The Kamakura Print Collection, Photogravure Etchings by Peter Miller

Mongolian children grow up with horses, becoming skillful riders before they are five. The horse, and a nomadic lifestyle of living throughout vast territories, enabled the Mongols led by Chingiss Kahn and his descendants to amass the largest empire the world has ever known. At its height the Mongol Empire stretched from Korea to Hungary, and from Siberia to India, including China. Beijing was originally built as a Mongol capital, the vast spaces of the Forbidden Palace an evocation of the far-away steppes. Outside Ulaan Baatar and a few other cities and towns, Mongolia has almost no roads, and the territory is too vast to walk. So the horse is the most practical form of transportation in Mongolia. And what a pleasure it is to be unconstrained by roads or traffic lights, free to go in any direction! Fermented mare's milk, airag, is a refreshing drink. The Mongolian horses are semi-wild, set loose in the harsh winter, and (if they survive) capable of great endurance.