I get many questions privately on how to select a good Akhal-Teke for allround riding.  What pedigree is the best, are there any certain bloodlines or sirelines we can recommend. My general recommendation would be to look for a horse that fits your needs and taste and not care too much for pedigree and bloodlines. I would guess though, that in 90 cases out of 100 the good, typey Teke you select will have a good pedigree from renowned bloodlines.
The difference between a breeder and a rider that is looking for a horse is that a rider can accept a pretty horse with a not so good pedigree while a breeder probably would consider the pretty horse a coincidence and go for the second best look with a thoroughbred pedigree.

But as you are buying such a precious horse as an Akhal-Teke, I might want to take a foal or two when the riding career is over you think.
And you are looking into foals or yearlings as there are most horses from this age group for sale and they a priced more reasonably.

Ok, here it is very difficult to give advice, when you buy your first Akhal-Teke you cannot know much on how the foals develop and predict their looks and size as adult horses. This is not always easy for the breeder eventhough by the years develop an eye for your breed depending on how many Tekes you get to see.  I still recommend the first time buyer to look and see what they like.
Contact the breeder of the horse you have selected. The honest and serious breeder will give you time to tell her/him a little bit about yourself and give advice on which of their horses that will suit you.  The breeder can also inform you about the brother, sisters and parent to the horse you have selected to give you an estimate on what you can expect from the horse.

Buying from a dealer is more difficult and risky, most dealers buy and sell, and are not interested in much more than promoting what they have in stock and make sure that you buy from them. I  would recommend only buyers experienced in the breed to purchase horses via dealers. The breeder is normally more interested in finding a good home for each horse where the horse can be used to its predicted potential.

Sport horse lines within the Teke breed. There are no reliable data on sport horse lines. It depends on who you ask and how you define sport horse.
I would say that the good Teke without conformational faults with a good Teke temper that had a good start in life with regular hooftrimming, deworming, and excercise would do as an allround horse. They will happily do a little bit dressage, jump fences, do eventing and go a few 60 to 80 km endurance rides, just like any horse that belongs to the sport horse group.  

The Tekes that excell on GP level in the classical sports are so few so they cannot tell you anything about patterns in pedigrees or lines.

Summary

It is diffcult to buy a foal or a yearling, it is a risk but you pay less.

Look for a horse you like, and yes, it is ok to look for the golden ones!

Contact the breeder and find out as much as possible about the horse and its relatives.

Make sure the horse has been well taken care of concerning feeding, excercise, hooftrimming, deworming etc. Akhal-Tekes do need the same care as the other sport horse breeds in order to grow up into sound individuals, do not accept faults and lack of care due to "Akhal-Tekes do not need that, when they lived in the desert.....etc.  This is rubbish and we all know it.  

If you plan to breed from the horse in the future, check for genetical defects, most vets can perform such a check, and make sure that the horse comes from a father and mother that have both produced elite horses with a thoroughbred pedigree.  

If you follow these advice I'm sure you will find your Teke, Tatyana Ryabova once said, "There is an Akhal-Teke for everyone" so there is one out there for you too, now it is up to you to find it.  

One warning though, you will buy your Teke, but your Teke will own you!  





 

1. Sophie11/09/2005 16:36:54

I want to own an akhal teke : he (her) will be a member of our family and then I read your blog, I think more and more that an horse of this bred will bring us a lot. At this time, I try to find a lot of informations about AT (history, pedigrees and lines, breeders an their goats...). So, I visit your website and I read with attention the comments of very well-known breeders (thank a lot for these). I visit also russians websites where I can find a lot of photos (shael, AT-service...) and these photos are very important to understand the bred because it is difficult to find AT in flesh (I once saw a stallion, two mares and offsprings in Germany a few years ago)!
Perhaps, you may recommand adresses of breeders in France or Germany, to visit them (unfortunately, Sweden is far)? THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

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2. Jessica 11/10/2005 10:34:29

I ususally say that if you go to Russia you will find your Teke there, but, it might not be for sale! To visit a few larger breeders in Russia though is the best Teke school you can go to, you might find it worth while to spend time and effort on a trip there before you look for your Teke in Europe.
If you feel that you need to have a Teke quickly and cannot wait until you have arranged yout pilgrimage to Russia I would recommend you to get in touch with Jean-Pierre Bués and his wife Natascha, email jpbues@club-internet.fr , they have been working a lot with the breed and take well care of their horses. There was a breed show in France last summer, I will see if I can get hold of the results to publish here, but from the reports I got from Teke people that went there the Wenmans, email tinawenman@aol.com had a lot of success with their Tekes, most of them where imports from Shael.
It is not a bad idea actually to save pictures of Tekes you like and show them to the breeders you meet or even email them to the breeders, you can explain that this is the type you are looking for and the breeder can tell you if the breed for the same type you like. Eventhough a picture will not tell you about the temperament, movements and workability of the horse it is still a way for you explain to the breeders what you are looking for typewise.

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3. Sophie11/10/2005 15:51:04

Thank you very much for taking time to help me in my quest. Your advices are very precious, I think. I've read these names on websites : they are members of the french association. I'm not in a hurry : it's too important!

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