The Chant of Steppes builds on a love triangle Mohabat likes two men but she can not make the right choice and decides to marry the one who wins the bouzkachi contest A poet and an artist have to cross mountains and steppes to engage in a noisy and dusty contest of horsemen in order to gain the hand and the heart of the beautiful Mohabat The rules of the traditional Oriental game called bouzkachi are strict a team of riders has to get the headless carcass of a ram clear of the other players to win the contest