Kyrgyzstan-Eer, A Kyrgyz Saddle

Рет қаралды 967

Күн бұрын

Official: www.unesco-ich...
Facebook: / ichcap
Instagram: / unesco_ichcap
#kyrgyzstan #culturalheritage #saddle
Script
Making saddles has a long history. Nomadic life of our ancestors encompassed taming of horses along with other wild animals and turning them into domesticated animals. Our ancestors tamed horses to serve human needs as well as to be a source of food. How were the horses tamed? In the outset of the nomadic civilization, people needed tend to their livestock and migrate in search of good pastures. That’s when horses did a great service to nomads including Kyrgyz people. People learned to ride horses and horses were trained to be ridden. Our ancestors started using felt pads or sheep skin while riding a horse to prevent chafing of horse skin and to make ride more comfortable.
People have been riding horses from ancient times, which lead to invention of a saddle. While riding a horse, person’s feet do not touch the ground and that is why one needs to sit straight and firmly on a saddle. Kyrgyz people say “he is not straight on a saddle” while referring to someone who is not doing well. Thus, they say “the one who is not straight on a saddle, would not get improvement in his business”. Kyrgyz people used saddles from the time they started riding horses.
People needed stirrups to get on a horse. Ancient people must have made a loop at one end of the rope and tied somehow the other end to a saddle’s horn or to some other place of a saddle. Then they would put one foot in the loop and get on a horse. That was how a saddle started taking its shape. The saddle tree had the front and back sides and wooden bars on the sides, thus, these elements made up an initial shape of a saddle. The saddle kept being improved and further developed over time, so the saddle we see nowadays is an advanced type of a saddle. A wheel was invented to bring improvements into agriculture. A saddle was adapted to nomadic herders’ lifestyle. Then the time of dominance and militarization came about, which also shapes the further
development of a saddle. There were no riffles yet and the primary weapons included bows and arrows, spears, clubs and axes. To protect a rider’s crotch from spears during horseback battle, the pommel of a saddle served as a shield.
A saddle for women shields the body parts that need to be covered according to etiquette. The pommel is often decorated with silver. There are beautiful women saddles like this. A woman’s saddle is referred to as lady saddle or female saddle and it differs from male saddle. Man would not ride on a lady saddle. Male saddles are for everyday routine. We also call them kalak bash eer (lit. flat horn saddle) or kök kashka eer (lit. blue-star saddle). These saddles are still used in Kokn and Talas.
Wood for saddle must not be cut when the branches still have leaves on them. Wood is cut and dried in late fall or early winter. There are two ways of making a saddle. One way is carving a saddle out of a single piece of wood and the other is making it out of several pieces. Historically, first saddles were made out of four pieces that we mentioned earlier. And carving out a saddle out of single piece came about later.
Here you see a saddle without a horn. I would cut this place with a saw and then install a horn here, which has been made separately. We keep shaping up the saddle by removing excessive layers. If we remove it carefully, one can start seeing that horn is shaping up. Here we see the outlines of the horn.
A saddle tree is covered with a cattle rawhide like this. When the rawhide stiffens it makes the saddle very durable. That is why we cover the top of the saddle tree first, and only then we cover the bars. Then, we cover the horn with it. This is the last step in covering a saddle with a rawhide.
We call this thing over here “a frame”. You can see it as a back of a horse. It matches the back of an average adult horse. We took a cast of several horsebacks using gesso and made this frame according to the average measurements. The tree of a saddle is adjusted to fit the frame. When both sides are done, they are fixed together with nails. Then, after adding the pommel and the cantle on top, we adjust the saddle as shown before. We use this frame not only for making a Kyrgyz saddle but also for making a durable stunt saddle out of metal tubes. So this saddle is also made on this frame. So we bring it and put it over here… hold it… You see now it fits. It fits nicely. The good thing about it is that you can hold onto it here. This saddle is also covered with leather.
The saddle bars are 56 cm long. The measurement of a pommel is 38 cm and cantle is 35 cm. The width of a saddle, i.e. the distance between bars is 35 cm.
Kyrgyz people have a tradition of gift giving. There is a saying “he gave a needle as a gift and received a camel”. Saddles are often given as gifts.