This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

The horse is central to Mongolian culture, a revered and beloved partner in the harsh life and rugged recreation of the steppes. Horses in Mongolia are not your sleek, slender-limbed thoroughbreds. Indeed, this type of horse would not remain able-legged long on the uneven grasslands terrain. Mongolian horses are small and stocky and rugged--practically prehistoric in appearance. The moriin khuur or horsehead fiddle, a traditional instrument, is also a testimony to the Mongolians' attachment to the horse. It features a horsehead carving on the peg box. The pegs themselves are known as the horse's ears and the bow and two strings were, traditionally, made of horse hair. What's more, in the hands of a skillful bowsman, the moriin khuur can sound eerily like a neighing horse. In short, if it were any closer to being an actual horse, you’d have to clean up after it.

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.