I happened to visit the web site of the Arabian Jockey Club http://www.arabianracing.org/Home/RacingHistory.asp

To my suprise I can read that the Arabian horse is the original race horse. Claiming that the Arabian horse should be the first race horse is falsification or misinterpretation of historical facts.
I think that all of us, active with the heavenly breed, must help out in trying to spread correct information about the Akhal-Teke  breed, and also send protests and correct fact to all web sites that spreads desinformation about the Akhal-Teke breed or try to take away the true value of the breed.  The Arabian Jockey Club will be contacted by me and informed about facts.
If you, dear reader, is as upset as me by this, do contact them too.   We will have to do so as long as the various Akhal-Teke breed associations are either acting like Sleaping Beauty or spend time with internal fights.

I also stumbled across one of probably hundreds of web sites that publish breed facts, the site in question also publish equestrian magazines here in the USA.
This web site could tell me the among other things the following about the Akhal-Teke breed: "They are narrow, rangy horses with long legs, sometimes with a tendancy to sickle hocks and they lack a muscular second thigh, causing them to be "split up" behind.".... Another trait not preferred in the West is the high head carriage, where the head is actually carried above the level of the rider's hand."
The author ends the so called breed description with the following observation: "It remains to be seen whether Akhal-Tekes will keep their distinctive characteristics, because, in order to be competitive in top level equestrian sports it seems certain that the standards will have to change to become more in keeping with those of the European sport horses."
Where did she find any evidence for that the breed standard for Akhal-Tekes is: to look like, and behave like an unrideable freak that has as a seemingly hopeless to reach breeding goal to become a European Sport Horse???
And, eventhough the web site is owned by a publisher that gives out a dressage magazine here they didn't even have a breed description about the Swedish Warmblood! Don't they know who is ranked the second best dressage equipage in the world today, but on the other hand, I guess the Swedish Warmblood association is better off without a breed description from the "experts" on that web site.

Well, I cannot just get mad and upset about the fact that the worst enemy of the Akhal-Teke is still ignorance about the breed. I have therefore written a short breed description that I intend to attach to the emails I will send to every single web site where I find false and often damaging statements about the argamaks of Central Asia.

I have copied it below. If you, dear reader, have comments for improvements to the text I will consider them.
My plan is, when the text is finalized, to make it accessible for as many as possible to distribute and use for free as long as the author and source is published with the document. I am also in the process of adding some good pictures of representatives for the modern Akhal-Teke breed.

Please feel free to read and comment.


The Akhal-Teke
By Jessica Eile Keith for www.akhalteke.net
Sources: Publications from The Russian Horse Breeding Institute (VNIIK), Ryazan, Russia
Speed and the Thoroughbred – The Complete History by Alexander Mackay-Smith ISBN –1-56416-192-9
 

History

The Akhal-Teke is a race horse that can trace its origins back to 2400 BCE in Central Asia.  
The breed is the only remaining pure strain of the Massaget Parthian and Nisean horses that around year 0 where called the Turkmen horse. Horses of the same type and of the same golden colors like the modern Akhal-Teke are mentioned by the writers of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the Antique Greek historian Herodotus.
The Akhal-Teke breed has preserved type, purity and performance abilities of its ancestors into modern times thanks to the geographically isolated area of the harsh Kara Kum desert where the horses have been bred by the Akhal-Teke tribe since ancient times. The Akhal-Tekes are still being bred for speed and stamina by the Turkmen and one of the most famous stallions of modern times, Yanardag, is a part of the national emblem. The most popular sport in Turkmenistan is horse racing, a sport as old as the ancient Turkmen horse itself.
The Akhal-Teke is a direct ancestor to the first horse to be selected for speed by man and is considered the purest breed of Central Asia. Due to its purity and athletic abilities Akhal-Tekes have been used in the development of other breeds such as Arabian, English Thoroughbred, Trakhener, Don, Budyonny, Karabair, Orlov Rostopchin and the modern Russian Warmblood.        

 
Breed description  

The overall impression is a light and elegant athlete with high head carriage and long, slim body.  

Head and neck
A dry head with broad cheeks, straight or convex nose line, Small often characteristically hooked muzzle with thin, firm lips, the eyes are big and often hooded reminding of the eyes of a bird of prey.
The neck is long and high set. The head is set onto the neck at a sharp angle.

Body
Withers are long and well muscled, the chest not too deep. Long and straight back. Croup broad and long with well developed muscles that stretches to the hock. Low set tail with little hair.

Legs
Straight, strong and dry legs with solid joints. Small and hard hooves.

The height range is 15 to 16 hands.

Mane and tail are scarce and sometimes the forelock is missing, no feathering on the legs. The coat is thin and silky.
The Akhal-Tekes come in a wide variation of colors, shades of black, bay, chestnut, buckskin, palomino, cremello, perlino and grey. Many of the colors are combined with the metallic sheen that is a unique and ancient trait of the breed.    

The movements are long, elastic and comfortable for the rider. The horse moves with highly carried neck and almost immobile pelvis that is unique for the breed, the hind legs move with powerful suspension.
The typical gait gives an impression of a light, effortless flying trot.
The Akhal-Tekes have a confident and powerful jump over fences, the breed is very agile and pulls up both front- and hind legs well.

The Akhal-Tekes are energetic horses with a high grade of workability. They are friendly to people, with an exceptional ability to bond with their trainers and quick and observant learners.  

The Akhal-Teke is an athletic all round horse and is used in all classical sports, endurance riding and racing.
The stamina and constitution of the Akhal-Teke has been proven by the so called probeg where  groups of Akhal-Tekes in 1935 and 1988 were ridden from Ashgabad, the capital of Turkmenistan, to Moscow, Russia, a distance of 2 672 miles (4300 km) in 84 days.

Mares and stallions bred in Turkmenistan and Russia are performance tested on the race- track.
The breed has the following records in flatracing:
6 furlongs (1200 m) - 1.16,7 min.
8 furlongs (1600 m) – 1.43,6 min.  
12 furlongs (2400m) - 2.41,6 min.

The black Akhal-Teke stallion Absent won individual gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics under S. Filatov at the age of 8, he again under Filatov, won the individual bronze in Tokyo in 1964 and won the Soviet Team gold medal under I. Kalita at the 1968 Mexico Games. Absent died at an age of 23.
Many Akhal-Tekes have been champions in show jumping in the Soviet Union.
The official puissance record is held by the stallion Polygon who jumped 7’ 4.5” (2.25 m). The length record is held by the stallion Perepel who jumped 28’ 9” (8.78 m).

The main stud farms for Akhal-Tekes are found in Turkmenistan, Kazakhastan and Russia. Russia is the home of the mother studbook for the breed. The studbook has been closed since 1935.
The breed’s popularity is increasing in the west and although in small numbers, the breed is established in many European countries and in the USA.    

   


 

1. maria09/20/2005 18:31:18

I have a few tiny editorial comments, not interesting to put in a blog but send me the text before you distribute it. Apart from those, I would maybe emphasise even more about the gaits being comfortable and about the versatility in sport.

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2. maria09/20/2005 18:36:03

And yes, it is infuriating to read rubbish on websites and in books about AT and YES, AT Associations around the world are often not doing the breed a great service, in-fighting and bad record-keeping being among the two prime factors which give the impression of a lack of professionalism to the general equestrian public. Comparisons with other breed associations are usually quite unfavourable.

I often find that in the West the breed still attracts slightly "balmy" people for the wrong reasons.

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3. Marc11/25/2005 13:34:16

General Comment: Have viewed around 50 Akhal-Teke websites including the official stud farms in Russia and Tito Pontecorvo's stud farm in San Antonio, Texas. Have noticed a slight variation in facts on several subjects such as the 1935 Ashkhabad-Moscow endurance ride, which some sites report vary between 81 to 84 days. I wanted to look at the Official Studbook and videos but it is a membership only area. I would think they would make the official Studbook open for anyone to see to garner more intrest in the breed and direct prospective buyers to a good breeding association member. Overall I have tremendously enjoyed learning about this breed and would love to own one someday :)

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4. Marc11/26/2005 11:10:31

General Comment: Have viewed around 50 Akhal-Teke websites including the official stud farms in Russia and now independant states Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tito Pontecorvo's stud farm in San Antonio, Texas. Have noticed a slight variation in facts on several subjects such as the 1935 Ashkhabad-Moscow endurance ride, which some sites report vary between 81 to 84 days. I wanted to look at the Official Studbook and videos but it is a membership only area. I would think they would make the official Studbook open for anyone to see to garner more intrest in the breed and direct prospective buyers to a good breeding association member. Overall I have tremendously enjoyed learning about this breed and would love to have one be a part of our family.

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5. soztlo8@altavista.com11/22/2006 05:33:11
Homepage: http://site .

ringtones free

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