Back in the days of Genghis Khan (he's still referred to respectfully as "Mr Genghis" in Mazar-e-Sharif), buzkashi was played with prisoners of war instead of a dead animal. To ready the calf for buzkashi, the animal is slaughtered, its head and hooves are chopped off, and it is filled with sand to raise its weight to about 100 lb. Then the carcass is soaked in cold water, making it slimy, heavy and impossible to hold. Up to a thousand horsemen can play, with the game ranging over many miles of desert. The object is to steal the buz, carry it around a flag off in the distance, dump it into a chalked-out ring and collect the prize money. Whoever clings to the carcass is pursued by hordes of other riders who use whips, fists and kicks to steal it.