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‪This article describes the evolution of Kazakh techniques of animal husbandry from the nomadic pastoralism practised in the 19th century, through Soviet rationalisation and professionalisation, to the crisis of this sector due to decollectivisation and to its recover in the 21st century. Two field studies carried out between 1994 and 2013 in two Kazakh auls, a sedentary village and a nomadic summer camp, show on a micro scale how ways of acting on and with livestock, especially sheep, reflect a transformation of the relationship with nature : loosening of the control over animal reproduction and mobility, decline of zootechnic interventionism, in favour of more opportunistic forms of actions, but without returning to the previous versatility of species uses or to a more extensive system. If pastoralism can be a model of sustainable exploitation of the steppes, Kazakh pastoralists practise it not for ecological reasons, but to maintain the essential relationship between livestock and people.‪