Her home country’s rich horse culture helped Tserenbaljir Baatartogtokh prepare for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

Tserenbaljir Baatartogtokh had no delusions about her chances of snagging a spot on the Dartmouth College IHSA equestrian team when she first arrived in New Hampshire last fall. “Baljir,” as her American friends now call her, knew her riding résumé was thin. She’d never seen a hunter seat equitation show, attempted a posting trot or even sat on a non-Mongolian horse.

But the 21-year-old rider from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, had a serious love for horses, so she figured she could pick up the rest as she went along. And she was right. Now, eight months later, Baljir is Dartmouth’s most enthusiastic team member, and her childhood experiences in Mongolia are a surprising boon to a college halfway around the world.

Growing up in a city in north central Mongolia didn’t afford Baljir many riding opportunities as a child, and she wasn’t the typical horse-crazy little girl. But she loved attending races, and somewhere along the way she caught the riding bug.

“I think I grew more fond of horses as I grew older,” Baljir explained. “As a child it was more something fun to do, but as you grow older you think about it in terms of why you like it and what makes it great and what it means to you and your culture.”

In the summertime Baljir would occasionally travel to the countryside to ride borrowed horses, but the opportunities were infrequent.

“There isn’t much formal training, so I’d just get on and gallop around the steppes, which are the fields of Mongolia,” she said. “We don’t have any sea access—we’re surrounded by Russia and China—but I call the steppes our ocean. To gallop across them is just the best feeling.”

Horses have been a part of Mongolian culture for thousands of years. Semi-wild herds roam the steppes, and nomadic families follow them and care for them.

July marks the annual festival Naadam, a celebration of the nomadic culture that consists of horse racing, archery and wrestling. Children serve as jockeys, and races measure anywhere between 6 to 20 miles, depending on the age of the horses.

“In Mongolia, horses have spiritual meaning,” Baljir explained. “They’re worshipped and loved. Here, a lot of people don’t care much for horses unless they’re specifically involved. In Mongolia, you can have a discussion with anyone about them.”

In contrast to the United States, where the membership in national equestrian organizations is predominantly female, riding in Mongolia is seen as masculine. The horses are small, half-wild and considered dangerous, and that stigma was hard for Baljir’s parents to forget.

“My dad wasn’t too keen about me riding at first,” she admitted. “He associated it with how horseback riding is at home—very dangerous. He thought [that because American] horses were huge, there was even more risk.”

But as Baljir explained that the team’s horses were much quieter and more domesticated, her parents grew more supportive of her riding.

Learning To Ride On Google

The idea of their daughter becoming a collegiate equestrian didn’t really cross Baljir’s parents’ minds when she moved to the United States for college in 2008. She spent her freshman year at Minnesota State University, but she quickly found that she missed having horses in her life. So Baljir started hunting for a transfer school with an equestrian team, scouring the Internet for a college that would offer riding opportunities to a beginner-level rider.

“Before I came to Dartmouth, I did go on the website and look very intensely at the team,” she said, laughing.

Baljir transferred her sophomore year to study economics and engineering, and her first order of business was to attend the team’s new rider picnic.

“She was very enthusiastic,” said Sally Batton, Dartmouth’s head coach. “She came right up to me at the new rider picnic and introduced herself. She was really interested in the equestrian team and all the activities at the farm.”

Batton explained to Baljir that she had to be able to do a posting trot in order to qualify for the IHSA walk-trot division. When she learned that Baljir didn’t have any background in showing, she suggested the rider take a semester of lessons before trying for the team.

But Baljir would not be deterred. She went home and Googled “post-in trot,” not even knowing the correct term, and she insisted on attending team try-outs.

“Baljir grilled me before team try-outs,” remembered Samantha Parsons, team co-captain. “She even had me demonstrate what a posting trot looked like. Baljir watched the more experienced riders and studied exactly what they did, and when it came to her turn, she was posting at the trot around the arena!”

Batton couldn’t help but notice Baljir’s determination, and she knew the young woman had really worked to earn a place on the roster. Knowing she could rely on some of her more experienced walk-trot riders to get the team through their first few shows, Batton named Baljir to the team.

For the first three weeks, Baljir took four lessons a week to learn better control, diagonals and posting. She lacked formal training, but that meant she also had no bad habits to break. Baljir soaked up every tidbit of information like a sponge.

“She is quite an amazing student,” Batton said. “She has an amazing ability, in that once you put her into the correct position, she’s able to hold it.”

From Potato To Prodigy

American horses and riding style weren’t the only things Baljir had to adapt to. She had to start from scratch to get competition-ready.

“I didn’t have any gear. In fact, I was very unfamiliar with [most of] the equipment,” she said, laughing. “At first I had to borrow everything from my teammates, who were great about that. I’ve slowly been able to acquire things.”

Baljir embraced her steep learning curve, but when she finally watched her first horse show, she began feeling a little overwhelmed.

“My initial impression was that the riders had to exhibit such control and composure,” she said. But what she lacked in understanding, she made up with enthusiasm. She would cheer the loudest for her teammates and then turn to the others for an explanation of what had happened.

After spectating and assisting at a few competitions, Baljir rode in her first show, a home match at Dartmouth.

“I was very, very nervous at my first show,” she admitted. “Because I was so nervous, I forgot everything and lost all control. I sat on my horse like a potato, and he did whatever he wanted.”

She placed last and went home frustrated, but her next show went much differently.

“I got my blue ribbon on my second show, at the University of Vermont,” she said. “It was such a great feeling. I was very surprised, and it was unexpected. I was very grateful to my coach.”

The rest of the team ran out to hug her as soon as Baljir got off her horse. She was so thrilled that she called her family in Mongolia as soon as she returned to campus.

Coming from a non-showing back-ground, Baljir was surprised at first at how reserved the spectators and her teammates generally were at competitions, and she’s already affecting a change in the team’s culture. She cheers no matter which Dartmouth rider does well, whether it’s her teammate or herself.

“I think a lot of people were surprised when I got so excited,” she said. “They normally don’t show much reaction when they win. When I won I was jumping up and down!”

She’s Refreshing

Baljir’s heritage and upbringing make her a unique addition to the team, and Parsons still remembers the first day they met.

“She had this beautiful British accent, and everyone was very enamored with her. Then we found out she was from Mongolia, and that was mind-blowing,” Parsons said. “But she fit right in with everyone else. She’s such a great sport that she’s never afraid to ask any questions. It’s refreshing because she’ll ask questions about things no one ever thought about before.”

Now that she’s mastered the posting trot, Baljir is moving on to the canter, which she said has been much easier to pick up, since it’s similar in all riding styles. But her desire to learn doesn’t stop there.

“I haven’t started jumping yet, and I hope to eventually,” she said. “I never jumped back in Mongolia, so that would be great to learn.”

Baljir’s experiences with the Dartmouth equestrian team have taught her to look at horses in a different light.

“Before I would associate horses with freedom and doing whatever I want,” she said. “My vision changed to where I associate them with challenge, self-control and discipline. I began to use muscles I never knew I had. I began to see it as a sport, not something I do for leisure.

“My entire horse learning experience here is based on other people—my coaches and the girls on the team,” Baljir added. “Whatever I didn’t learn from the coach and the trainer, I learned from the girls. Sally’s great; she knows how to push you without discouraging you. She knows how to help you be your best while feeling good about yourself.”

Once she graduates, Baljir has no intention of giving up horses or her Mongolian heritage.

“I’m never going to cut my ties with Mongolia, so I think I want to develop horse culture in a different way [there] and see how Mongolian horses would react to domestication—experiment and see if I can make them less wild,” she said.

But for now, Baljir is focusing on learning and enjoying the time she spends with the horses and her teammates, and the exchange is mutually beneficial.

“Her constantly asking questions keeps everyone on their toes,” Parsons echoed. “She’s always just so excited to ride. She reminds people that this is fun and something that we all enjoy.”