The sport of kokpar is like blood soaked polo match, with a headless goat carcass as the ball. Kokpar is one of the oldest nomadic games in Kazakhstan and is said to have originated with Genghis Khan’s early-13th-century mounted raiders. Matches would typically consist of 50 or 100 men and boys on horseback coming together in a clash of sweat and blood, with shouting riders and rearing horses. Many Western critics are shell shocked by the idea of using a disemboweled goat in sport yet the game is still played this way across central Asia, but in recent years it has become increasingly professionalized, with salaries for players and televised matches. Welcome to ‘Get Your Goat: Ancient Blood Sport’
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