Pedigree steeds have been the backbone of China's "horse country" for thousands of years, and now the far-western area is planning to use its most famous asset to improve the lives of its nomadic residents, as Erik Nilsson and Cui Jia report from Ili prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Jiarken Xiadat's horse stumbled in a rut as another rider rushed, sending the boy hurtling from his horse and smack onto the grassland. The nomads watching the race from a vantage point on a nearby knoll roared in excitement.

The 12-year-old member of the Kazak ethnic group picked himself up and sauntered off, his neck wilting forward, his eyes cast toward the ground. Behind him, a man chased the spooked, riderless steed away from the racetrack.

"It's fine," Jiarken said a few minutes later, his chin held high. "Happens all the time."

Blood oozed from his nose to form a twin trail with the trickle that dribbled from his split lip. The wet slicks glazed his face, which had been painted a deep matte by swirls of dust.

"My muscles are a little sore. That's all," he said.

It seemed the most serious injury was to his pride. Boys in Zhaosu county in Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region don't use saddles, so they not only learn how to ride, they also learn how to fall, he said.

This is China's horse country, and has been for thousands of years. More than 100,000 pedigree equines roam the country's biggest horse-breeding range.

It's a place where, with the exception of a few modern conveniences, the nomads lead a life-style perpetuated through millennia - one largely based on horses.

For thousands of years Zhaosu's totem has been the "Heavenly Horse", sometimes translated as "Pegasus". The name was coined by Hanwudi, a Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) emperor, because he noticed that Ili's native steeds often grazed above the clouds that halo the area's snowcapped peaks.

An envoy of the Wusun kingdom, to which Zhaosu belonged, gave the emperor several dozen of the horses. They so delighted Hanwudi that he demanded a dowry of 1,000 more when one of his daughters married the king of Wusun. Hanwudi - who regarded the horses as assets and incentives to spur greater conquests - cannily waited until they arrived before sealing the deal.

Name change

During his reign, Hanwudi invaded what is now Turkmenistan to plunder 3,000 Ferghana horses. He named them "heavenly horses", and renamed Wusun's native breed "Westernmost horses".

Yet, despite the transfer of the name, Zhaosu remains synonymous with both the "heavenly horse" and China's best native equine bloodstock.

In 1982, China officially recognized Ili horses as one of the world's newest breeds. Military horses were sired on the local grasslands until 1980, when developments in transportation meant the People's Liberation Army no longer had a use for them. Until then, the Zhaosu steeds that patrolled the mountainous border area carried official ranks and were awarded medals. They were honored with retirement ceremonies and buried in tombs when they died.

The county was home to 30,000 of the horses when the PLA set up its own stud ranch in 1954. The ranch became a State-owned enterprise in 1980, according to the deputy director, Cepa, who like many Kazaks has only one name.

Today, the fiery horses are used for racing and shepherding, and about 11,000 of them roam the pastures that cover more than 730 square kilometers on the range, one of the largest in China.

"Our goal is to crossbreed Ili's indigenous horses with top-quality imported pedigrees, including British thoroughbreds and Ferghana, to produce better short- and long-distance racers," Cepa said.

Demand has galloped forward neck and neck with the growing popularity of horseracing in China, especially in places such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, and Hubei's provincial capital, Wuhan.

About three-quarters of the country's racehorses come from Ili.

"People are demanding better breeding to compete with the elites from around the world," Cepa said.

Bolatjon Hamutm, director of the Zhaosu Husbandry Bureau, said China has given Ili horses as gifts to dignitaries such as the king of Morocco and the president of Kazakhstan.

However, livestock numbers have to be carefully controlled to prevent the animals - sheep, horses and others - from eating all the vegetation and causing desertification across Zhaosu's 6,700 sq km of grassland, he said.

Last year, the area saw its worst drought for 60 years, which left almost three-quarters of the pastureland parched. "The livestock didn't have enough to eat. I've never seen Ili horses so thin," Bolatjon said.

A new threat

The rains have returned this year, but a new threat has emerged.

"Many herdsmen illegally cultivate their pastures to grow rapeseed, because cash crops boost their incomes. They don't realize they're permanently damaging the grasslands," he said.

In a bid to maintain the natural environment, the Zhaosu government has actively spurned industrialization, and aims to develop the area via eco-tourism rather than manufacturing. It began to develop the sector two years ago.

Although annual household incomes hover around just 10,000 yuan ($1,600), the locals insist that they would rather live with poverty than pollution.

"Tourism can bring extra income to the Kazak herders and help them to realize the importance of preserving their culture," Bolatjon said.

The area's biggest draw is the Heavenly Horse International Tourism Festival. It attracted 8,000 visitors last year, and officials expect an extra 2,000 in June, when this year's event will be held.

"One thing is for sure - no matter how far modernization permeates their lives, the bond between Kazaks and horses will never be broken," Bolatjon said.

Nawubat Yibalat, winner of the race in Sarkuobu township's Kertuogan village, the place where Jiarken Xiadat was thrown from his horse, explained that whenever a fall involves a child, the parents always check on the horse first.

"They are family members," he said. "Kids can fend for themselves."

The 56-year-old, who is a member of the organizing committee for the races, has been training Ili racehorses for 11 years. He currently owns three racers, but has five others that are used for shepherding the family's flock of 100 sheep.

The local races are the core of Zhaosu's social life and a principal local industry, and Nawubat's success has led others to hire him to train their steeds. The town now has more than 100 trainers for 3,000 horses.

Rough racing

Every township in Zhaosu has its own racetrack, and they become hives of commotion and commerce at weekends.

Sarkuobu's track is simply a ring tilled by a tractor in a valley below the snowcaps. As the races draw near, the area is transformed from an isolated wilderness with no signs of humanity other than the loop into a boisterous gathering of nomads.

Men and their sons - the jockeys are boys aged 9 to 13, who weigh less than 30 kilograms - suddenly swarm in on horseback and motorcycles, and congeal into a clot atop the hillock. The surrounding expanse remains empty.

Entry fees are paid. Rules are shouted out. Then comes the thunder of hooves that kick up dust storms as they pound the ground at lightning speed. Appointed commentators howl the results.

After the official contest, the snarl of people unravels down the slope toward the track. Personal challenges are issued, and informal one-on-one races are staged. The only prize is pride.

Herdsman Nawubat is also a member of the race-organizing committee. His family's annual income fluctuates between about 6,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan, depending on the state of the grassland, but he can gross about 5,000 yuan a year from winning competitions. Nearly all of his winnings are plowed back into the horses, but sometimes costs exceed revenue.

Winners of official races can claim top prizes, such as cash, motorbikes, horses, sheep or cars. Nawubat has taken them all, with the exception of a car. He won 180 yuan at the recent meet.

He paid 30 yuan to enter the 5 km pony race and 50 yuan to enter the 7 km. His steed placed first, and was rewarded with candy. When Nawubat buys horses he usually chooses those sired by champions, but sometimes he goes with a gut feeling: "Racing is the best way to breed the best Ili horses and make them stronger and faster. It's important to breed winners. It's a Kazak tradition passed down through generations."

He is still grief-stricken about the death of his favorite horse last year. He said the mount, a wedding gift from his daughter's father-in-law, won many races, and he once turned down an offer of 90,000 yuan - three times the average price for an Ili stallion- for it.

"It was overexcited after it won a race and rolled over, displacing its organs," he said.

His wife added: "He cried for days. I've never seen him cry otherwise."

Their son, Azamat, who started riding at age 5 and raced until he reached the age limit, said he understood his father's grief.

"Horses are family members. We begin learning how to take care of the horses at a very young age - even before we learn how to take care of ourselves," the 17-year-old said.

"If I can't ride well, I have no right to call myself a Kazak."

Contact the writers at erik_nilsson@chinadaily.com.cn and cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn

Ziliya Turgan, a 19-year-old trainer from Zhaosu in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, trains a Ferghana horse in a facility of Yema Group in Urumqi. Provided to China Daily

An imported Ferghana horse is undergoing a 45-day quarantine at the border city of Horgos. Provided to China Daily

A stablehand tries to tame a threemonthpregnant Ferghana owned by Yema Group. The company now stables 48 Ferghana horses at its facility, which is China's largest base for the pedigree breed. Zhao Heting / for China Daily

Horseracing is a common pastime among Zhaosu's nomadic ethnic Kazaks. The county is home to more horses than any other in China. Erik Nilsson / China Daily

(China Daily USA 05/29/2015 page5)