Naadam horse racing explained

Naadam is Mongolia's great summer festival, and horse racing is its most loved event. The races are long, cross-country and ridden by children, and they come with titles and traditions that every Mongolian knows. Shagai Race borrows those titles, so this page explains where they come from.

Naadam: the three games of men

Naadam is held in midsummer. The national festival in Ulaanbaatar takes place during the National Holiday, from 11 to 13 July, and towns and provinces across the country hold their own Naadam in July and August. Mongolians call it eriin gurvan naadam, "the three games of men": wrestling, horse racing and archery. In 2010 UNESCO inscribed Naadam on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

How the races work

Naadam horse races are not run around a track. They are cross-country races across open steppe, usually between 15 and 30 kilometres long. Horses race in classes by age, and the distance grows with age: two-year-old horses run about 16 km, while seven-year-olds run about 27 km. A single race can include hundreds of horses.

The jockeys are children, typically between about 5 and 13 years old. The light weight of a child lets the horse show its true speed, and the races are understood above all as a test of the horse, its stamina and its training, more than of the rider.

Titles for the winners

Tümnii ekh, "leader of ten thousand": the honour given to the race winner. In Shagai Race the first rider home earns this title.
Airgiin tav, "the top five": the first five horses in each class. They are celebrated at the finish, and the top three receive medals.

Bayan khodood: the full belly

Naadam even has a kind word for the horse that comes last. In the race for two-year-old horses, the last one is called bayan khodood, "full belly" or "rich stomach". Rather than mocking it, people sing a short verse wishing the young horse luck to win the following year. In Shagai Race the last rider home gets the same title, with the same wish: win it next year!

The horse trainers and their titles

Behind every racehorse stands its trainer, the uyaach. Preparing a racehorse is traditional knowledge passed down in families: before a race the horse is trained for about 15 to 30 days, depending on its age, with long and short training runs so that it peaks on race day. Trainers whose horses win at the highest level can earn state titles of honour, such as Aldart uyaach (renowned trainer), Manlai uyaach and Tod manlai uyaach, and provinces give their own titles for renowned trainers.

Race the Naadam way

You can't ride across the steppe from your phone, but you can feel a little of the Naadam spirit in Shagai Race: choose the Naadam mode, push your luck, bump your rivals and see who becomes Tümnii ekh and who ends up with a full belly. The Shagai Race guide explains every rule.