Five sketches of life on the move in the wild Siberian borderlands. Cicely Fell follows the upper reaches of the Yenisei river to nomadic and religious communities on the southern edge of Russia.
The horse is at the heart of Khakassia's ancient yet fragile culture. Cicely Fell camps out with a group of horsemen who have returned to a nomadic form of horse herding since the collapse of the local Soviet state farm.
The valley where their herds graze is scattered with ancient rock carvings of horses, traces of a horse culture going back four thousand years. But today, as Cicely discovers, the Khakassian horsemen are struggling to protect their herds from a rare species of red wolf.
Producer: Cicely Fell
An Above the Title production for BBC Radio 4. Show less