Buzkashi Anyone?

For those of you not sure if you should say yes or no to the above question read on.

Buzkashi  (goat killing) is a game in Central Asia that has been around...forever (that's a reliable statistic).

The game, as best I can tell, is a mixture between polo and rugby, just replace the ball with a dead goat. 

 Jason and I wanted to see a game, but alas he went back to the states so it was left to me to find a game.  With a lot of nagging, for those of you that know me you know that is not something I do well.   Firuza ,my friend, finally found a game in Donghara, about two-to-three hours outside Dushanbe (two, if a young male Tajik is driving, Faruk was our driver...so two hours for us).  

There were hundreds of spectators.  If you look closely you will see they were all male.  I found out it was "mans day" after we got there, but they forgive foreign women much, so Katie and I were safe.  

Sort of, read on.

These two gentlemen used chip bags as impromptu cap visors.

The game is fierce.  There are approximately 200 horses on the field at any time.

This is the game in progress.

You have to watch the players to figure out where the goat is, if you could zoom in you would see they are all looking in the same place.

That "hill" they are on is the goal at one end of the field,

I noticed this guy early on and thought he was just there as a spectator.

Until I was looking through my pictures later and saw this one.  It is cropped, but he is in the middle of about a hundred horses riding very fast.  So much for my spectator idea.

The horses and riders not participating would watch from the sidelines until the prize was what they wanted.

The prizes were new cars, camels, and 25,000c ($5,000).  Apparently the camel is the best prize.  I asked what a rider from Dushanbe could possibly want with a camel.  No one had an answer, but were still adamant that camels were the best prize.

This is Firuza and Faruk, in the foreground.  I had asked if we could go to the other side where I could get closer to the game.  I had sent Jason a picture from my phone showing the entire field with hundreds of riders.  He asked where the close-ups were.  Here they are.

This is what I saw through the camera.  I told Katie to tell me when they got too close.  I kept taking pictures.

This is when I started running (so did Katie and three men),  If you notice the riders don't look forward.  They are watching the rider with the goat, looking for their chance to steal it and ride to the goal.  And, they are moving fast.

The game turned and the riders with the goat separated from the pack.

Here is the fight for the goat.  The guy on the right was trying to take it.

He got it, then promptly dropped it.  Did I forget to mention that they kill the goat two days prior to the game and leave it soaking in water until it is completely water log. It weighs a ton.

I thought it was great fun, until I really started paying attention and looked at my pictures. I never saw a horse being given water.  The riders carried whips and often whipped the horses.  They pulled so hard on the reins that the horses mouths were pulled open as their heads were pulled back.  They were so crowded that there had to be injuries to the horses. 

I once taught a class about customs and traditions that are not our own, that we do not understand.  A student once said "I would not want to participate (they were killing a dog prior to eating it for a right of passage ceremony) but I would be honored to attend."  I knew I could stop teaching an be a happy person, because I had helped someone look at another culture and not judge.

I was honored to attend.