Upbuilding work is under process in Khentii province, the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan, to make it a tourist destination. Unfortunately, no work has been done for attracting tourists except for “Andlaliin Urguu” which was demolished.
When the government, public and social media are discussing about upbuilding or demolish, the youths of Batnorov soum, Khentii province, are silently imagining and preparing for the day when tourists will be able to admire Mongolian heritage.
P.Dashcharav worked in a horse circus in China for three years. At that time, he thought "Why can't it be developed in Mongolia? There are horses and there are horse riders in Mongolia”. Luckily, the pandemic gave him the "opportunity" to return home for a long vacation. Of course, he didn’t forget his dream about the horse circus.
Horses can be used for developing tourism in Mongolia, not only riding, racing or using them for food. We interviewed with P.Dashcharav, founder of “Arluda” horseback archery club.
- Please introduce yourself to us. I heard that you worked in a horse circus in China for 3 years.
- I was born and raised in Batnorov soum of Khentii province. After graduating from the University of Cinematography with a degree in film make-up. And I started working in the horse circus company "Wild horse" under a tripartite agreement between China, Inner Mongolia and Mongolia as a horse circus performer. I would like to thank S.Tuyatsetseg, the director. I thought that horseback riding would not be a problem, because I was raised in the countryside, but the situation was very different. If I hadn't gone to China to work in a horse circus, my senses wouldn't have risen. At first, I worked as an actor there. Gradually, I began to train horses. Then I started playing at the horse circus. After working for two years, I realized that I used horses only for riding before.
Horses are very expensive in China. While Mongolia has a lot of horses, even our soum has 30,000 horses. Then I started thinking about what is needed and what is lacking for the development of the horse circus in our country. I wondered why Mongolians can’t promote their history in their own territory and entertain in our homeland. Meanwhile, the pandemic happened and I came back to Mongolia for a long vacation.
- Did you follow your dream and open a horseback archery club?
- When I came back to Mongolia in 2019, "Taliin Tumen Aduu" festival was held in our soum. During the festival, I met B.Boldbaatar, the head of the Mongolian Traditional Horseback Archery Association. My thought of establishing a horse circus was changed to the horseback archery club after I met B.Boldbaatar. Later, I went to Ulaanbaatar with five horses from my soum and joined the Mongolian Traditional Horseback Archery Association. A year ago, I opened the first club of the Mongolian National Archery Association in the rural area.
- Is the club cooperation of youths in Khentii province?
- I heard that people will come from Inner Mongolia to establish a horse circus in Khentii province. And I encouraged and made a research. I found that there are several people from Khentii province who work in the horse circus all over the world. In other words, a local youth union was established. The authorities of soum welcomed the announcement of the establishment of an horseback archery club. Also, many people donated horses. I would like to express my gratitude to L.Dagva, Ts.Dorjsuren, B.Ganbat, Z.Bold, B.Nyamdemberel, G.Gantulga, Kh.Tumurbaatar, Sh.Rentsendorj, D.Naranchimeg, G.Taiwan, S.Batsuuri and N.Tegshjargal.
- The photo of the little archer of your club attracted the attention of many people. Can you introduce her to our readers?
- Angarag is the youngest member of our club. My little sister stood and stared at us when we were training for archery. She learnt all techniques and was teaching other children once. So I asked her to shoot, and hung a foam target and she shot it with a children's soft arrow and bow from 1 meter distance. At first, she couldn’t find the target, and later she ran to me and said “I got it”. She was inspired by this and liked archery. She started begging to ride a horse after learning how to shoot. At first, I didn’t allow her to ride a horse considering the risks. One day, Naadam content needed a child to ride a horse, and I got permission from her parents to teach Angarag to ride a horse. And we went to Ulaanbaatar city with our horses and other 10 members. She is not afraid of horses, because she likes riding horses. She is 7 years old now.
- Will you train more children in horseback archery in the future?
- My goal is to develop horseback archery and promote our heritage. So I want to teach children to pass them on to future generations. Currently, the club is closed due to the pandemic. Training will begin in the spring.
First, horseback archery is a tradition. Second, there is another way to become a world athlete. Third, we can make a profit from our horses, develop our tourism, and even promote our country to the world, not just we see horses as livestock or meat. Why can’t we use these advantages when there are many horses in Mongolia?
- What are the advantages of horseback archery?
- 70% of archery is always ground training and fast shooting. For example, at a distance of 150 meters in 12-14 seconds, you will hit four targets. So it requires a lot of preparation. At the same time, it gives a person many skills such as agility and thinking.
- Many people criticize that people in rural areas are driving motorcycles instead of horses, and riding a motorcycle puts people’s lives in danger. What is your opinion on this?
- I used to work in China in summer and come back in winter. There are a lot of unpleasant rumors about the youth of my generation, such as gambling, drinking problems, and motorcycle accidents. As a result, I thought "How else can we spend time in a positive way?" So I decided to open the Arluda club.
There is a training area in the middle of two or three families. It's nice to train on it and be close to the horse. There are people in our family who have got PhD degrees from research on disease called horse bacteria. My grandfather, Baatar Ganjuur, still retains his nomadic citizenship. He herds livestock always on horseback, and trains the calf and uses it to prepare firewood. In 2019, my grandfather was awarded the "Order of Polar Star" medal for preserving his heritage.
- Thank you for your interview. I wish you success in your work.
Upbuilding work is under process in Khentii province, the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan, to make it a tourist destination. Unfortunately, no work has been done for attracting tourists except for “Andlaliin Urguu” which was demolished.
When the government, public and social media are discussing about upbuilding or demolish, the youths of Batnorov soum, Khentii province, are silently imagining and preparing for the day when tourists will be able to admire Mongolian heritage.
P.Dashcharav worked in a horse circus in China for three years. At that time, he thought "Why can't it be developed in Mongolia? There are horses and there are horse riders in Mongolia”. Luckily, the pandemic gave him the "opportunity" to return home for a long vacation. Of course, he didn’t forget his dream about the horse circus.
Horses can be used for developing tourism in Mongolia, not only riding, racing or using them for food. We interviewed with P.Dashcharav, founder of “Arluda” horseback archery club.
- Please introduce yourself to us. I heard that you worked in a horse circus in China for 3 years.
- I was born and raised in Batnorov soum of Khentii province. After graduating from the University of Cinematography with a degree in film make-up. And I started working in the horse circus company "Wild horse" under a tripartite agreement between China, Inner Mongolia and Mongolia as a horse circus performer. I would like to thank S.Tuyatsetseg, the director. I thought that horseback riding would not be a problem, because I was raised in the countryside, but the situation was very different. If I hadn't gone to China to work in a horse circus, my senses wouldn't have risen. At first, I worked as an actor there. Gradually, I began to train horses. Then I started playing at the horse circus. After working for two years, I realized that I used horses only for riding before.
Horses are very expensive in China. While Mongolia has a lot of horses, even our soum has 30,000 horses. Then I started thinking about what is needed and what is lacking for the development of the horse circus in our country. I wondered why Mongolians can’t promote their history in their own territory and entertain in our homeland. Meanwhile, the pandemic happened and I came back to Mongolia for a long vacation.
- Did you follow your dream and open a horseback archery club?
- When I came back to Mongolia in 2019, "Taliin Tumen Aduu" festival was held in our soum. During the festival, I met B.Boldbaatar, the head of the Mongolian Traditional Horseback Archery Association. My thought of establishing a horse circus was changed to the horseback archery club after I met B.Boldbaatar. Later, I went to Ulaanbaatar with five horses from my soum and joined the Mongolian Traditional Horseback Archery Association. A year ago, I opened the first club of the Mongolian National Archery Association in the rural area.
- Is the club cooperation of youths in Khentii province?
- I heard that people will come from Inner Mongolia to establish a horse circus in Khentii province. And I encouraged and made a research. I found that there are several people from Khentii province who work in the horse circus all over the world. In other words, a local youth union was established. The authorities of soum welcomed the announcement of the establishment of an horseback archery club. Also, many people donated horses. I would like to express my gratitude to L.Dagva, Ts.Dorjsuren, B.Ganbat, Z.Bold, B.Nyamdemberel, G.Gantulga, Kh.Tumurbaatar, Sh.Rentsendorj, D.Naranchimeg, G.Taiwan, S.Batsuuri and N.Tegshjargal.
- The photo of the little archer of your club attracted the attention of many people. Can you introduce her to our readers?
- Angarag is the youngest member of our club. My little sister stood and stared at us when we were training for archery. She learnt all techniques and was teaching other children once. So I asked her to shoot, and hung a foam target and she shot it with a children's soft arrow and bow from 1 meter distance. At first, she couldn’t find the target, and later she ran to me and said “I got it”. She was inspired by this and liked archery. She started begging to ride a horse after learning how to shoot. At first, I didn’t allow her to ride a horse considering the risks. One day, Naadam content needed a child to ride a horse, and I got permission from her parents to teach Angarag to ride a horse. And we went to Ulaanbaatar city with our horses and other 10 members. She is not afraid of horses, because she likes riding horses. She is 7 years old now.
- Will you train more children in horseback archery in the future?
- My goal is to develop horseback archery and promote our heritage. So I want to teach children to pass them on to future generations. Currently, the club is closed due to the pandemic. Training will begin in the spring.
First, horseback archery is a tradition. Second, there is another way to become a world athlete. Third, we can make a profit from our horses, develop our tourism, and even promote our country to the world, not just we see horses as livestock or meat. Why can’t we use these advantages when there are many horses in Mongolia?
- What are the advantages of horseback archery?
- 70% of archery is always ground training and fast shooting. For example, at a distance of 150 meters in 12-14 seconds, you will hit four targets. So it requires a lot of preparation. At the same time, it gives a person many skills such as agility and thinking.
- Many people criticize that people in rural areas are driving motorcycles instead of horses, and riding a motorcycle puts people’s lives in danger. What is your opinion on this?
- I used to work in China in summer and come back in winter. There are a lot of unpleasant rumors about the youth of my generation, such as gambling, drinking problems, and motorcycle accidents. As a result, I thought "How else can we spend time in a positive way?" So I decided to open the Arluda club.
There is a training area in the middle of two or three families. It's nice to train on it and be close to the horse. There are people in our family who have got PhD degrees from research on disease called horse bacteria. My grandfather, Baatar Ganjuur, still retains his nomadic citizenship. He herds livestock always on horseback, and trains the calf and uses it to prepare firewood. In 2019, my grandfather was awarded the "Order of Polar Star" medal for preserving his heritage.
- Thank you for your interview. I wish you success in your work.