In the 13th century, the golden age of the mongol empire, a sport resembling polo became a training game for the mongolian cavalry throughout high asia. horsemen learned to bend low at speed, like acrobats to finish off fallen enemies with sabres, looting their prey on the ground by scooping up jewels that caught their eye. there are stories, too, of genghis khan knocking about an enemys head as if it were a ball. orkhon valley, central mongolia

sports sport horizontals asia suns club learned polo developing country kharakhorin ball horizontal central asians steepe developing countries caught sun match 13th silhouettes traditional asia mongolia mongolian genghis fallen speed sunset rural riders game cavalry golden acrobats silhouette enemies ground game stories prey throughout sport bend empire jewels bright sunsets horse enemys head valley mongol by khaan rider mongolians looting asian chingis shining horses mongolian knocking finish century age games training high silhouetted low third world khan horsemen scooping orkhon resembling eye sabres