My story with the spotted horse began in 2008, when I received an offer from a British TV company to star in the series 80 Deals Around the World. According to the script, I had to sell some horses, which were supposed to be resold in China. However, due to the quarantine and lack of permits, it was decided to resell the horses in the Uzgen market in south Kyrgyzstan.

At that time, I only had three horses to sell, and I asked a friend whether he could sell me a horse which he had recently bought. The horse was of medium height, muscular, with spots on the croup characteristic of a spotted horse, and it exuded inexhaustible energy and strength. But neither I nor anyone else knew anything about the spotted horse at the time, much less about its connection to the world-famous Appaloosa. For me, this was simply a horse with excellent physical characteristics.

A film crew arrived with the film’s main protagonist, Conor Woodman. Shooting began. We went up on horseback to the pasture where my horses were grazing. After a long and exhausting journey we reached the long-awaited yurt in the evening. Having quickly set up our tents, we sat down to dinner. We had chabati with ghee, and boiled shepherd soup with dried lamb and hand-sliced noodles.

The next morning, we brought the horses that were for sale, and Conor bought four horses from me, including that spotted horse. All the way back from the pasture to Toktogul, Conor was riding that one. He galloped far ahead of the main group of riders and returned at a trot. Joy was visible on Conor's face, he felt free and, for a few hours, he forgot about everything in the world.

I remember that Conor immediately took a liking to the spotted horse and spent considerable time next to it. And not only him, but the whole film crew admired it, its grace, beauty, strength. There was something mystical about him.

Conor Woodman trying to sell ‘Martin’ the suspected Appaloosa

However, this film was neither about a spotted horse nor about horses. It was about trade. So, in the end, I sold all the horses to Conor, and Conor resold them at the Uzgen market and in Osh. That is how we shot one of the episodes of 80 Deals Around the World.

The series was released six months later, and it was aired on many international TV channels, in every continent. Conor also wrote a book about his adventures. Both the series and the book were very successful and very quickly gained worldwide fame.

Life then went on as usual, and the years passed, until one winter evening I received a letter from Conor: ‘Munarbek, how are you? Remember that spotted horse I bought from you? Can we find it? A lady from New Zealand, a breeder of Appaloosa horses, asked me about it after watching our film. She said that perhaps this horse is of the Appaloosa breed.’ he wrote.

To which I replied: ‘Hi Conor, glad to hear you! How will I find that horse? We sold it in Osh, tell the lady that it's impossible.’

Some time passed, and Conor wrote again: ‘Munarbek, this lady flooded me with letters, please make inquiries, maybe there is a possibility to find this horse or at least a horse similar to it. She talks about the Appaloosa connection all the time.’

Then I began to wonder what kind of horse the Appaloosa was. I did some research on the Internet and found a lot of interesting information about the American Appaloosa, its distinctive qualities and its history. Each time I found information about the Appaloosa, it became more and more interesting for me to study the history of this horse, and my research went further and further into world history. As I delved into Chinese history, I stumbled upon information regarding the connection of the spotted horse to the warlike nomadic people who lived between the borders of China and the Ferghana Valley. Of course, these were our Kyrgyz Tien Shan mountains! I wrote to Conor. ‘This is an interesting topic, give me time to research more.’

Due to the fact that I often travel around Kyrgyzstan, I began to notice spotted horses in pastures in various herds, and in different parts of the country. I started asking people and horse breeders, and always got positive feedback about the excellent qualities of this horse. It differed from others not only in its beautiful color, but also in its endurance to long transitions and to the harsh conditions of the mountainous terrain. One day, I stumbled upon a spotted horse in the cattle market. I simply had to buy it and see for myself.

I looked after it, fed it, as well as the rest of the horses, and after a while I noticed that, indeed, with little food, this horse quickly gained weight and shape, and it was a pleasure to ride.

I wrote all this to Conor, to which he replied that he had also been making inquiries, and that he had even agreed to conduct DNA tests with an institute in the USA.

Scott and Connor filming ‘True Appaloosa’

The decision was taken! We would research and produce a film. Needless to say, we were not completely sure that the Appaloosa and the Kyrgyz spotted horse could be related, but it was already impossible to stop us, we wanted to know how this whole story would end.

The preparations for filming lasted two years, and in 2012, Conor and I invited the woman from New Zealand to Kyrgyzstan. Her name is Scott Engstrom.

Shooting took 12 days and sleepless nights, 3000 km across the country, and several hours of non-stop filming every day.

Some things worked out, some things didn't, there were moments of grief, devastation, moments of joy, fatigue. But we were all driven by one feeling: we believed in what we were doing, and we wanted to know how it would end. Would we be able to prove the relationship between the Appaloosa and the spotted Kyrgyz horse? Would we change the official world history of horses?

During filming, we became very close to each other, and parting was difficult. Now we often correspond, communicate and remember our adventures with a smile.

Let's get back to the movie. It took a few more years until we received the DNA tests’ results…

… and yes! The DNA showed the existence of a relationship between the American Appaloosa and the Kyrgyz spotted horse Chaar! We rewrote the world history of horses, our hypothesis was proved to be correct.

The spotted horse had already been on the American continent before the Spanish conquerors brought it on their ships, as official history goes. The horse had crossed the Bering Strait years before.

In 2015, the film was presented to the UK audience on BBC channel 4. It was heartwarming, and emotional. The film showed the beauty of the Celestial Mountains, amazing landscapes and Kyrgyz identity, and of course there were horses, many horses, herds of horses!

The film quickly gained popularity, it was shown in cinemas and TV channels around the world. It was premiered at film festivals in Idaho USA, Holland, Austria and articles were published on the Telegraph, Daily Mail, Express, Times.

- Kuldanbaev Munarbek

World press review on film