Horse Trekking in Mongolia
Imagine being able to ride for miles and miles across an uninterrupted landscape with the wind in your hair. Whether it’s for an hour’s hack or an expedition of several days, what better way to explore one of the world’s last wildernesses than on horseback.
Known as a land without fences, and for having more horses than people, Mongolia is one of the best places on earth to ride horses. The horse is a practical necessity of everyday life for the country’s million herders and is the only way to reach certain remote areas. Travelling by horse allows access to some of the most outstanding and remote natural scenery, a good chance of encountering wildlife and an opportunity to enjoy the peace and serenity of nature. Mongolia’s wide open valleys and rolling hills, thick pine forests and lush meadows covered in wild flowers are waiting to be discovered.
Enjoy spectacular views from high mountain passes, rest beside sparkling fresh water lakes and rivers and camp under magnificent starlit skies, or stay in a cosy, private ger beside traditional herder families. Riding with nomads and stopping to visit herders’ gers along your way offers an insight to a way of life unchanged for centuries and to experience true traditional hospitality. Your guides and hosts will teach you about life on the steppe and you can try your hand at helping out with rounding up and milking livestock. Herders keep goats, sheep, cows/yaks and occasionally camels. Mare's milk is processed into the national beverage, airag.
The horse is the central figure in Mongolian culture, a symbol of prestige and national identity as well as a means of transport. Mongolian horses are not big, averaging around 13/14 hands, but they are quick and fun to ride, strong and surefooted. They are incredibly resilient, typically eating nothing but grass and requiring very little water, a trait useful for survival in environments like the Gobi desert. In the winter, horses paw up the snow to eat the grass underneath and for water eat snow. It was upon these sturdy mounts that the Mongol warriors won the largest land empire in history in the 13th Century.
Boundless territory starts just a couple of hours drive from the capital. Alternatively, you can trek in one of the country’s wilder zones around northern Khovsgol Lake, the Altai Mountains in the west, or several beautiful places of central Mongolia. Wherever you travel you will meet friendly locals keen to welcome you into their ger for refreshment.
