Under a decree of Deputy Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh, who was also in charge of the Naadam 2017 organising committee, mixed-bred horses were banned from participating in any of the six age horse-racing categories. As a result, more than 700 horses were expelled from all age racing categories during the Naadam festival. Naadam can be seen as the embodiment of age-old Mongolian traditions. Recently, there has been a move to preserve the Mongolian horse breed.

As a result of the decree, 98 azarga (stallion), 261 ikh nas (full aged gelding, or 6-year old and above), 128 soyolon (5-year old), 127 hyazaalan (4-year old), 59 shudlen (3-year old), 71 daaga (2 year-old) were considered to be mixed-breed and were, subsequently, expelled from main race.

If anyone tries to include mixed or half-bred horses in traditional horse racing, they will be punished with a fine. U.Khurelsukh said, ‘we must preserve the Mongolian thoroughbred tradition’.

Horse racing is an integral part of Naadam.The Mongolian traditional games are a celebration of age-old sports, which along with horse-racing, also include wrestling, archery and ankle bone throwing.