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BuzkashiAfghanistan's ferocious equestrian contest |
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BuzkashiAfghanistan's ferocious equestrian contest |
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Buzkashi, is a battle fought over a goat's carcass by as many as 100 players. Similar games are played in most of the Asian republics of the former USSR. Buzkashi is Afghanistan's foremost galloping game. In the place of a ball, the Afghan horsemen use the carcass of a decapitated goat or, on special occasions a calf, which may weigh up to 90 lb (40 kg). The object is for a team of chapandazan (riders) to pick up the buz (the carcass), carry it the length of the field, and then return it to a circle at the opposite end.
The game is played as a battle between two teams of more than 40 powerful men, each of whom must be over 30 years of age; the rules are rudimentary and unwritten, and no quarter is given or asked, the horses being encouraged to bite and kick as their riders, flailing their heavy whips, attempt to force a way into the circle. the playing ground is 2 acres (0.8 hectacres) in extent, and a specified time limit is set for the completion of the game. Possibly buzkashi has its origins in the war games of Genghis Khan's Mongol wariors, who surged into the tribal lands of the Hindu Kush from their Central Asian steppes over 700 years ago. Certainly it bears all the hallmarks of those ruthless horsemen. A related equestrian sport is practiced by tribesmen in Tadzhikistan on their local ponies, the Lokai. For more information visit: |
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© 1997-2007
NW Breyer Horse Club & Refiner of Gold Creations Equinealities in place since 1997, Section in place 2001, Updated 3/13/2007 |
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