remounts. They alternated horses so that they always rode a fresh horse. Racing, riding, and tack Horse racing is one of the "three manly arts". Horse racing is the second-most popular event in Mongolia, after traditional wrestling. Mongolian races are long, up to 30 km, and can involve thousands of horses. The native horses have excellent endurance. Though foreign breeds are faster than Mongolian horses, they are usually exhausted by the end of the run, while the Mongolian horses still have wind. Nevertheless, horses have died of exhaustion during the Naadam race on occasion. In Mongolia, racing is a people's sport where everyone participates. Each family selects the best horse from their herd and takes it to the fair to race. However, in recent years, the introduction of fast foreign crossbreeds has changed the sport. Only the richest breeder can afford to buy and raise a Thoroughbred/Mongolian mix, and such horses tend to win races. This has led to complaints that ordinary people no longer have a chance to win, and that racing has become the province of the elite. Racing horses with a child in the saddle run in full gallop over 35 km at a time. Children are used instead of adults because they are lighter. Mongolians are not so much concerned with the skill and experience of a jockey as the ability of the horse. Mongolian nomads have long been considered to be some of the best horsemen in the world. During the time of Genghis Khan, Mongol horse archers were capable of feats such as sliding down the side of their horses to shield their bodies from enemy arrows, while simultaneously holding their bows under the horses' chins and returning fire, all at full gallop. The education of a modern Mongolian horseman begins in childhood. Parents place their children on a horse and hold them there before they can even hang on without assistance. By age 6, children can ride in races; by age 10, they are learning to make their own tack. Materials such as books on horse training or medical care are uncommon and seldom used. Information is passed down orally from parent to child. A variety of rules for how tack and horses should be handled are known. For example, it was taboo to use the whip as a prop or to touch an arrow to the whip; such crimes were punishable by