“Reconstruction of Traditional Kyrgyz Women’s Horse Tack Used in Bridal Send-Off Ceremonies” is a project by Aigine CRC that combines institutional strengthening with heritage safeguarding through hands-on craft revival. At its core, the project restores two regional variations (northern and southern) of women’s horse tack traditionally used during the bridal send-off ceremony—an almost forgotten layer of Kyrgyz cultural memory.
This tack was not merely decorative. It carried social and cultural meaning: regional identity, clan and tribal references, materials and techniques specific to different areas, and symbolic elements connected to women’s life journeys. Today, many related craft practices are disappearing, and women’s tack has largely vanished from collective knowledge. The project aims to bring it back not as a museum reconstruction alone, but as a living, community-based process of learning and intergenerational transmission.
Why it matters
In recent years, public interest in traditions and equestrian culture has grown, including among girls and women. Yet participation often relies on men’s saddles and equipment, which distorts historical reality and reinforces the misconception that distinct women’s tack did not exist. This project restores accuracy and meaning—reviving not only the visible form but also the terminology, rituals, and knowledge systems behind it.
What we do
Implemented across four regions of Kyrgyzstan (Osh, Batken, Naryn, and Ysyk-Kol), the project follows a step-by-step process:
-
Strategic retreat for Aigine CRC
A facilitated planning retreat brings together board members, staff, experts, elders, knowledge holders, and youth to define long-term direction, strengthen governance, and shape a sustainable approach to supporting regional initiative groups. -
Community-based field research
Young artisan-researchers work with elders, women, master craftspeople, and knowledge bearers to document names, functions, meanings, and regional features of women’s horse tack. Interviews are documented through photo and video. -
Archival and museum research
Libraries, ethnographic museums, collections, and private archives are explored to locate historical photographs, descriptions, inventories, and surviving artifacts related to the tack components. -
Sketch models and design drawings
Artists and designers develop detailed sketches and technical drawings for all elements of each regional set. -
Reconstruction with multi-craft collaboration
Jewelry makers, leatherworkers, blacksmiths, woodworkers, tailors, embroiderers, weavers, and other artisans collaborate to produce two complete reconstructed sets (north and south), with two copies of each set to ensure preservation and future use.
Outcomes
-
a jointly agreed strategic roadmap strengthening Aigine CRC’s institutional base and regional partnership model;
-
a structured body of field and archival materials documenting women’s tack traditions;
-
detailed design documentation for each tack component;
-
two reconstructed regional sets of women’s horse tack, with two copies of each;
-
a strengthened youth initiative group Antiguo ye Nuevo (“The Ancient Anew”) equipped to lead future craft revival activities in their regions;
-
renewed intergenerational exchange and revitalized use of Kyrgyz traditional terminology related to materials, tools, techniques, and ceremonial practices.