Bayarmaa manages the Asian Wildlife Park on Horse Reality where she takes care of the beautiful Mongolian horses.
| Bayarmaa Garamgai | |
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| Occupation | Manager of the Asian Wildlife Park |
| Age | 32 |
| Height | 165cm (5’4”) |
| Family Background | Lives in Mongolia with her husband Khuyag |
| Link | Here |
¶ Background
Born to nomadic herders Garamgai and Narantuya, Bayarmaa calls the Mongolian steppe her home. From a tiny girl wrapped in a woollen deel, her earliest memories are from the back of a galloping horse, racing after her father and pretending to shoot a tiny bow, grinning from ear to ear.
Her mother, Narantuya, was one of the greatest horse racers the steppe had ever seen, and Bayarmaa was determined to follow in her footsteps. She started racing at the age of six under her mother’s knowledgeable eye on a wild spotted gelding she handpicked from the family’s herd. Atop her feisty mount, she won every race, even against the older children.
Growing into adolescence, if not helping with the herds of goats and sheep, she was seldom on her own two feet. Garamagi, her father, taught her about the art of nature on their long horseback treks. She learned to recognise the marks of wolves, the strange calls of a great bustard, and where the water gathers even in a dzud. It was a joyful life in a beautiful, harsh world.
Her mother fell ill in the winter of Bayarmaa’s sixteenth year. When Narantuya did not recover by the following summer, Garamgai made the decision to move his family to the city to find his wife the care she needed.
Ulaanbaatar was unlike anything Bayarmaa could have imagined. They moved into a ger on the city’s outskirts, so similar to their steppe home but so different in every other way. Here, the air was a constant haze, the sounds of people never quieted, and the ever-burning city lights drowned out the stars. Worse still, they had to leave every one of their horses behind. A Mongolian without her horses felt as natural as a bird without its wings. Sometimes, when the homesickness grew too heavy, Bayarmaa and her mother would slip out of the city while Garamgai worked. They would sneak into the rundown wildlife park to watch the horses, and Narantuya would tell stories of her childhood, of the horses she had known and the lessons she had learned. Bayarmaa would listen, enraptured, and dream of when they could return home.
One year slid into the next. When her mother grew too frail to accompany her out of the city, Bayarmaa started taking a camera instead. Photographs allowed her to bring a window of their old life into their city home. To her surprise, she found she had a natural skill in capturing the beauty of the steppe; her still images came alive with raw emotion. She found the semi-feral herds of other nomadic families who kindly allowed her to photograph their traditional life and horses, sometimes riding with them in return for keepsake photos. Narantuya surrounded herself with the photographs Bayarmaa brought back, seeming to draw strength from their presence. At long last, she began to make steady progress towards recovery.
It was more than two years before the family could return home, reuniting with the families they had lived amongst for generations. Bayarmaa’s favourite spotted gelding remembered her. With a playful buck he took her on a long-awaited gallop over the plains she called home. At last she could breathe deeply.
On a trek with her father several seasons after their return, they came across a handsome stranger, Khuyag. He introduced himself as the grandson of the late owner of the wildlife park outside of Ulaanbaatar, the same that Narantuya and Bayarmaa had frequented. The park had been allowed to fall into disarray, and with his grandfather’s passing, Khuyag had been thrust into the role of caretaker. He was looking for assistance from people who knew the land well, who could help restore it to its role as a wildlife sanctuary and as a place to spread awareness and education on the environment and its conservation.
Bayarmaa was captivated by his impossible mission. Garamgai insisted Khuyag accompany them back to their gers to share a meal. They drank airag and talked about the ever-changing climate and the threat of urbanisation to the traditional Mongolian culture. Khuyag was interested in Bayarmaa’s photographs, suggesting she could provide images for the park’s educational marketing campaigns. It sounded like the perfect use of her new skills.
She agreed to work with Khuyag and his small team, and it quickly became clear that Bayarmaa had a keen eye for horses with an impressive depth of knowledge, thanks to her mother’s teachings. Her dedication and expertise led her to become the manager of the park’s feral herds, a position she holds to this day. Over the years, as Bayarmaa and Khuyag spent more time together, their connection deepened, evolving from friendship to a romantic relationship, and eventually culminating in marriage. The work is fulfilling, connecting her to nature and helping preserve the land and traditional way of life she loves so much.
¶ Changelog
- Bayarmaa's background story was chosen through a player writing contest on October 4th 2023[1][2]
¶ References
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/139/community-update-qol-update-bug-fixes-writing-contest-more
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/141/community-update-5th-anniversary-investment-mongolian-horse-release-premium-feature-more