The horse is especially beloved and essential to Mongol life. Mongols spend much of their lives on horseback and are skilled equestrians. Not only does the horse serve myriad practical purposes, but it plays a great symbolic and inspirational role. Sheep are the foundation of the herding economy, and mutton is by far the preferred meat. The felt for the ger is made from sheep's wool.
Goats provide angora wool, a profitable export item.
Camels, traditionally the most important transportation for exporting and importing products, are still used mainly as beasts of burden. Cow dung is the primary source of fuel because the steppe is not forested. Being a nomadic people, Mongols found an artistic outlet in their portable belongings, such as saddles, horse trappings, tools and kitchen utensils, and especially personal jewelry. The five animals essential to the Mongols' life often appear in their art. Jewelry, embroidery, leather work, wood carvings, and even the covers of Buddhist books have designs that employ such motifs as the horns of sheep and the nostrils of cattle.