No Football Bowl Day ... But Buzkashi Instead

Yesterday a mass e-mail went out to the IJC saying that we had been personally invited by one of the Afghan generals to attend a Buzkashi match (for lack of a better word). Buzkashi (translated as “goat grabbing”) is an old Central Asian, mainly Afghan in fact, competition where men on horseback wrestle for control of a goat or calf carcass, race around a pole or flag, and place the carcass in a circle. (Check out Wikipedia for more information.) I have seen the sport on the Discovery Channel, so I had an idea what it was like. The invitation was limited to the first 50 responders. I knew I wanted to go, so without too much decision-making effort I responded that I wanted to go…I was the ninth person on the list.

I did worry a little bit about the security situation. The e-mail said it was going to take place at the Kabul stadium. While there is always some threat just driving the roads here, my main concern was actually being in a large crowd of people and thinking that one of them may sneak in a weapon or something, but I figured since the Marines were the ones coordinating the event, they would probably be well represented there and that I and 49 well-armed Marines and Soldiers could adequately protect ourselves. After an uneventful, but bumpy ride (especially since I was in the very back of the armored Suburban) we arrived at the “stadium.”

I lost my bearings from riding backwards and having one, small window to look out, but we were somewhere on the western outskirts of Kabul, on some rolling hills near the foot of the mountains, at what would probably only be considered a horse stadium. There were a lot of armed ISAF and Afghan soldiers standing guard/overwatch at every high point around. While there were nearly 50 horses and riders, there were very few spectators. I felt a lot safer realizing that this was really an event arranged almost solely for us. And before the match, several US helicopters landed and unloaded Gen McChrystal (COMISAF), Gen Rodriguez (COMIJC), and at least six other general officers. Then I knew I was as safe as I could possibly get in Afghanistan, so I was able to relax and enjoy the sights.

First of all, it’s just really neat to see the Afghan riders (and horses) up close and personal, smile at them and nod Hello, and to receive some acknowledgement back from them. They were mostly looking at us like we were the strange, exotic ones. It was nice to see more scenery. We could see more of the mountains and more of the city. Whichever part of town we were in is going through a building boom. There were several miles of lots that have been walled off, most foundations and support structures of large houses in the process of construction. (I think that’s a very good sign for the security and development of Afghanistan.)

Then of course, we got to watch and enjoy the match. And no surprise to me, it was extremely cool to see in person. There isn’t a lot of constant, fast-paced action, as there is a lot of positioning, pushing, and wrestling to pick up the carcass from the ground (they have to reach down while still saddled on/to the horse), but when a rider did finally pick up the carcass it got exciting as the tried to break free of the pack and race down the edge of the stadium, literally just a few feet from where I was standing.

Only a few of the riders went all the way around the green flag at the other end of the field, with most racing about two-thirds down before turning back to place the carcass in the circle for a ‘score’. But there really is no scoring per say, or even a time limit for the match. When a rider places the carcass in the circle, he wins that turn and receives an award or prize. Today, it was “straight cash, Homey.” When a rider scored/won that turn, one of the other riders who was obviously partially in charge would ride up to the winner and hand him cash. I think the riders that went farther down the field before turning around to return to the circle received more prize money.

I’ll try to share and explain a little more in the captions to the pictures below. (Due to limited bandwidth and the desire to post as many pictures as possible, I’ve had to compress the pictures. But you should get the idea. And you can still click on them to increase the size.) Overall, it was a great experience, a true once-in-a-lifetime event that I’m glad that I ventured out to attend.

I was standing at the gate when some of the riders and horses entered the stadium. This was my first sight of the event and it was so close…very cool.

Now this rider was your stereo-typical Buzkashi tough guy…hairy chest at all. And yes, he won several turns.

Even tough guys have to check their cell phones one last time before the match.

Here’s the prize-money man. Yep, that’s a big stack of Afghani cash in is hand. After a rider won a turn he would ride up to them and give them a few bills, although I have no idea how much of course.

This guy was the character of the match. At first, I thought he was some sort of referee because he seemed to be hollering at the riders a lot, but then seemed to be hollering at the crowd a lot, too. It was kind of an epic, sing-song hollering though. I think he was more like an announcer or color commentator. He cracked up the official reviewing stand once and was promptly paid a prize as well.