Horse and sports competition of Kazakhs.

Many Kazakhs' holidays and festivals are accompanied with games and horse-competition. One of the most popular of them certainly can be considered baiga (baige). There are different kinds of baiga depending on the length of a distance of the horse-races.
A rider driving a norse and regulating its speed at all distance must be the first to lead the horse to the finish. At the same time horse-races at lesser distances in which any who wants can take part are held practically during every holiday.
This is one of the popular and widely used Kazakh horse kinds of sport. This is horserace for long and middle distances, cross race. There are class distances for 7, 12 and 16 km. Bayga for 7 km. is an obligatory distance in horse competitions in the stud.
Alaman baige - a horse-race at long and great distances (25, 50, 100 km) is one of the ancient kinds of contests. "Alaman- baiga" certainly entered programs of large people solemnities and especially one year funeral repasts (as).
Usually horse-races were held in the steppe in a straight line abounding in natural obstacles without limiting quantities of horses and also their breeds. Tradi­tionally the riders' costume was a shirt of white colour and a red kerchief tied on the head.
s a rule as prizes were presented dif­ferent expensive fabrics, materials, yurtas, cattle or money sum. Alaman-baiga is one of the most difficult and exhausting kinds of horse-races.
There exist, for example, kunan baige - horse-races from one ana a half to two kilometers, donen baige -from two and a half to approximately five kilometers and at baige the distance of which varies from five to eight kilometers.

Authority:
Life and culture of Kazakh people. Kenzheahmetuly S. Almatykitap, 2006

Photo
Alexandr Petrov.