some days Orion has "the look" we want from our Tekes, while other days he does not look so promising. Many breeders say that they evaluate their horses when they are three days, three weeks and three months, after that you can forget them until they are three years old.
I want to agree with these breeders, I think the quality and character is visible in the horse through all ages, while other traits such as elegance and overall look is not always easy to predict.
Some horses that look very elegant in the phase foal to two-year-old, might during the phase 3 to 5 when they fill out and grow downwards turn coarse and unharmonious which I think is a fault in this breed. The Tekes have a unique body build, people might therefore think that low quality, not well put together, unharmonious animals are typical. There are so few good examples around in literature as well as in real life.
Therefore I think it is educating, and a must for selectors to study the champion Teke stallions from the 60's and onwards, with a few exception these horses are all of high quality.
When we select promising stallion material in the west we cannot compare the stallions to western quality horses we really should look to the east and compare where our stallions stand in comparison to them.
I would love to see pictures of Gelishikli as a foal, yearling and two- year- old, his breeders in Turkmenistan knew the day he was born that he was an extraordinary, uncomparable Teke, he certainly developed as they had predicted, I wonder how goofy he looked as a youngster, or maybe he was the perfect Teke every day of his life.
Here are some pictures of Orion goofing around last night when Todd and I walked around the farm as Floridian Djigits.

1. Heather11/10/2006 10:37:00

Jessica,
I think he looks very nice still. His butt looks maybe a little high in a couple pictures, but that is so normal for growing youngsters. His movements still look good to me. In the third picture he has a nice straight dressage leg. And in the fourth a good rotated shoulder. He is practicing his half-pass!

2. shael11/10/2006 12:40:58
Homepage: http://shael-teke.com

He is typical grandson of Daghestan. Between grandsons of Daghestan (from Gaysan, Dorkush) may be only Shakhid brighter.

3. maria11/10/2006 15:39:36

might be interesting to see pictures of other grandsons of Daghestan... I like the tracking up on the first picture.

4. Portia Winters 11/10/2006 16:43:03

I think he looks wonderful !!!! But then again I am a little prejudice. Actually his movement in the pictures is very exciting. Yes thas the word for him exciting.

5. Jessica11/13/2006 09:30:29

Thank you all for the comments, Leonid I'm happy to read your input, I saw Shakhid in Moscow 2003 and I remember him as a very nice colt at that time. I haven't seen him since then though. I wonder why there are so few Daghestan grandsons around, Daghestan himself was to me a perfect Teke. Fortunately Dorkush is still in breeding and can produce enough interesting sons to select from I guess. Would you think, judging only from this pictures that a colt like Orion would be considered as a breeding prospect by Russian breeders?
Maria, I will try to find time and look through our archives for pics of Shakhid.
Portia and Heather, yes Orion has improved his movements everyday now and looks mostly like a dressage prospect, with the right rider he will be heavenly.
Heather if you can quickly get back to riding condition and win some dressage classes you might have a sponsor horse for dressage in a few years! But you have to hurry, most people that see Orion immediately starts drooling!

6. Heather11/13/2006 09:55:30

Ha! Yes, after giving birth to Gwynn I am not at my peak physique, but running most days per week is working (even though I am like lazy horses and do not like to run!) I am working on getting some new horse connections. After leaving the sporthorse farm (for numerous reasons) with 28 mares and 6 stallions to play with, it is a little like withdrawl! If anyone in the Florida area needs work and a little cash in exchange for ride time, trust me, I'm your lady! Lots of practice in that department.

But really, Orion is looking great to me (I am joining the droolers)! Keep up the good work.

7. shael11/13/2006 11:38:10
Homepage: http://shael-teke.com

There are a lot of Sires wich are much bedder in russian studs. Orion is very interesting and necessary to look him.

8. Jessica11/13/2006 13:08:33

Leonid, I am looking forward to hear your comments when you see him live in October 2007.
The show is open for all Tekes and Teke lovers, so if you want to meet with Leonid and Alexander Klimuk and/or have your Teke evaluated by these two Teke experts and living legends make sure that you attend, I can guarantee that after such a show, you will have no Teke questions unanswered and your spirits lifted to new dimensions. Updates on the Sunshine Teke Show show will be published soon. We have picked a site and at this point we are looking for sponsors on all levels for this manifestation of the greatest of horse breeds.

9. Jessica11/13/2006 13:37:49

Leonid, I now that there are many, many stallions that are better than Orion in Russia, that is why I ask you, a Russian breeder that I know is an improver not a producer, if you would even consider using a Teke of the Orion quality in Russia. But of course you cannot really answer this question until you have seen the horse live.
Orion is the first Teke that we have bred and now consider using for breeding on some of our mares, for us this is a milestone in our breeding plan, and of course now I have my doubts if I am making the right descision. It feels like we are now trying to stand on our own legs after having relied on Russian breedings from the best stud farms.
Not the best breedings though, I think we belong to the category of (maybe stupid) breeders that enjoy the quest for knowledge as much as trying to, not buy the best, but the right horse to produce the best ourselves, the road is long and sometimes as bumpy as the road to Kruki but we do have a lot of fun.

10. Darya11/13/2006 14:38:47
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

In some pictures he reminds me of my Dominik, may be this is the result of similar pedigrees... I must admit, my ideal type of horse is Dornazarbek/Yulduz type...
I think I should consider going to the Sunshine Teke Show next year, I'll see how far I can tempt my other half...

11. shael11/13/2006 14:42:06
Homepage: http://shael-teke.com

He is very correct, typical. His father was improver. Try to use them. I think he is very relative to most of your mares. If you will put some good doughters from him will be very good. Then possible to sell him and use another (from Posmans).

12. Jessica 11/13/2006 15:22:25

Leonid, exactly, a Gaygysis son or even sonson with a very good dam, would be a perfect choice for the next generation for us. Many of Gaygysis' offspring represents the best of modern Teke breeding, and we need to cross out from the Yulduz blood at that point. Also we need a future sire for our Osman daughters.
But for now we will have to see if Orion himself is an improver and if his offspring will be selected to continue our breeding program. As it looks now we will test breed him next year to Almaz daughters.

13. Jessica11/13/2006 15:27:55

Darya, you are very welcome to the show, I'm sure you can convince your other half to come with you to Florida in October, I know few people that would say no to that!

14. Darya11/13/2006 15:37:47
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

Thank you, Jessica, it would certainly be good to get out of wet England that time of year... And meeting all the exciting people and horses!

15. Jessica 11/13/2006 15:49:45

I willl be exciting, the latest additions to the show is Kazakh djigits performing on Tekes. We will have a ball! We've also managed to find a resource for Georgian wine that we will taste soon to approve as the official show wine. Tekes have been racing in Tblisi so there is a connection, I do not know if they still race there though.

16. Heather11/13/2006 20:29:25

Jessica,
This is sounding like more and more fun! We're so excited about it. Darya, I hope you will come. For me, I don't know if it is I or my husband that is more excited about this event, so we will certainly both be there.

17. Heather11/13/2006 20:34:41

Forgot to ask: Any ball park figure on how many horses have signed up to attend yet, or how many you're anticipating? I am looking forward to seeing horses from a variety of facilities.

18. shael11/14/2006 00:51:04
Homepage: http://shael-teke.com

Forgot Daghestanian cogniac.

19. Darya11/14/2006 03:08:25
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

Gosh, I will be very upset now, if I can not come. Let's hope I will, but with recent events I might have to attend to my pregnant mare... In any case, I should know for sure in a next couple of months, what is what... I really hope I can come.

20. Jessica11/14/2006 08:29:42

Yes, Daghestani cognac is a must, do you think you can find a sponsor, I think this type of cognac could be a smash hit on the US market and why not introduce it with the Teke breed. Very exotic, very exclusive.
I am looking for the vodka sponsor to, so I cannot say yet what brand we will offer.

21. Darya11/14/2006 08:56:00
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

It is a good idea, cognac in US, they sell Russian beer here in Tesco's (biggest supermarket chain), called Baltika (St Petersburgh). It can be interesting to try and import more products from Russia & CIS. Good luck with the sponsors!

22. Hans-Jurg Buss11/14/2006 11:11:41

Jessica, I normally hate to make comments about a horse based on pictures only. Pictures may be so misleading, a bad horse but a good photographer, or a good horse but a bad photographer... And I did not study the pedigree of Orion nor that of the prospective mares. But from what I see I would very much encourage you to go on. Movements in picture #1 and #4 seem to be marvelous. On picture #3 it looks as if his neck may be a little bit to short, but on #1 that is totally different, his neck there is beautiful. That's my humble opinion.

23. Tabitha11/22/2006 06:32:30

Jessica,
about your comment in number 12. Why is it necessary to cross out Yulduz? Please lecture me. Because before you said Daghestan (a son of Yulduz) is the perfect Teke in your eyes.

24. Jessica11/22/2006 08:28:38

Hans-Jurg, Thank you for your comments on Orion, I am aware that your comments are valid for the photos only but I still value you comments highly as they come from a true horseman.
Tabitha, by using Orion on our Almaz daughters we concentrate the Yulduz blood via his sons Daghestan and Turali. This we do because we like the look, the performance ability and character of the Yulduz horses as well as the individuals we choose to linebreed on. However at some point in a breeding program you will have to add new blood in order to avoid to close inbreeding that can cause inbreeding depression in your stock. In our breeding program we have a defined look and other traits we breed for, many more stallions than Daghestan in the Teke breed have these features that we still look for in our future horses.
The challengefor us when we look for our outcross stallion is that he must be of exceptional quality as our mares at this point are of such high quality and of such good bloodlines. We do rather not breed than breed if we do not think that the offspring will not be interesting for our breeding goal.

25. Tabitha11/23/2006 08:44:54

Thanks!! That's helpfull information.