The annual winter horse festival for safeguarding the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle and intangible cultural heritage will take place in the heartland of Mongolia – Khentii Province  starting Friday. Entitled “Horses of Mongolian Steppe”, the festival is being held for the fifth year.

The festival will feature multiple activities, including horse racing and lasso competitions.

Mongolia ranks among the top countries worldwide in terms of horse population. According to the National Statistical Office of Mongolia, there were over 66.2 million heads of livestock in Mongolia as of the end of 2017, of which almost six percent were horses. The country’s “human population” is just over three million.