Horses are known to the nomads as their best friend, sharing their spirit throughout a lifetime, becoming the most honorable and favored animal of the countryside. Throughout the years, they built together a bond that is both iconic of Mongolia and unbreakable.

UNTAMED HORSE RIDING EXPERIENCES IN FOUR DISTINCT LANDSCAPES

The Mongols never give special names to their horses. But they use over 200 words to qualify them: by the colors, and by their unique traits such as a “horse with the white moon on the forehead”, or “with four white legs”, or “whitetail horse”, or “brownie”, “wild horse (horse with typical wild colors, stripes…)”. Basically, every Mongolian horse is half-wild, meaning that they need to be tamed, taught to behave good and respond well to the commands of the rider, and be useful for all kinds of needs/events (riding for all-day nomadic lifestyle - herding, and at various speeds - fast and slow), carry, transporting, milking, racing).

The relationship between nomads and their horses is as beautiful as it is a duality: from the traditional habit of letting the horses roam free to catching them in order to “break” their habits for a time and allowing people to ride. Let’s explore more examples of how Mongols are working together with horses. Typically, the Mongols release the horses by the end of some days after their ride, and the horses freed run back to their pack. Yet again, only when needed, the nomads go back to catch their horses for another ride. It is only back to his siblings that the semi-wild horse gets back his strength and instincts, which makes it a little harder for the herders to get it back to remember all the training and habits to be ridden again. There is always a little time for the horse to get back to this state, and then only the Mongolian horsemen say “this horse is now underhand”, ready for the ride.  

The Mongolian traditional way of herding is following the classic nomadism, which is very much dependent on free pasture, open wide lands and most animals choose and go after the best grass themselves over large distances. Therefore, in Mongolian horses herding the most important thing is having or finding a brave stallion line inherited in their bloodline to breed, control, and lead the herd, and also protecting them from the predators like the wolves. Those stallions are essential animals, acting as representants of the herders, therefore giving the nomads time to focus on other duties and chores.

Living together with Central Asian classic nomads for centuries those beautiful creatures inhabit and became their own unrepeatable way of life in this wild country with wolves and nomads. They always live for themselves, and they’ve been never fed or given any additional grass even during the winter days. The Stallion needs to take responsibility for the safety, the well-being of his pack: breaking down the ice/snow, find the grass and water which make them survive, and stay healthy and strong throughout the harsh central Asian high plateau weather. That made them very smart, and resilient animals, really useful tools to the nomads. All this life made them very specific in regards to each individual horse, with a different temper, and character. This makes the journey very exciting for the rides. In time, we get used to and attached to our horse behavior. The bond between you and the horse creates a beautiful adventure even more enjoyable.

Riding in those different landscapes, far from the crowds and those potential issues, make the experience even better, enjoyable, relaxed, and safe. As GML on a path for a more sustainable, and ethical future, it is our responsibility to protect the environment and all of its living species. The very least we can do is ensure our practices are not causing harm to the wildlife and animals who call the destinations we visit home.

This is why we created those beautiful programs for riding in 4 major destinations in Western Mongolia, 2 times per location to fully appreciate the feeling and the connection with the horses, at the pace of 4 hours per ride. This way, we can respect the horses, and not develop fatigue that can sometimes be fatal for them in a long run. At GML due to our horse riding principles, we consider the rider's weight during booking to be appropriate to the horses, you can be sure that you will ride only healthy and well-cared horses. 

You need to be confident in your ability to take on a Mongolian horse ride for your own safety and for the wellbeing of the horses you’ll ride. We’ll need to know you have the means and determination to do the training and arrive horse ride in Mongolia ready. We’ll want to know you can handle - and enjoy - life on the steppe. The trips are created in Western Mongolian countryside so we’ll be looking for the experience of traveling to remote areas and general previous adventuring to demonstrate an understanding of day-to-day living conditions during the trip.

Our horse riding tour for reasonably fit travelers and advanced to expert riders only. You will need to prepare for horseriding, to ride in large open landscapes, with various types of terrain: on sand dunes, crossing rivers, progressing through forested and rocky areas. You shall keep in mind and be able to:

• Comfortably mount and dismount without block
• Ride with confidence in a wide variety of terrains (sand, rocks, crossing rivers, in-even terrains)
• Cover the entire duration of the ride, be endurant and show the necessary skills to trot with the group for 3+ days covering 15-35 km per day. Depending on your choice, and the terrain configuration, you shall ride on average for 3 - 8 hours to a full day to cover those distances. Again, very terrain-dependent. 

WHAT TYPE OF RIDER ARE YOU?

Are you a beginner rider looking for the opportunity to improve your riding skills in a safe environment? Or an advanced rider who wants to mix a holiday with a passion for horseback riding? Here at Gobi Mountain Lake, we can cater for all levels of riding, from complete beginners to advanced riders. We have holiday packages to suit all - and even some options for the non-riders in your family!
When looking for a riding holiday, it is important that you are honest about your previous riding experience. Our travel advisors will find the best horseback tour for you and will make sure it matches your abilities for a fun, safe experience. All the rides on our website are classified according to riding levels: make sure to read the information below to see what category you fall into.

LEVEL 1: BEGINNER
For true beginner riders, this first experience of the ride will give you a “taste” of a first free ride in the open. In the category, we regroup people who never learned to master trip or canter, and this might be their very first time sitting on the horse. Our guide and local herder and family member providing the horses will take special attention to your needs and making sure you are both safe and enjoy your very first adventure on horseback. We will learn together the basics of how to mount, dismount, and ride secured by our team at all times.

LEVEL 2: INTERMEDIATE
For those of an intermediate level, at ease with the 2 common paces: walk and rising trot. We will secure our riders the same way as for beginners with much more freedom to experience their first canter in the open. Here, the rider is considered to be able to mount and dismount without assistance, can ride with basic knowledge and skills, and trot for longer than 10 minutes at most, to master directions, and can canter eventually.

LEVEL 3: EXPERIENCED
We consider here “experienced riders”. You must have mastered the 3 gaits (walk, rising trot, and canter) over various terrain. With regular practice, the experienced rider definitely shows confidence in the horse, over control of the directions and speeds in any scenario.

LEVEL 4: EXPERTS
Advanced to expert, or master at riding with all gaits (4: walk, rising trot, canter, gallop), the level 4 rider already is used to work with different horses for many years, even the difficult ones. An excellent fitness level, as well as endurance, is required to tackle long days of trekking over an extended period of time. This category of riders is the most suited for our advanced treks over multiple days in rough terrain.

For years of horse riding expeditions in the backcountry, we experienced some western, English, contemporary Mongolian saddles until finding the right designed saddle that is safe and comfortable both for our riders and horses.  So, we are cooperating with local saddle makers for a long time to design the saddles for our horse journeys in the backcountry remote trips. As a result of our experience and his saddlery skill and handcraft, we proudly use our special design and purpose-built saddle for our horse treks.

REINS
The Reins we developed in cooperation with a local herder - Urta - are braided reins, all handmade using 5 to 6 long strings of natural leather to give it some strength, yet remaining supple a flexible.

BRIDLE
Briddle is typical Mongolian, using soft leather material to prevent the horses from scratches, with another cotton piece on both sides added to protect the sides and bones of the horse head. They are also handmade by Urta.

STIRRUPS
Likewise, security is the most important for us.  We use peacock safety stirrups on all our horse riding trips for the last decades. It will allow your foot to break free quicker, can help reduce the chance of getting your foot caught in the event of an unplanned dismount. 

HELMETS
Another important piece of safety equipment is helmets. Helmets are provided (standard sizes: s, m, l, xl). If you wanted to bring your own helmet, please make sure your helmet is SEI-certified. Other essential items provided are chaps for those who need to use leather for comfort and strength, and saddlebags to carry small objects that are needed for the ride: water bottle, medicine, phone.  

All our horseback ridings are fully supported by vehicles. This ensures no matter what a quicker reaction for all your needs. Also, and if need be we provide at all times satellite phones when signal is lost in case of an emergency. This should be a top priority as we ride often to places where cell phones are not working due to the terrain. Mongolia remains a land of adventures and where the comfort of having at all times cell reception is not really feasible just yet. 
 Of course we do add our own first-aid kit to the trip and accessible at all times, to disinfect, treat and help you with the common little discomfort inherent of any trip. To add a little more, we would really appreciate to keep contact with you for specifics you would need for your rides. Comfort items such as chaps, sheep skin or any other types of personal protection tools such as gloves cannot necessarily be proposed during our journeys. It is well accepted and encouraged to any riders to bring their own both for your comfort, enhanced safety and hygiene.

Experience unique places with a different ride every time, for the horse lovers and the adventure seekers.
Explore the Mongolian equestrian culture together with the nomads, a get the feeling of belonging to this land.