Herders play cards inside a hundred-year-old yurt at Tarhana.

Not surprisingly, horses feature prominently in the material culture of the Yakuts. Table legs often have a horse leg design, and the horse motif is found on a wide variety of utensils, tables, and boxes. The tethering posts found outside many Yakut homes are considered sacred, and the happiness of the household is often attributed to them. Often, families moving from one home to another dig up these posts and take them along.

The horse also features prominently in Yakut fairy tales, songs, and art. It is usually characterized as being clever, noble, and modest and frequently defends its master. In art, horses are portrayed with blazing eyes, head held high, mane proudly streaming and one foot raised ready to stamp the ground. Horses also feature in the Yakut calendar. For example, March, which is called kulun tutar, is known as the month of "holding the foals."
       
Today there are around 200,000 horses in Yakutia. They are looked after by about three thousand herders and their families, though the number of people dependent on horse breeding is much greater. City dwellers usually own horses that are looked after by relatives in rural areas. The Yakut horse is an efficient meat producer, and horsemeat is still the most popular meat available in Yakutia. The Yakut people have numerous ways of preparing it. Sometimes it is even served raw, thinly sliced and frozen. The liver is particularly popular this way, with a little salt sprinkled on. The meat is often eaten boiled, though some cuts (like ribs) are usually preferred fried. The Yakuts also make a blood sausage with the intestines and, perhaps the most exotic culinary item of all, "horse foot jelly."
       
Horse breeding, like most other agricultural activities, was collectivized into a system of state farms under Russia's former communist regime. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of these collectives have become privatized. Herds vary in size from about thirty to several hundred horses. Herding doesn't involve a constant watch over the animals, but herds have to be checked regularly. Herders ensure that none of the animals have strayed, that they are in good condition, and that they have sufficient food. If necessary, herders will drive the horses to new pastures.