Winter Horse Festival (Steppe Horse Festival): Dates, Tickets & Venue (Batnorov)

Two days of herding on frozen ground

This festival is a working contest. The Winter Horse Festival takes place over two days in November 2026 in Batnorov, a rural sum (district) in Khentii Province. The events are horse-riding and herding competitions, so this is herding culture judged by the people who live it.

The setting is open steppe in early winter, with grass long since cured to tan and snow often lying in patches. Mongolian horses are short, stocky and thick-coated, and they live outdoors all year. Riders usually compete in the deel, the long belted robe worn across the countryside. In November it is lined and padded.

There is no grandstand or ticket barrier. Expect a village event: spectators stand along the course, and vehicles are parked in a loose ring on the grass.

Reaching Batnorov from Ulaanbaatar

Khentii lies east of the capital. The route runs along the paved eastern highway to Chinggis City, the provincial centre once called Öndörkhaan, about 330 km from Ulaanbaatar. Beyond it the roads get rougher, and the last stretch to Batnorov is the kind 4x4 drivers handle every day.

• Usual approach: a hired vehicle with a driver, often a Russian UAZ van or a Land Cruiser, arranged through an Ulaanbaatar tour operator.
• Overnight: visitors usually sleep in Chinggis City on the way out, or in a family ger close to the village.
• Time: two days of driving there and back, plus the two festival days. That makes four days at minimum.

Bus services stop at Chinggis City. Public transport to the festival ground itself does not exist.

Dressing for a November steppe

November in Khentii is properly cold. Daytime temperatures sit well below freezing, and the wind runs across the flat ground with nothing to stop it. You spend hours standing still at a start or finish line, and that drains warmth faster than walking does.

• Layers: thermal base, fleece, a down jacket rated for deep cold.
• Feet: insulated winter boots, which matter more than anything else here.
• Face and hands: a balaclava or scarf, plus mittens worn over thin gloves for working a camera.
• Power: phone and camera batteries die quickly in the cold, so carry spares in an inside pocket.

Inside a ger the stove keeps the air hot. Hosts usually serve suutei tsai, salty milk tea, as soon as guests sit down.

Standing at the finish line in Batnorov

Herder etiquette goes with you onto the festival ground. Never walk behind a horse or step across the line a herding event is using. Spectators leave the course open, and mounted riders always have right of way.

• Photos: herders are generally happy to be photographed, but ask with a gesture first, especially for close portraits.
• Horses: do not touch a horse’s head or a rider’s tack unless invited.
• Offerings: accept tea, food or snuff with your right hand, with your left hand supporting your right elbow.
• Ger manners: move clockwise inside, and never lean on the two central support posts.
• Payment: there are no card terminals out here. Your driver or guide handles anything that needs paying.

A guide who speaks Mongolian turns watching into understanding. Herders will explain which horse belongs to which family and why a rider won, but only if someone can translate.