The year of 2014 marks the Year of Horse in Chinese calendar, which coincides with the Year of Wooden Horse in Tibetan calendar. Horse is so closely related to Tibetan life and culture dating back to the ancient times.

Sports

In the national sports games 2013, Penpa Tashi and three other teammates of the Tibet Equestrianism Team won the second prize, breaking the record in Tibet’s horsemanship as Xinhua reported.

Denzin, coach of the team said, now the ethnic Tibetan is marching toward the "auto era": from the "horseback era". Horses are no longer means of transportation, but horsemanship has gradually become a modern sports event in Tibet.

Compared with the unfamiliar modern equestrianism, the traditional horsemanship has been dated back to the history of 500 years ago like that in Gyantse County of Tibet.

Sources from "The Horse Culture on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" written by researcher Wangdu of Tibet folk culture, as early as 1408, King Tengon Sampa of Gyantse resumed horse race and arrow shooting as entertainment during the ritual of praying for ancestors, which had gradually formed a major festival- the Horse race festival.

As time goes on, horse race and arrow shooting has sprung up and been spread to Lhasa, Qiangtang of northern Tibet, Gonpo of east Tibet as well as other Tibetan areas. Hence the Horse race in the northern Tibet, Damshung, Dingri and Kangding.

Thubten, a staff member of a horse race team at the Fifth Nagri Pangong Tso Lake Folk Culture and Tourism Festival said, the horse races are usually held on the family basis. It is believed that the winner of the family will be blessed by the god of protector in the coming year.

"The horse race is one of the traditional sports events that Tibetans love," said Thubten. "In the past villagers bred horses as the only means of transportation. Now every family has motorcycles, but people still raise a horse or two especially for the annual race. That is how best horse racers stand out during the events."

Horse on ancient tea-horse road

The ancient tea-horse path, as you may know is situated between the "big triangular area" between southwest China’s Yunnan, Sichuan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region, dubbed as the world highest road for spreading ancient civilization.

Tibet is famous for its horses back in history, and most of the horses on the tea-horse road came from Tibet. According to historical research, the tea-horse road was originated from the "trade fair between tea and horses" in China’s Tang Dynasty (618—907 AD) and flourished in the Song Dynasty (960—1279 AD) respectively.

At the altitude of over 4,000 meters, Tibetans need to take enough fat, thus Zamba(barley flour), diary, yak butter and meat has become their staple food.

However, due to lack of vegetables and the dry season, Tibetans turn to tea to get rid of the grease in their diet. Later, the yak butter tea has become their daily drink. But tea does not grow in the Tibetan areas, and the best species of horses from Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan were also needed in big amount in inland areas for wars. Hence, the tea-horse trade fair came into being. Besides tea and horses, furs and herbal medicines from Tibet and Yunnan and tea, fabrics, salt and daily utensils from inland were exchanged through the tea-horse roadway between the high mountains and deep valleys, which has lasted until the present time. And the friendship between ethnic Han and Tibetan had been forged, which has also lasted until now.

Therefore, the horse, as a commodity has played an irreplaceable role in the exchanges between the Han and Tibetan cultures.