Hippodrome

Karakol's hippodrome was the brainchild of horse-lover V. Pyanovskii (1872-1922). In the days before the revolution, Pyanovskii opened Przhevalsk's earliest stud farm and organized a racing society for local high society. With nowhere to race, the society threw its energies into creating Karakol's hippodrome -the very first in Central Asia. The hippodrome is 3 km south of Central Karakol and Pyanovskii's grave can be seen next to the finishing post.
   These days, fewer and fewer people have the luxury of being able to keep racehorses and the hippodrome is only used on major holidays and religious festivals. If you can contrive to be in Karakol on Noorus (Muslim New Year, usually 21st March) then you may be able to catch a photogenic spectacle of races and other traditional horseback sports. Against the backdrop of the Central Tien Shan mountains, these make for an atmospheric display and are well worth seeing. Swarms of teenagers race a ragtag band of sturdy Kyrgyz mountain ponies bareback on two-lap sprints or long distance marathons of up to 30km. From a distance, ponies seem to glide serenely without exertion through the following trotting races. Traditional games include kiz kumay, or 'kiss the girl'. A young man chases a horseback girl in traditional dress at a gallop. The man must try to kiss her but receives a wallop from her whip if he fails. These are no idle pastimes; the winner can gain up to 10,000 som (approx $208). In the past, prizes have included a Volga car (worth approx $7,000).