Buzkashi 2.0 at the
Come Out and Play Festival 2014

Buzkashi 2.0 is a new version of the traditional Central Asian horse sport of Buzkashi. In regular Buzkashi, two horse-bound teams attempt to score points by throwing a decapitated goat' carcass into a circular goal. Buzkashi 2.0 eliminates the logistical challenges of finding twenty horses and a dead goat, and keeps most of the excitement. Well, probably not- but it's definitely fun. In place of the goat is a toy horsie, and in place of the horses-people dressed as horses(much easier to feed). The sport is a mash up of soccer and ultimate. Riders may only use their hands and can throw the horse back and forth to each other, while horses can only kick the ball on the ground. When the ball drops onto the ground riders may not reach down to grab it, only horses can flick the ball back up to them. The first very fun games of Buzkashi 2.0 were played at the 2014 Come Out and Play Festival, and the Institute is confident that this new sport will not be sweeping the Central Asian steppes any time soon.