Not so long ago, villagers across Turkey practiced an ancient tradition of horsemanship that stretches back centuries, to the days of the Mongol Empire. Work horses spent three seasons on the farm, pulling plows in the spring and carts laden with hay, corn, and other produce through summer and fall, before villagers turned them loose for the winter. The horses spent the cold months on their own, scavenging for food on the plains and foothills and relying on their instincts to survive. When spring leaves burst from their buds, farmers…
