After learning about how to make fermented mare’s milk (and tasting it), we stepped outside the family’s ger to view their horses. Yes, they replied through our Trip Leader, these are the same horses we saw grazing yesterday at our ger camp a mile or so away. As the group gazed at the horses, we spied a cowboy in the distance, riding toward us. I stepped away from the group for more flexibility in taking photos of him as he used the uurgas, a long pole with a rope loop at the end, to snare individual horses. He must have seen me taking photos, as a few times he and the horse headed straight toward me. Once both he and the horse stopped, posed and stared directly at me. It was so fun watching this skilled horseman and magnificent animal – the essence of Mongolia before our eyes.