Embossed Leather Kamcha

The embossed leather kamcha is the everyday form of the Iradi riding whip (kamcha), carried by herders and riders. Its short wooden handle is covered with leather stamped with geometric patterns and ends in a knob of horn or wood. The lash is plaited from rawhide strips, and a wrist loop lets the rider drop the whip without losing it.^[1] In folk belief a whip hung over a doorway or a child's cradle protects the household from evil. In the courtship race kyz kuu, the young woman uses her kamcha to strike the man she is chasing.^[2]

References

1. ^ Department of Ethnography, Talas State University (2016). Horse Gear and Saddlery of the Northern Valleys. Talas: Talas State University Press, pp. 61–66.
2. ^ National Equestrian Sports Directorate (2023). Rules of Ulak Tartysh and the Traditional Equestrian Games. Talas.