For the Sakha (Yakuts), horse breeding is of particular importance. For a long time, it served not only as an economic basis by providing meat and milk food and important materials. Their large horse stocks also lent themselves to transportation services when the Russians opened up Siberia, which led to closer cultural contacts with conquerors coming from the west at an early stage. The special role of the horse in the life of the Yakuts is also expressed in their world view and in most of the rituals during their festival of reconciliation with nature (Ysyach). When they immigrated from southern Siberia during the 13th and 15th centuries, the Sakha adapted local horse-breeding traditions from there to the climatic conditions of the north and, over time, developed a particularly hardy horse breed known as the Yakut horse.