I don’t think you’re ready for this. I don’t think I was, either.
I’m sitting in a packed stadium in Kyrgyzstan for the World Nomad Games, watching a sport called Kok Boru, and I’m struggling to find the words to describe what I’m witnessing. Let me try anyway.
Kok Boru is kind of like a typical put-the-ball-in-the-goal sport. The closest comparison I’ve got is rugby. Except everyone is on horseback. There don’t appear to be any rules. And the ball is a 60 to 70 pound goat carcass.
So How Does Kok Boru Actually Work?
Each team has 12 players, but only 4 riders from each side are on the field at any given time. The goat carcass — called the ulak — is dropped in the center of the field, and what follows is an all-out melee to grab it. This is harder than it sounds. I know because I tried to pick one up while standing completely still on solid ground and nearly threw my back out. These athletes are doing it at full gallop while fighting off opponents.
Once someone actually gets hold of the goat, the objective is to dunk it into the opposing team’s goal — a large circular pit at either end of the field called a kazan. There’s no throwing it from distance. No shooting threes. No hail maries. The goat weighs 70 pounds. You are dunking it in or you are not scoring. Those are your options.
The athleticism on display is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Riders swing entirely off the side of their horses to scoop the ulak off the ground at full speed, then immediately fight off defenders trying to wrestle it away. There are collisions. There is chaos. There is an atmosphere of controlled mayhem that somehow produces a coherent sporting contest.
What It’s Like to Watch
I spent several hours watching Kok Boru at the World Nomad Games and I cannot overstate how high-octane it is. Forty-five minutes of nearly nonstop action, an unbelievable display of brute force and equestrian skill, and a crowd that is absolutely losing their minds for every possession change.
The World Nomad Games are held every two years and bring together athletes from dozens of countries to compete in traditional nomadic sports. Kok Boru is the flagship event — the sport that draws the biggest crowds and generates the most noise. Watching it in Kyrgyzstan, the country where it originated and is played with ferocious national pride, is about as good as it gets for a sporting experience.
The History of Kok Boru
Kok Boru — which translates roughly as “grey wolf” in Kyrgyz — didn’t start as a sport at all. The origin story is exactly as dramatic as the game itself. Nomadic horsemen across Central Asia would hunt wolves on horseback, and in the chaos of the hunt, riders would compete to grab the wolf carcass as a display of strength and horsemanship. At some point — and this is the detail that I find both completely logical and deeply unhinged — someone decided this looked fun enough to turn into a team sport.
The wolf eventually gave way to a goat carcass, which is marginally more practical to source, and the loose competitive instinct gradually formalized into the two-team, four-riders-per-side structure that exists today. The sport spread across the Central Asian steppe with the nomadic cultures that played it — versions of it exist in Afghanistan (buzkashi), Kazakhstan, and other regional variations — and has been played continuously for centuries in the communities where it originated.
What makes the World Nomad Games remarkable is watching that ancient, regional tradition scale into an international event with teams from dozens of countries competing under formal rules. The sport went from wolf carcasses on the Kyrgyz steppe to a packed stadium with an American team getting dunked on by Kyrgyz horsemen who have been doing this since childhood. Quite the glow-up.
Wait… Rewind a sec. An American team?
Yes. The USA Showed Up. Bless Their Hearts.
Here’s where the story takes a turn for the befuddlingly wholesome.
The United States sent a Kok Boru team to compete at the World Nomad Games. Let that sink in for a moment.
For context on what they were up against: Kyrgyzstan treats Kok Boru the way Brazil treats football. The horses are bred specifically for the sport — and I swear, the way they knew how to gallop to the kazan, I fully believe they understand the rules. The riders start young. The national team is celebrated. Revered, even. The USA team, by contrast, had presumably learned about the sport sometime in the relatively recent past. I remember seeing an Instagram reel showing some of the American athletes trying to pick up the goat for the first time… when they had already arrived in Kyrgyzstan.
The scorelines reflected this. The heart did not. Jamaican bobsled team energy. Absolute instant fan-favorite underdog energy. The crowd loved them.
Three matches. Three double-digit losses. Number one in our hearts.
Should You Go to the World Nomad Games?
If you have any interest in Kyrgyzstan or Central Asia, the answer is yes without hesitation. The World Nomad Games are one of the most unique sporting and cultural events in the world — a celebration of nomadic traditions that includes not just Kok Boru but eagle hunting competitions, traditional wrestling, archery on horseback, and about thirty other events that will make you feel like you’ve stepped into a different century.
Kyrgyzstan is already one of the most spectacular and underrated destinations in the world. The World Nomad Games are just the excuse you needed to actually book the flight.
And if someone offers you the chance to pick up a goat carcass, just know it is significantly heavier than it looks and you will not be impressing anyone.
Where I Stayed
I based myself in Cholpon-Ata, the main host city for the Issyk-Kul events, and stayed in a local apartment for around $25 a night — one of the better accommodation deals I’ve found anywhere in Central Asia. Expect prices to rise significantly during the Games themselves as demand spikes and inventory tightens. Book as early as possible for World Nomad Games dates. Balykchy is also a viable base about an hour away if you want more hostel options and city amenities — shared taxis run regularly between the two.
When Are the Next World Nomad Games?
The World Nomad Games are held every two years, rotating locations across the region. The 2028 edition is scheduled to be held in Tatarstan, Russia — making it the most accessible edition yet for European travelers in particular. If you miss the next one or would prefer to watch Kok Boru in its spiritual homeland, Kyrgyzstan hosts regular national competitions that are worth seeking out even outside of the Games. Attending a local match rather than an international tournament is honestly a more raw and authentic experience — fewer crowds, more chaos, same goat.