Goat Grabbing

4 min read

Goat grabbing, which is called”oglak tartish “in Uygur language, is one of the traditional and time-honored horse-riding sporting activities favored among Kazak, Kirgiz, Uygur and other similar ethnic groups, The “oglak”mans lamb”and tartish”means “grab”. Upon New Year or wedding or other big happy events, people will carry out the sporting activity of goat grabbing to celebrate and add joyful atmosphere to these happy events.

In Manas the Kirgiz epic appearing between the ninth and the eleventh century the activity of goat grabbing is described like this:

Select the dabs at horse riding in teenagers,

And put the slaughtered lamb in the competition terrain,

Galloping the horse and making a bow to grab the lamb

Riders pour in and fight on the horse for the slaughtered,

With the winner escaping the chase and crossing the finishi ng line

If not grabbed by others, the lamb is your trophy

A Kazak saying goes like this: In wrestling your strength is testified, while n goat grabbing your courage is revealed. Here one can see that goat grabbing is a sporting activity for the brave which is a confrontational game in the true sense and a fierce battle both testifying one’s physical strength and willpower as well as examining one’s resourcefulness and wisdom; in the activity, both courage and equestrian skills are needed and one’s dressage is examined. Therefore, it is an entertaining program which is favored among strong and brave young men which fully displays the power of a man.

Before the activity of goat grabbing which is usually held in the vast flat grassland a lamb which is prepared in advance is slaughtered with its head and hoofs being cut off, its esophagus being fastened and some areas hollowed with its internal organs being taken out and steeping in salting liquor for one or two hours, through which, it is said that the skin and meat of the goat will become firmer. When the race begins, the emcee casts the goat ont the grass or a selected square, the riders wave the horsewhip in the hand and rush forward on the horse like an arrow at the goat and the first arrived makes a bow to pick the goat up and puts it under the stirrup rope or under one’s legs, galloping the horse to run forward with other riders going after the man to try to grab the lamb; once the man carrying the lamb is caught up with by another man, there will be a fierce fight on the horse between the two of them at the time, the horse circles in the ground with its head ceaseless swaying right and left and the rider is extraordinarily agitated and tries every trick for the lamb with the audiences keeping chanting for the riders. After a while, the riders huddled together and start grabbing for the lamb; some would like to rush into the crowd to snatch it, some intend to break through the tight encirclement, and still others try every trick to block other riders from rushing out or into the crowd. The activity in the ground is in full swing and the audiences are bustling with ardor and intenseness, which are quite marvelous. After roughly an hour of fierce grabbing and chasing some ridersmay feel breathless and exhausted or could not catch up with others because of their too sweaty and dead tired horses, so they will voluntarily quit thethe rider and his horse; then the strongest and perfectly matched group fothgame; while those who are still in the game also are extremely exhausted, be man and horse may break through the tight encirclement and throw other riders far behind. Finally, the one who manages to snatch the lamb and throw it to the pre-set place or throw it into the courtyard of certain well-off family which has some public power and is able to hold the activity of goat grabbing wins, and the activity also comes to an end.

People taking part in the activity of goat grabbing should pay attention to tactical combination and corporation among various roles If the race is conducted in the form of team competition, every team has its roles such as the snatcher rushing into the crowd, the escorts covering the snatcher andthose who are responsible for blocking and chasing. Once grabbing the lamb the snatcher will be tightly escorted by his companions, some pulling the rein in the front and others pushing the horseback behind the horse to break through the tight encirclement. Through several times of snatching and grabbing, the team who manage to throw the lamb to the pre-set location will win the game, and the lamb also belongs to them. Such team competition needs both sophisticated skills and close collective cooperation.

In the past, Kazak people regard goat grabbing as a ceremony for praying for blessing. They think that the family of which the winner throws the lambgrabbed into the courtyard or before the front door will be blessed and turn up trumps with the family prospering forever, its livestock increasing year on year and things are going first-rate. Therefore, the family shall dress the rider who throws the goat and his horse with red flowers and warmly entertain him.