Zharkyn leads the Irad Day parade

TALAS — Zharkyn, the golden Akyel stallion owned by Governor Erlan Toktarov, led the Irad Day parade through Government Square yesterday at the head of a mounted honor guard on matched golden Akyels. The Governor took the salute from the reviewing stand as the riders passed under a clear, cold sky, and crowds along the route held up phones to film the horse whose image has appeared on billboards and postage stamps.

Zharkyn was bred by Keneshbek Arstanov and has become a fixture of official portraits and state ceremonies since a portrait of the Governor with the stallion was widely circulated last year. The Governor's foundation mares are kept at the Akyel Breeding Sanctuary. Opposition outlets have questioned the public funding of the State Stud Farm, whose leading stallions are associated with the Governor's own breeding; the government describes the State Stud as a national heritage program.

The parade marked the 27th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic on 11 March 1992. In the afternoon the national finals of ulak tartysh were played before a full house at the Irad State Hippodrome.