Hi all,

Sorry for the delay, I know you’ve all been itching to see some photos from the Noorus holiday here in Bishkek. Noorus is the celebration in the middle of March of the start of spring; I think it’s of persian origin. We went with a Kyrgyz friend of ours, Mairam, to watch the horse games at the hippodrome. This particular game involves two teams of half a dozen riders each trying to heave the carcass of a dead goat into the opponents goal (a mud-and-tyre crucible shaped structure). They wrestle each other, man and horse, for a good grip on the much-trampled goat, pound around the field with everyone in pursuit, and ultimately aim to get a clear enough run to swing the hairy - and heavy - remains into the goal.

It’s fantastically exciting and the things they can get their horses to do are amazing (although I suspect the training regime for the horses is fairly harsh…). See here for the photos.