LOOKING OUT over the rolling steppe surrounding the Khentii Mountains of northeast Mongolia, it’s easy to understand how its people once conquered the world. This is ideal horse country. Unspoiled ...

To start, I flew to western Mongolia to meet and photograph the iconic Kazakh hunters, horsemen and animal herders. A herder with his goats. Alankush, an eagle hunter, inside his home.

The research reveals the underappreciated role that ancient Mongolians played in the spread of horse riding technology and culture around the globe. Those advances ushered in a new and sometimes ...