three. / Richard Dunwoody photo
I am bent over at the waist, hands on knees, gulping air as the vet checks my pony. His heart rate is seventy-two and will come down to the required sixty-four in about five minutes. Mine is about two hundred beats per minute and no one cares. I used to watch my basketball player son stand like this during timeouts, trying to recover, and now I completely understand. I am exhausted and have only twenty minutes to recover before leaving on the next jet-fueled pony! This is Day-Six of the Mongol Derby and the urtuus (horse stations) are starting to blend into one.
I imagined myself romantically naming each pony and remembering everything about the rides between stations. As it happened, I not only forgot to name them—as half the time I was hanging on for dear life as they rocketed out of the stations and bolted for the next ten to fifteen kilometers—but I do not remember individual urtuus. I remember moments of complete panic as I thought I was going to die, or moments when I feared my comrades-in-saddle were going to die. Interspersed are memories of lovely meadows and fragrant pine forests, incredible views across mountains, and long, long rides when we wondered if we would ever get there.
Hunting the Fox with the Golden Eagle
In Mongolia, the berkutchis (horse-mounted eagle hunters) hunt the fox for its pelt with Golden Eagles. These birds occupy a place of honor in the life of the Kazakhs, who regard the majestic raptor as guardians of their homes, their children, and even their health. The life of the berkutchi is nomadic, and in some cases the profession is passed down from generation to generation. The eagle is the hunter’s most treasured and respected possession and is fed before the rest of the family. Slivers of bite-sized fox meat for the bird are first carefully rinsed of blood, which is said to fatten the eagle and cool its hunting ardor. Emmie V. Abadilla wrote of her adventure with a berkutchi family in the Manilla Bulletin, and explains the dangerous job of capturing a female fledgling (females grow bigger and hunt more aggressively that the males), welcoming her with honor into the family, teaching her to balance on the hunter’s arm while riding, and training her with lures. This is Part 2 of five parts and can be read in full from this link. Part 3 tells of the hunt. Here’s an excerpt: “Suddenly, the wranglers shouted. Then they were scrabbling for stones and hurling them to flush out the fox. Something yellow streaked below. Tekei released his eagle. She circled above us then swooped down in a flash. Locked together, eagle and fox rolled downhill in a cloud of snow and dust.” The final trick is to retrieve the fox from the clutches of the eagle as she stands victorious over her prey, her nine-foot wings spread wide to hide her catch. Surely this is foxhunting in its most exotic incarnation! Posted February 27, 2012
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Rupert Isaacson: Foxhunter, Activist, Best-Selling Author
If you liked Rupert Isaacson’s recent New York Times Best-Seller, The Horse Boy: A Father’s Quest to Heal His Son, you will undoubtedly like his book, The Wild Host: The History and Meaning of the Hunt.
Co-published by The Derrydale Press, Wild Host is a beautifully illustrated history of hunting; a meditation on the meaning of hunting spiritually and culturally; and a very personal hunting account. Destined from the outset to be controversial, Isaacson justifies and celebrates hunting while acknowledging the realities of a modern world of heightened compassion and sensitivities. Wild Host is available here in the Bookstore.
