This short essay explores Khui Doloon Khudag, the open-steppe setting of Mongolia’s national horse races, tracing its atmosphere, cultural significance and emergence as Naadam’s principal racing ground.
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Location Map. July 2026. CPinMongolia.com
KHUI DOLOON KHUDAG: NAADAM ON THE OPEN STEPPE
Khui Doloon Khudag (Хүй долоон худаг), locally abbreviated as “Hui 7 Hudag”, is the broad grassland where the National Naadam horse races are held, approximately thirty kilometres west of central Ulaanbaatar. It is not a Western-style racetrack enclosed by rails and grandstands. The courses extend across open country, and much of the experience comes from seeing horses, riders, trainers and spectators gathered within the landscape itself.
The races are long-distance tests of each horse’s speed, endurance and preparation rather than short sprints. They are organised according to the horses’ ages, with the distance adjusted for each age class.
The youngest horses run approximately 10–12 kilometres, while mature horses may cover around 24–26 kilometres. The horse is regarded as the principal competitor, although the skill, balance and courage of the young rider remain essential (Mongolian National Broadcaster 2023).
Young riders have long been one of the most recognisable features of Naadam racing. Current national regulations, however, require riders in the National Naadam to meet minimum-age, registration, insurance and safety requirements. They now ride with very light saddles and minimal tack rather than simply riding bareback. These measures reflect an effort to preserve the distinctive form of Mongolian racing while placing greater emphasis upon the welfare and protection of participating children (State Great Khural of Mongolia 2022).
During Naadam, the quiet valley changes almost overnight. Gers, horse lines, family encampments, food tents, traders, vehicles and spectators spread across the grassland, creating the feel of a temporary steppe town. Hot khuushuur (хуушуур, deep-fried meat pastries) and airag (айраг, fermented mare’s milk) belong to the social atmosphere, but Hui 7 Hudag is more than a place from which to just watch the finishing line.
The accompanying Culture Naadam (Соёлын наадам) brings traditional music, performance, clothing, visual culture and presentations of pastoral knowledge into the same gathering. It is organised as part of the wider Naadam programme rather than merely as an attraction added for tourists (National Naadam Organising Committee 2023).
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Why this valley and not another?
Hui 7 Hudag is now so closely associated with National Naadam racing that it can appear to be the festival’s timeless home. Its present official role is, however, comparatively recent. The National Naadam horse races began to be held there in 2006, in Argalant sum, Töv aimag. That year also marked the large state commemoration of the eight-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Great Mongol State. The move therefore took place during a period when Naadam was being organised and presented on an enlarged national scale (National Naadam Organising Committee n.d.).
The available official history records when the races moved, but does not provide a single detailed statement explaining why this particular valley was selected.
The reasons can nevertheless be understood from the requirements of National Naadam racing and from the character of the site. A national race needs long, unobstructed courses for several age classes; broad areas in which large numbers of horses can assemble before the start and disperse after the finish; and room for trainers, officials, support vehicles, temporary businesses and many thousands of spectators. Such requirements became increasingly difficult to accommodate near the expanding built environment of Ulaanbaatar.
Hui 7 Hudag offered a practical balance between distance and accessibility. It lay sufficiently close to the capital for officials, participants and spectators to reach it during the national holiday, yet far enough beyond the densely settled city to permit long-distance racing over open land. Its wide grassland also allowed several overlapping Naadam activities to unfold without forcing the horse race into a tightly enclosed sporting precinct.
The site is especially appropriate because Mongolian horse racing is culturally inseparable from distance and landscape.
The course does not remove horses from the steppe and place them inside a purpose-built racing arena. Instead, it preserves a visible connection among pasture, weather, horsemanship, seasonal movement and the gathering of people and animals across open ground.
Spectators encounter not only the formal competition but also trainers’ camps, tethered horses, family groups, food, music, dust and social reunion.
The geography of the valley thus allows a modern national event to retain much of the appearance and rhythm of a steppe gathering.
This openness has gradually been combined with more formal organisation. The state and municipal authorities manage roads, traffic routes, parking, public transport, designated commercial areas, security, emergency services and viewing arrangements during the festival. The National Naadam law also provides the broader regulatory structure under which the races are held, including official authority over venues, competition rules and participant safety (State Great Khural of Mongolia 2022).
Hui 7 Hudag therefore carries a productive tension. It is valued because it feels expansive, temporary and closely connected to the steppe, yet the scale of the National Naadam requires increasingly permanent systems of access, regulation and crowd management. The place must function at once as grassland, racecourse, public festival ground and national ceremonial space.
Its historical significance lies less in an unbroken ancient use, than in the successful modern joining of landscape and national celebration. Proximity to Ulaanbaatar made it administratively workable; its breadth made long-distance racing possible; and its grassland setting allowed horse culture to remain visibly situated within a recognisably Mongolian landscape. Through repeated use since 2006, Khui Doloon Khudag has itself become a place of memory. Families and friends return to the valley, trainers and riders recall earlier races, and the temporary city that appears each July has become part of the site’s identity.
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FURTHER READING
Mongolian National Broadcaster. 2023. “Үндэсний хурдан морьдын уралдааны үүсэл түүх” [The Origin and History of National Horse Racing]. July 7, 2023.
National Naadam Organising Committee. 2023. “The 15th Edition of the ‘Culture Naadam’ Will Be Organised.” National Naadam Festival.
National Naadam Organising Committee. n.d. “Үндэсний хурдан морьдын уралдаан” [National Horse Racing]. National Naadam Festival. Accessed July 12, 2026.
State Great Khural of Mongolia. 2022. Үндэсний их баяр наадмын тухай [Law on the National Great Festival Naadam]. Revised edition. June 28, 2022.
End of transcript.
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© 2013-2026. CP in Mongolia. “Out and About 19: Khui Doloon Khudag: Naadam on the Open Steppe” is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Posted: 12 July 2026. Last updated: 12 July 2026.