HAPPY (Kazakh) NEW YEAR!!!

A few weeks ago I noticed a change in the air as Shymkent awoke from its winter slumber. Nauryz Meyrami was fast approaching and all good Kazakhs know what that means… It was time for a city wide spring clean. Buildings are painted every shade of pink from bright pink to ultra bright fluoro pink, trees are slashed to a uniform 5 meters, bins are emptied, fountains are turned on, rubbish is removed from the drains, streets are swept and for such a special occasion people even wash their winter clothes…

By Nauryz Eve everything is spotless and phase two starts. Phase two involves tackyifying the city. By this I mean finding whatever decorations are available and plastering them all over the main public areas of the city despite there lack of relevance to the start of the farming calendar. Christmas declarations and Flower day declarations featured most prominently but the most disturbing decorations were those paying homage to Disney’s Shrek. Fortunately with the already eclectic mix of ornamentation on display even Shrek seemed a natural part of the festivities.

We too had been eagerly anticipating Nauryz but not for the communal clean up, nor the concerts, markets and food stalls that would line the square but for the biggest day of the Kazak racing calendar. Kazakhstan is made up of many people groups but the two biggest are the Kazakhs and the Russians. Under the Soviet Union Kazakh culture was seen as being very lowbrow and it feels like that prejudice still exists to a certain extent today so when Kazaks are whipped into a nationalistic frenzy and given the chance to let their hair down and be as Kazakh as they possibly can you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be plenty of equine action.

The buzz was palpable we left our building to head to the Hippodrome. Although it was tempting, we resisted stopping and listening to the Kazakh concert (it’s not an attractive language when spoken and singing doesn’t really improve the listening pleasure) hooked up with the CR team and made our way to the outskirts of town to the Royal Shymkent race track. Animal lovers - skip the next few paragraphs or perhaps stop reading now.

We didn’t have to wait long for the main event, Kokpar. Kokpar is kind of like polo but rather than hitting a ball the riders fight over the carcass of a goat or sheep. I believe in the game we were watching the contested beast was a sheep. In times gone by they would start the game with a live animal but in this modern day and age they have progressed to slaying the sheep before the game begins.

This is basically how the game is played

The start is similar to water polo with all players partaking in a race to the sheep (as I mentioned this has been made considerably easier since animal cruelty laws prevented the use of a live sheep). Some players go for the “ball” others try to block but eventually someone gets a clean grab at the ball.

If they are lucky they can make a break for it but usually the effort of picking up a slain beast from the ground whilst on horseback slows the winner down enough for the other team to grab a leg and a horseback tug of war ensues.

Once the initial contest is established the game becomes remarkably similar to rugby without a backline. Basically every man and his horse tries to get a hold of the ball. This is also where rucking comes into the game although with their feet in the stirrups, rucking is near impossible, so they do the next best thing: whip the opponent's head until he moves and you can get a clean grab at the ball.

Once someone gets a clean break they will tuck the sheep under a leg and bolt for the goal. A strong enough player will be able to give the sheep a good swing and release from a distance whilst at full pace to avoid another ruck / maul on the try line. As demonstrated by this fine Kazakh shooting from the 3 point line.

Of coarse if the shoot isn’t taken in time things can get pretty nasty around the goal as demonstrated by this poor filly who was pushed into the goal by the rolling maul.

After the end of the match everyone has sore hands and hoofs.

The fun didn’t stop there; the next event was Catch and Kiss (or hug if you can’t get close enough for a kiss). This crowd pleaser involves a female rider who gets a head start of 20 meters or so being chased by a male rider for 300 meters. If the man catches the woman they ride back the 300m and the man is allowed to show her as much affection as is possible from horseback. The real fun starts when the women makes it home safely as rather than being kissed she has the privilege of whipping the poor suitor for the return leg. Spurred on by the crowd she gives it her all, beating him for all he’s worth.

There are a few other games of horseman and horsewomanship but the most prestigious event is the Shymy 3000. Unfortunately Royal Shymkent doesn’t have the funds for a starting gate so the start is dictated by someone false starting and the rest of the field ignoring the official’s flags and giving chase. My preferred horse didn’t make it to the starting line in time and spent the entire race giving chase from a good half a lap behind. He did me proud but never closed the gap and the false start took line honours.

It was very cool being part of such a spectacular cultural shin-dig, the weather was good the food was fatty and the locals were going off. If you’re thinking of visiting Kazakhstan I encourage you to coincide your trip with Nauryz.

When he beat the odds, they changed the rules. When he broke the records, they weighed him down. But he had one thing on his side...the faith of a boy. Together they lived a legend that inspired a nation and won the heart of the world.

Lots o’ love,

Ev and Nat