How Often Did Babies Get Run Over by Horses

Khentii Province, Mongolia –"I miss everything about him. I ask why I kept sending him to race and why we taught him to ride a equus caballus," saysP Batsaikhan, whose son, Lkhagvadorj, was seven years quondam when he died.

The boy was competing in an ancient tradition in Mongolia – racing horses at meridian speed on the land's vast steppes.

These horse races are some of the longest in the world. And accept some of the youngest kid jockeys.

When Lkhagvadorj fell, he was trampled past the horses. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and his skull was crushed.

His male parent, S Baasandorj, had been waiting for him at the finish line.

"I rode as fast equally I could to the hospital. When I got in that location, he had died. I sabbatum next to my son for an hr in silence," he recalls.

Mongolia is the birthplace of Genghis Khan, who founded an empire on horseback. Today, horses remain a symbol of the nation's sovereignty and spirit.

This culture is celebrated every year at Naadam, the country's biggest festival. Equally part of the celebrations, hundreds of horse races are held across the nation, keeping an ancient tradition alive.

Mongolian law states that children must exist at to the lowest degree 7 years old to compete in equus caballus races. But Al Jazeera found riders equally young equally 5 – riders like Babu.

"I similar galloping very fast. Racing is the best," he says.

Babu is one of an estimated xxx,000 Mongolian child jockeys. He is and then pocket-size that he needs his father to hoist him into the saddle. Just subsequently months of training, he's about to compete in his kickoff race.

With 80 other jockeys, Babu volition ride one of his father's stallions along a 24km, unmarked dusty track. He's raring to get.

"I like to ride a horse and I similar to win," he explains.

Mongolian law states that children must be at to the lowest degree seven years old to compete in equus caballus races. But Al Jazeera found riders as young as five [101 East/Al Jazeera]

Child labour

The International Labour Organization calls this ancient sport a dangerous form of child labour.

In the past five years, one,500 child jockeys have been injured and 10 have died in equus caballus races across the country, according to figures from the Ulaan Baatar Traumatology Hospital.

Dr P Bayarsaikhan is a trauma surgeon at the infirmary. He has treated injured child jockeys.

"It's considered a serious injury when it comes to us," he explains. "We feel very emotional because it involves children."

Despite laws requiring children to wear protective gear, many children compete without helmets.

Bayarsaikhan says this lack of prophylactic equipment means that head injuries are mutual amidst those who fall, leaving some riders with long-term brain injuries. He says child jockeys are unable to accurately appraise hazards while riding, leading them to accept dangerous risks.

Tsanlig Battuya, spokesperson for the groupThe National Network Against The Worst Forms of Child Labour, believes child jockeys are often exploited, with children from poor families sometimes pushed into the sport.

"What nosotros are trying to say is to keep the children away from exploitation – not because we don't want them to ride a horse. We are trying to protect their rights and safety," she says.

In the past v years, i,500 child jockeys take been injured and 10 have died in horse races across the country [101 East/Al Jazeera]

New laws

A law requiring jockeys to wear helmets was introduced in 2011. But Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, the former minister of civilization, sports and tourism, claims only Naadam races are regulated. This ways trainers are free to ignore safety guidelines in individual races outside the festivities.

If a trainer is judged to be responsible for a jockey'due south death, the maximum penalization is an $8,000 fine. Tsedevdamba says this is bereft, and is calling for tougher penalties.

No one has gone to jail so far for a kid's death in a horse race ... Information technology's a large problem considering no i was sued and the state never prosecuted anyone for a child'southward expiry

by Tsedevdamba, quondam minister of culture

"No one has gone to jail then far for a kid'southward death in a horse race … It's a big problem because no i was sued and the state never prosecuted anyone for a child'southward death," Tsedevdamba explains.

With some jockeys dropping out of school to race and train full-time, Tsedevdamba says they struggle to find work one time they become too former to race.

"They aren't educated … and so that's another trouble," she explains.

But in a country where equus caballus racing and the political establishment are closely linked, activists question whether there is the political will to properly regulate the industry.

Earlier this year, Al Jazeera found that Mongolian parliamentarians owned 654 racehorses.

With few voices in Mongolia calling for a complete ban on kid jockeys, the tradition looks ready to continue.

"If we are pushed to have the children completely off the horseback it will be not-Mongolian," says Tsedevdamba. "I think every Mongolian would desire to brand their children acquire to ride horses … we have to draw a line between what is a traditional race and where we have to stop our children."

For five-yr-old Babu, horse racing offers the chance to prove himself in one of the toughest races in the world.

"I desire to win a prize during Naadam," he says.

For his father, information technology'due south nearly continuing a proud family tradition, which dates dorsum thousands of years.

"It'due south similar we get one with the equus caballus. It's in our claret. The bail is there," he says.

To discover out how Babu's debut race goes, watch Mongolia: Born to Ride on 101 East.

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Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/8/28/mongolias-child-jockeys-risk-death-to-race

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