At first glance, it might seem strange that a group of Utah cowboys are in Kyrgyzstan, the former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
Kanton Vause, Eli Bangerter, Ladd Howell and Jace Nicveta represent Team USA and are competing in the Kok-Boru World Cup.
Kok-Boru is a traditional horse sport with a history that is centuries old. In its competitive format, two teams of four riders each compete to gain possession of a headless goat carcass and then throw it into a goal for points.
Sometimes called “rugby on horses” or “the most dangerous sport in the world,” Kok-Boru is definitely not for the timid.
“There’s extreme physical contact, a lot like boxing,” Vause told St. George News from Kyrgyzstan last weekend.
The horses are all stallions, he added, and only the best 10% of animals available are chosen to be in the competitions.
Some of the genetic lines among the stallions in the World Cup go all the way back to the times of Ghengis Khan.
“A lot of them are aggressive and territorial, naturally aggressive,” Vause said. “They lean on each other, lay on each other, bite each other. The horses fight each other and have very, very high contact. It’s high aggression and physically stressful.”
Vause left out the part about the riders themselves, who wail on each other and throw blows in the scrums that occur when all the horses come together, battling to possess the goat carcass.
The history of the sport dates all the way back to when Mongol warriors and nomadic tribes battled for possession of the vast Central Asian steppe lands.
Vause estimated the sport originated 4,000-5,000 years ago, just as humans were beginning to develop warfare on horseback.
“Various tribes would raid one another, stealing livestock — goats and chickens and dogs, whatever they could get,” Vause said. “Then the villagers would chase the raiders, trying to get their animals back.”
That eventually became a competition between tribes and countries, he added.
“It evolved into a game to see who’s riders were better, who was tougher,” Vause said. “They’d have competitions to get the goat, then have a huge banquet to eat the goat. It’s a great cultural event, to share information and customs.”
Not all the Kok-Boru world competitions use an actual headless goat carcass – some use molds or artificial stuffed animals.
The members of Team USA share common history and values that brought them to Kyrgyzstan.
“All of us are cowboys, all of us ranch and rodeo,” Vause said, adding that they were all athletes and had “combat sports in our background.”
They also all served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Russia and in the Central Asia area.
“I’m the one who got these guys into this crazy, cool mess,” Howell said. “We were invited to be here and it’s an honor to represent Team USA.”
While the sport is super competitive and the Americans want to win, Vause said, the cultural exchange and opportunity to get to meet the local people is what matters most.
“They’ve taken really good care of us,” Vause said. “Cowboy culture is an iconic part of the U.S. People here are really familiar with that symbol. They take lots and lots of pictures. They love to take pics of Team USA. We’re like rock stars.
“For the people here it’s really like their NBA,” he added. “Their riders are famous and the sport is all over the TV and kids love it. It’s been a part of this culture for so long. It’s just an incredible opportunity.”
Source : STGEORGENEWS
