Branding the Foals
A horse foal is held during a community ceremony and branded by Ser-Od Bor in the Altai mountains of Mongolia. The practice is seen as both a coming-of-age for the horses and is done accompanied by a long community ceremony of throwing milk offerings to the sky and earth. Branding of animals is a common practice among pastoral peoples, but in the Altai, shamanism is common and the constant ritual of offering to the land offers a continual connection to it.
