Horseback Riding in Mongolia: A Beginner's Guide to Riding Like a Nomad

There's a reason Mongolia is often called the birthplace of horse culture. Chinggis Khaan built an empire that stretched from the Pacific to Eastern Europe largely on the back of Mongolian cavalry, and eight hundred years later, the horse is still woven into daily life here in a way that's hard to find almost anywhere else. For a lot of our guests, a first ride across the steppe ends up being the single moment they talk about most when they get home.

The good news is you don't need any prior experience. The slightly less comfortable news is that your first ride will use muscles you didn't know you had, so it helps to know what's actually coming.

If your mental image of a horse comes from a stable back home, recalibrate a little. Mongolian horses are small, stocky, and tough, closer in build to a large pony than the tall riding horses common in Europe or North America. They're also semi-wild for most of the year, living outdoors through Mongolia's brutal winters with minimal shelter, which makes them hardier and, frankly, a bit more opinionated than a horse that's spent its life in a stable.

That temperament is actually an advantage for beginners. These horses are used to carrying inexperienced riders across rough terrain and tend to be sure-footed and unbothered by things that might spook a more highly-strung breed.

For anyone without riding experience, a local horse guide will usually lead your horse on a rope for at least the first stretch, which takes the pressure off having to steer or manage speed while you get your balance. The saddle itself is a wooden-framed Mongolian saddle, which feels noticeably different from a Western or English saddle, more rigid, with a higher front and back. It takes a few minutes to find a comfortable seat, and most people do.

You won't need special riding boots. Sturdy closed shoes are fine. What you will want is a pair of long pants, even in summer, since bare skin against the saddle and stirrup leathers for an hour gets uncomfortable fast.

The experience varies a fair bit depending on where your trip takes you. In Terelj National Park, just outside Ulaanbaatar, rides tend to be shorter, an hour or so across open valley floor framed by granite rock formations, which makes it a good, low-commitment introduction if you're not sure how your body will handle it.

The Orkhon Valley, further into Central Mongolia, is a different scale entirely. Rides there often run for several hours through a genuine UNESCO World Heritage landscape, ending at the Orkhon Waterfall, a dramatic cascade dropping into a volcanic canyon. It's a longer, more physical day, but it's also the closest most travelers get to understanding what it actually feels like to move through this country the way nomadic herders still do.

Wear layers you can adjust, since you'll often start a ride cool in the morning and warm up fast once you're moving. Bring more water than feels necessary. Sunscreen and a hat matter even more on horseback since there's rarely shade on the open steppe. And accept upfront that your legs and lower back will likely be sore the next day, even after a short ride. That's normal, not a sign anything went wrong, and it fades within a day or two.

If you want a taste without committing a full day, our Terelj National Park & Chinggis Khaan Statue day tour includes a full hour of riding as part of a single-day trip from Ulaanbaatar. For the longer Orkhon Valley experience, that's built into our 14-Day Classic Mongolia Expedition, alongside the waterfall, Karakorum, and the trip north to Lake Khuvsgul.