With just a little paring with a knife the feet were ready and on were hammered the shoes. The pony seemed resigned to the whole affair and offered no resistance. I don't think that would work with our thoroughbred hunters. The Kazakshs give no name to their ponies or eagle, indulging in no sentimental anthropomorphism. All the same , they have great respect for their animals.
Wild eagles live twenty to twenty-five years in Mongolia, thirty to forty years in captivity.
When an eagle has hunted for Kakiyat five or ten years he turns her loose back into the wild. When I asked him why he gave up a perfectly good hunting eagle, he explained that she had served him well, had more than earned her freedom and should be returned to her natural habitat. With her strong instinct to hunt reinforced throughout her life hunting with Kakiyat, the eagle will easily readapt to the natural state. We departed the home of Kakiyat and Kylai with our hearts full of the kindness and generosity of the Kazakh herders who shared their lives and hunting with us. Ika prepared a delicious traditional Kazakh dinner and Canat brought in his friend the Dombro player.