ABC News’ Devin Dwyer (@devindwyer) reports: Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, today where his hosts celebrated the first visit by a U.S. vice president since 1944 with performances of traditional music and dance, a Mongol-style wrestling competition and a gift: a Mongolian horse. …
During the presentation ceremony, U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Addleton placed a blue ribbon around the horse’s neck, and Biden tied two knots in it — a symbolic display meant to signal importance. Biden said that he named the horse “Celtic.”
But the horse apparently did not respond in kind.
Press pool accounts of the moment said the horse “got a bit excited” by Biden’s gesture and had to be taken away. (Aides said it would not be returning to the U.S. on Air Force 2.)
Photo of the (possibly linguistically befuddled) Celtic here.
Trying to find a connection between the Celts and the Mongolians without heading to Wikipedia and getting lost for the rest of the afternoon. Nope. Can’t think of one. Joe, what were you thinking?
There is possibly one, but you have to stretch things very generously. i.e., the Celts were a later edition of the Steppes people who first domesticated horses, although that was in Kazakhstan…
The Celts were descended from the Scythians, way I heard it.
Yep. The Scythians were among the Steppes people.