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Spotted stories
Dispatches from Chaar Ranch, stories from visitors and volunteers, and updates on the breeding programme and the people behind it.
Summer on the high pasture: the 2024 foals meet the mountains
In June 2024 the year’s foals went up to Ters for the first time, among wildflowers and still lakes, with the glaciers still white above them. Munarbek shares the photographs that came down from the pasture.
Around the World in 80 Trades: Conor Woodman’s nightmare horse deal in Kyrgyzstan
In 2008 Munarbek sold four horses to Channel 4 presenter Conor Woodman, one of them a spotted horse called Martin. What became of that one sale after the cameras moved on.
In the news: our Chaar horse revival project featured on Equus TV
The Swedish magazine Kentaur and the American equestrian channel Equus TV have both interviewed the association about its work to protect the Chaar in Kyrgyzstan. This short note gathers the two pieces in one place.
Sarah Gottshall: my spring in Toktogul with the Chaar horses
Sarah Gottshall, a Peace Corps Response volunteer based in Karakol, travelled about 12 hours to Toktogul to meet Munarbek and ride out in search of the association’s horses and the spring’s new foals.
Munarbek Kuldanbaev: foaling season, a magical moment hard to put into words
Good spring rain, thick grass on the lower pastures and new foals at every visit. Munarbek’s May 2024 report from the Ketmen-Tobo valley, and why the herd will not go higher until June.
Luis Miguel Bayán Bravo: Chaar Appaloosa, the indigenous horses of the Celestial Mountains, or my winter adventures in Kyrgyzstan
Luis Miguel Bayán Bravo drove from Lake Issyk-Kul to Toktogul to meet Munarbek and the herd. This winter account takes in the long road, a plate of plov at feeding time and a first-hand look at the project.
Nicolas Poirier: Together to save the Chaar horse of Central Asia
Habitat loss, overgrazing and crossbreeding threaten the Chaar herds of Kyrgyzstan. In this open letter, association President Nicolas Poirier explains the work done alongside Munarbek Kuldanbaev, from winter feed to vets and herdsmen, and how readers can help.
Endurance and adaptability: why the Chaar horse was made for these mountains
Summer pastures in the Tien Shan sit as high as 3,800 metres, reached by narrow, stony paths over the passes. This field note looks at the hooves, winter coat and ambling jorgo gait that suit the Chaar to that ground.
Spring finally comes to the mountains
Tufts of winter hair on every fence post mark the end of a hard season at the ranch. The association reports on how the herd came through, and on the busy weeks of foaling, vaccinations and hay planning that follow.
The history of Chaar horses: why we must revive and protect indigenous breeds
Spotted horses run through Kyrgyz folklore and the Manas epic, and through heavy losses under the tsars and the Soviets. Munarbek Kuldanbaev traces the Chaar’s past and makes the case for preserving the breed.
The story behind our logo, a gift from Alice Shirley
Each time the association’s hand-drawn horse appears on the website or on merchandise, it is Alice Shirley’s work. This piece traces the artist behind it, from Aesop’s Fables to Hermès silk, and Alice’s ties to the herd.
Tolubai Synchy: Kyrgyz legend of the blind horseman and the spotted horse
A harsh king promises to put out the eyes of any synchy who fails to find him a tulpar, the winged horse of Kyrgyz myth. This legend, set in the 14th or 15th century, follows the old man who accepts.
Federica Nardella: how I joined the Accelerated Breeding Programme and travelled to Kyrgyzstan to meet the Chaar horses
One evening in late April 2023, Federica Nardella found an article about a man in Kyrgyzstan breeding spotted horses. By September Federica was riding a Chaar called Jamgyr at 3,400 metres. This is how that happened.
Munarbek Kuldanbaev: my meeting with Chaar Suluu. Mystery or coincidence?
In 2000 a finance student dreamed of a grandfather offering two horses, one black and one spotted. Years later, lost after dark on the way to Son Kul while filming True Appaloosa, Munarbek recalls what happened next.
Munarbek Kuldanbaev: how did I become involved in the “True Appaloosa” film?
In 2008 Munarbek Kuldanbaev had only three horses to sell to a British TV crew, so a fourth was bought from a friend: a spotted horse full of energy. How that sale led, years later, to a film.
Kyrgyz women in nomadic life
In nomadic Kyrgyz families, a household’s wellbeing depended on its livestock and on women’s skill in processing and preserving what the herd produced. This short piece looks at the independence and standing that nomadic life gave Kyrgyz women.
The role of the Chaar horse in our planet’s ecosystem
This field note looks at the Chaar’s place in the mountain grasslands of Kyrgyzstan, at what crossbreeding has done to the local horse, and at why protecting the breed matters for the land as well as for the herd.