In recent years, Kyrgyzstan has emerged as a leader in snow leopard conservation, with up to 500 animals estimated to be living in the country, in an area covering 40,540sq miles. Filmmaker, director and co-founder of the Wild Expeditions adventure tour group, Chris Beard works with the Snow Leopard Trust to catalogue sightings and to raise awareness for the reserve, to help ensure its protection. The semi-wild horses the team uses are essential for covering the vast and challenging terrain they work in. The horses are tough and sure-footed, traversing steep paths and frozen rivers with ease. Riding horses here is the ultimate way to experience this wild, savagely beautiful land, transporting the visitor back to the time of the nomads.