Roman Vassilenko, the press secretary for the Embassy of Kazakhstan, wants to clear up a few misconceptions about his country. Women are not kept in cages. The national sport is not shooting a dog and then having a party. You cannot earn a living being a Gypsy catcher. Wine is not made from fermented horse urine. It is not customary for a man to grab another man’s khrum. “Khrum” is not the word for testicles

.......Travel guides mention a Kazakh sport called kokpar, a precursor of polo. When Vassilenko was asked about it, he hesitated, then explained, “That’s the one where a goat, a dead goat”—a headless dead goat—“is, um, being held as a sort of a prize. And then one rider has it, and he has to run away with it from others who seek to catch it and snatch it from him.” And then they have a party.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?040920ta_talk_radosh

For years I had heard of a traditional Kazakh game called Kokpar. Some have called it the world’s roughest sport. It resembles polo but instead of a puck, a headless and armless goat carcass is used. Two opposing teams of indefinite number line up at either end of a large meadow. You just know its going to be exciting! There are no helmets, no protective pads and no gloves. Everyone carries a whip. The official has just barked over the megaphone that there is only one rule – “there are no rules”. At the drop of his hand, both teams charge toward the center of the field where the headless goat lies on the ground. At full gallop the two teams converge and crash into each other. As the horses swirl around the goat carcass, these young athletes lean out of their stirrups and try to grab the goat carcass and carry it over the withers of their horse and across the goal line. Since there are no rules, anything goes and usually does. Anyone approaching the goal line is often run over by another horse or whipped in the face in an effort to force the goat to be dropped.

This is not a game for wimps. Players hit the ground and are overridden on a regular basis. Once in a while someone manages to get a good grip on the goat and sprints across the goal line. Another goat is freshly killed and another team approaches the field. After an afternoon of games, everyone retires to a yurt to relax and recap the day’s games.

http://www.farmerandrancher.com/Kazakhstan%20in%20Winter%20-%20June%202003.htm

Girls and boys play a galloping game called kyz kuu ("overtake the girl"). A girl on horseback races away from a male rider as fast as she can. As he tries to approach her, she strikes at him with a whip. If she reaches the finish line before him, she can take another few swipes at him. If he reaches the finish line first, she rewards him with a kiss.

I wanna go to Kazakhstan