The exhibition introduces visitors to the culture of horse riding, which has become a bright source of human development, including the history of taming horses in the vast Great Steppe. The sections of the vernissage in chronological order tell about the stages of the development of horsemanship, from the era of the final stage of the Stone Age to the present day, when the horse was first domesticated in the Ural-Irtysh interfluve. The world scientific community has recognized the fact of the domestication of the horse in the settlements of the archaeological culture "Botai" of Northern Kazakhstan. It was here that six thousand years ago, a man first sat on a horse and at a speed of 30 km. in an hour, he burst into the expanses of the Turgai steppe, radically changing his idea of time and space and from that moment realizing the important role of the horse in the complex system of cattle breeding he created. For many millennia, the horse becomes a friend and companion of the nomad, who continuously moves through the vast territory of the Eurasian steppes.
In the Bronze Age and especially in the Early Iron Age, the image of the horse is mythologized, the animal is endowed with sacred functions and moves dead people to another world. Horned winged horses now, like the sun, gallop in common across the celestial expanses, breaking the zenith of the world mountain at the top of the crown of the Golden Man, they are harnessed to the mystical chariot that carries the deceased nobles of the Berel burial ground to the heavenly pastures. During the same period, the horse becomes a close associate of the lightly and heavily armed warrior-rider. The Turkic tribes will significantly improve the horse's harness, adding iron stirrups to its set, which, along with the invention of the saber, contributes to the emergence of a vast empire, represented by the Great Turkic Khaganate.
In the section of the Turkic era, the exhibition shows the exhibits identified in different years by the complex archaeological expedition of the Issyk Nature Reserve-Museum. The traditions of horse breeding of the Kazakh people are also given a separate section of the exhibition, where visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with the national features of the details of horse harness and bridle, types of saddles and features of the use of horses in traditional and modern farming. The skeletal remains of a horse found near the town of Yoshik are displayed separately in the exhibition. For children and teenagers, an interactive corner will be interesting, in the space of which visitors have the opportunity to show their skills in caring for the horse.
The exhibition is based on the materials of the stock collection of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum "Issyk" and the funds of the State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Botay", the Museum of Applied Arts named after Usta Darkembai Shokparov.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held in a narrow format, in connection with the pandemic in the country. It was attended by the head of the Department of scientific work and excursion services Amirova Sabina Karimovna, Associate Professor of the Department of Archeology, Ethnology and Museology of the al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Candidate of Historical Sciences Omarov Gani Kalikhanov, senior lecturer of the Department of Archeology, Ethnology and Museology of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Besetaev Baurzhan Berkanovich, Director of the Usta Darkembai Shokparov Museum of Applied Arts - Daulet Shokparov.
Yermek JASYBAYEV, Chief Curator of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum "Issyk»