I miss him a lot, my first Teke love, but I know that he is happy now with his new Teke mare herd.

Almaz is one of the unfortunate victims of the MAAK/VNIIK politics. From 1997 to 2000 he was graded elite twice by T.Ryabova, recommended for breeding (together with amongst others Piyada), nominated for the European Elite Sire Trophy and overall haussed by T. Ryabova as one of the best Teke stallions in Europe.

After the year 2000 when we turned down a business offer from MAAK/VNIIK and more and more openly critized the way the breed is managed, for example the elite inflation debate, the lack of transparency, the need for modernization etc that has been going on since then, Almaz was downgraded to class I, T. Ryabova also on a public forum wrote some comments about him that was totally the opposite to the comments she gave him in an official Swedish breed show.

I was not the one who gave Almaz all this official elite gradings, recommendations or nominations, it was T. Ryabova herself, now she has forgotten about it, and unfortunately the judge that also saw and very much liked and recommended Almaz, Geldy Kiyarizov is in prison and cannot help in reminding T. Ryabova, but the documentation is there and to me it is only a pity that such dirty politics will taint this breed and such a grand stallion.

Almaz is one of those Tekes, we have had several, that horsemen from all disciplines like, he is of such high quality and shows such athletism that for horsemen he is a truly good horse. He was amongst other selected by some of the most successful endurance riders in Sweden and a world champion endurance rider in Australia as a sire to produce endurance horses, I was asked to enter him into the Swedish Riding Pony breeding program, he sired one of the most promising jumping pony in the Swedish Riding Pony tests etc.

And now again a detail, T.Ryabova has measured Almaz at several occassions to 155 cm thats also the measurements in the studbook as well as his, what I would trust to have the highest integrity, measured to 155 cm at the Swedish Stallion Approval. Now when she issues the breeding license, T. Ryabova changes the meassurement to 153 cm. A detail but still, here we go again, and what can we do about it, nothing. Interestingly enough, as Almaz is a sire with a few pure bred offspring, you can see that he has given no offspring smaller than himself and as far as I know only one offspring, Asman, that is the same size 155 cm, his other offspring is taller than himself. Such information is important to mare owners, instead they can now read that he is 153 cm.

Then of course not everyone will like a stallion like Almaz but that is another issue, people have different taste in Tekes but to me it is unacceptable that this can be allowed to happen in our breed because most of all it hurts the integrity of our breed management and this management is here to safeguard the breed for future generations as well as guarantee the purity of each and every individual in the studbook, but if they cannot even keep track of their own gradings and measurements and report it accurately, denies audit and keep bloodtyping reports a secret......What will their next step be with Almaz, will they suddenly find out that his father was Agat that came down from the mountains where he had herded sheep and sires Almaz and therefore he will now be considered a part bred, I wouldn't be surprised.

Here is the grand old man

1. Heather04/25/2007 09:18:36

You can see from older pictures and this one, that Almaz has a presence of righteous authenticity that no one seeing him could deny, no matter what Ms. Ryabova says. It's always harder to see a loved one defamed than ourselves though - horses not excluded!

He's a handsome old man.

2. Tom and Dawn Thomsen --- Australia04/25/2007 11:31:31

We imported Gel-beri from Kurakum Stud in Sweden she was originally from Shamborant stud Russia, in Sweden she was mated to Almaz and Gelmay a filly was born in Australia.
Gelmay who is 3 years old looks just like Almaz with the speckle coat and blacks points, we have seen Almaz in the flesh and he and Gelmay are as good as any Akhal-tekes as we have seen sure there are some faults in Gelmay but she is way above average.

3. Jessica04/25/2007 11:38:17

Welcome to my blog Tom and Dawn! I'd love to see some recent pictures of Gelmay.

4. Petra04/25/2007 13:13:47
Homepage: http://www.akhal.cz

No surprise with MAAK/VNIIK measurements. I bought in November stallion Gumon. In Catalogue of Breeding stallions issued in Russia he measured 158cm. But during the journey from Dagestan to Czech Republic he became smaller, as on his passport was written 155cm . So I measured him, actual height is 157cm.

5. Blanca04/26/2007 12:21:06

Amazing what you say, Petra.

By the way, how many stallions so you have now in the Czech Republic?

6. Leonid04/26/2007 12:27:04
Homepage: http://www.shael-teke.com

I wrote right now about Colkhoz 2-nd line

7. Leonid04/26/2007 12:28:27
Homepage: http://www.shael-teke.com

Sorry!
О создании новой линии

В последнее время Институт Коневодства продвигает создание новых линий в чистокровной ахалтекинской породе и в том числе линии Совхоза 2-го. В данной статье захотелось по рассуждать о наличии необходимых признаков, присущих группе лошадей, происходящих от Совхоза 2-го, для создания собственной линии.
«Линия – это группа животных, берущих своё начало от одной выдающейся особи, распространяющаяся на разные хозяйства, страны и объединяющая в себе, как жеребцов, так и кобыл»
На сколько же соответствует данному определению Совхоз 2-ой и группа лошадей, происходящих от него?
Вот что пишет об этом жеребце главный регистратор Племенной Книги и инициатор создания новой линии Т. Рябова: «Среди представителей линии Еля в последние годы выделился своим потомством праправнук родоначальника темно-гнедой 1010 Совхоз 2-ой, родившийся в 1978 году от 671 Гиндукуша и 1630 Окиси …». Отмечено, что жеребец не скакал и на племенных выставках не отличался. В заслугу ставятся «выдающаяся выносливость» этой лошади, показанная в длительных пробегах с труднейшими испытаниями.
Справедливости ради надо отметить высокие верховые качества лошадей, принимающих участие в подобных рейдах, но отнести это к критериям работоспособности для чистокровной лошади можно с большой натяжкой. Такие рейды нельзя отнести к спорту, это всё-таки туристический экстрим в чистом виде. Возможно, для местных пород лошадей это и может служить селекционным достижением, но не в данном случае.
Кроме того, Совхоз 2-ой до мелких деталей похож на Еля. Вспоминаю впечатления Владимира Петровича Шамборанта после посещения конного завода «Комсомол» (ныне имени Ниязова), где содержался Совхоз 2-ой в 1992 году. Он рассказал, что когда увидел эту лошадь, то, как будто на машине времени переместился в свою молодость и увидел своего производителя Еля. Настолько феноменальным, по мнению Шамборанта, было сходство этих лошадей. Подобную схожесть с родоначальником имеют и сын Совхоза 2-го Мелесур и его внук Ельсай, кличка которого означает «Я Ель» и дана ему за удивительную похожесть.
Следующие аргументу Т. Рябовой в пользу создания новой линии: «Как производитель Совхоз 2-ой также оказался удачливым (не понятно где ещё?). Он использовался достаточно широко в разных хозяйствах Тукменистана и даже в конном заводе «Комсомол», … Продолжатели его династии: Сакланма, Полот, Мелесур и Мелекулан – рождены … от кобыл из гнезда лучшей дочери Сектора буланой Сабырли.»
Факт, что в иных сочетаниях Совхоз 2-ой не смог дать выдающихся потомков и следовательно материнская сторона перечисленных здесь жеребцов оказала превалирующее влияние. Надо сказать, что указанные лошади оказались востребованными, но назвать их вклад в ахалтекинское коннозаводство под знаменем Совхоза 2-го я бы не решился. Сами эти лошади обладали средним скаковым классом и не стали лауреатами каких-либо выставок. Потомство Сакланмы не переросло локального для Казахстана значения и за его пределами не известно. Упомянутый с надеждами внук - Галалы вызывает надежды только у его владельцев. Потомство Мелесура очень качественное, мощное, костистое, но не выделяется какими-то новыми параметрами среди потомков Еля. Лучший из сынов Мелесура Газыр Шаэль стал Чемпионом Мира в 2003 году, но не за выдающуюся породность, а за невероятную гармоничность, элегантность и благородство форм. Скаковой класс другого сына Мелесура – Мамая сильно преувеличен. Мамай типичный спринтер и в классических призах не отмечен. Других сыновей Мелесура выделить сложно. Успехи «американцев» Хрома, Холма и Арима носят устный характер и передаются способом «народного телеграфа».
Творчество Полота на мой взгляд заслуживает большего внимания, чем оказаться под флагом своего вполне заурядного отца. Если уж созрела необходимость создания новой линии, дочерней от линии Еля, её родоначальником должен стать, безусловно, Полот. Полот дал россыпь чемпионов и чемпионок выставок любого ранга, также в его обойме находятся выдающиеся скаковые «крэки». Клички этих выдающихся лошадей хорошо известны и нет смысла перечислять их в очередной раз. Кроме того, Полот и его потомки кардинально отличаются по типу и экстерьеру от потомства своих братьев и других лошадей линии Еля. Потомство Полота можно охарактеризовать более длинными просторными линиями, необыкновенной, свойственной им породностью, горбоносым утонченным профилем. Тогда, как в целом линия Еля славится «собранностью», средними линиями и прямым и даже вогнутым профилем.
К сожалению, утверждая линейную структуру породы, Институт не озабочен мнением коннозаводчиков и специалистов.

8. Heather04/26/2007 13:37:10

I tried my best with Babel Fish, but it was very sketchy. Hate to impose on people's valuable time, but if any of our Russian translators have a moment, I'd love to read a straight English version of Leonid's comment.
Thanks,
Heather

9. Darya04/26/2007 14:25:30
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

I'll give it a go later tonight, it's packed with horse terms I struggle to translate, but I'll do my best. Very busy lately with the show coming up and other things.

10. Darya04/26/2007 20:42:02
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

The following is the translation of Leonid's article on Sovhoz 2nd line. The opinions expressed are the authors'. If anyone wants to use it somewhere else I would appreciate being asked for permission though.
_____________________
About the new line.

Recently the Institute of Horse Breeding is promoting the creation of new lines within the purebred Akhal Teke horse, Sovhoz 2nd included. In this article I would like to contemplate on the matter of existence of distinctive features of Sovhoz 2nd descendants to qualify him as a line founder.
"The line is a group of animals descending from one outstanding individual, which extends beyond the borders and different breeders and includes stallions as well as mares".
How much does Sovkhoz 2nd and his descendants comply with this statement?
Here is what the main registrar of the State Studbook and the initiator of the new line, Dr. T. Ryabova, writes about this stallion: "Amongst the representatives of the El descendants his great grandson dark bay 1010 Sovkhoz 2nd (671 Gindukush- 1630 Okisi) is remarkable for his progeny..." It's pointed out that he did not race and was not very successful in breed shows. "An outstanding endurance" is pointed out as one of the qualities of the horse that was tested in long distance rides with hardship to test the horses.
To be fair I would have to remark the high ridability qualities of the horses that participated in such raids, but I can barely count that as criteria to determine the workability of a pureblood horse. Such raids can not be classified as sport. It’s an extreme tourism in its’ purest form. Possibly for local (domestic) breed of horses this can be a tool for selection purposes, but not in this case.
Other things aside, Sovhoz 2nd resembles El to the smallest detail. I recall the impression Sovhoz 2nd made on Vladimir Petrovich Shamborant after he visited stud farm “Komsomol” (nowadays Niyazov’s), where the stallion was at the time in 1992. He was telling us that when he saw that horse, it was as if he travelled back in time to his youth and saw his stallion El. So phenomenal was the resemblance of these horses. The same resemblance with their predecessor occurs with Sovhoz 2nd’s son Melesur and his grandson Elsai, whose name literally means “I’m El”.
Follows with T. Ryabova’s arguments for the line Sovhoz 2nd: “Sovkhoz 2nd was also successful as a sire (not clear in addition to what?). He was used widely in different horse breeding farms in Turkmenistan including “Komsomol”,… the successors f his dynasty are Saklanma, Polot, Melesur and Melekulan- out of the mares from the family of the best daughter of Sektor- buckskin Sabyrli ”…
The fact is that in combination with other mares Sovhoz 2nd did not produce any outstanding offspring. So the dam line of the above mentioned stallions have played the most important role. I must say that these stallions were in demand, but I would not unite them into a separate line under the flagship of Sovhoz 2nd. The stallions themselves possessed average racing qualities and did not become champions in any of the breed shows. The importance of Saklanmi descendants did not expand beyond the boundaries of Kazakhstan. Mentioned with hopes Galaly have only got the hopes of his owners. Melesur’s offspring is of high quality, tall, powerful with plenty of bone, but do not poses any characteristics outside of line El’s. The best son of Melesur- Gazyr Shael has become the world champion in 2003. Not because of an outstanding breeding, but for his harmony, elegance and noble forms. Racing qualities of Melesur’s other son, Mamai are greatly exaggerated. Mamai is a typical sprinter and was not successful in classical prizes. It is difficult to call other sons of Melesur remarkable. The successes of “Americans” Hrom, Holm and Arim have got a “verbal character” and are passed on through the word of mouth.
Works of Polot to my mind deserve more attention, than being under the flagship of his pretty average sire. If there is such a necessity for the new line, branching from El line than the line founder should undoubtedly be Polot. Polot has given a treasure of champions of all levels of the breed shows and has also produced excellent racers. The names of these horses are well known and there is no need to mention them again. Apart from that Polot and his offspring differ greatly from his ancestors and other El horses in type and exterior. Polot’s offspring can be characterised with long, simple lines, unusual, typical to them breeding [well-bred or thoroughbred look] and refined, roman profile. While mostly line El is famous for its collected look, medium lines and straight or even conceive profiles.
Sadly, while approving the linear structure of the breed, the Institute is not interested in the opinion of breeders and specialists.

11. Leonid04/27/2007 03:16:52
Homepage: http://www.shael-teke.com

My remarks to translation.

"Polot’s offspring can be characterised with long, SIMPLE lines, unusual, typical to them breeding" - correctly "spacious lines".

"It's pointed out that he did not race and WAS NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL in breed shows." Correctly - "did not excel".

""An outstanding endurance" is pointed out as one of the qualities of the horse that was tested in long distance rides with hardship to test the horses." Impossible to think about participient in endurance events by FEI rules here. Here about many days raids from one point to another without sport resultes.

And a lot of some small remarks.

12. Laurence Bougault04/27/2007 04:30:52
Homepage: http://www.cheval-akhal-teke.com

What i find curious is that lines come first from tradition. If now it's only one person that decides, it's strange no? In Turkmenistan, at the moment, Polotly is named as a line, and I anderstand why (very different from Peren, very good in races), but not in Moscow... I think the validity of this can only be relative as long as the specialists of the breed didn't give their opinion. That's really a big problem.
Leonid, sorry to ask a stupid question : i would love to have informations about families of mares but i can't find anything in english... And my russian just doesn't exist so i can't even find the document and ask for a translation!! If anybody can help...

13. Laurence Bougault04/27/2007 04:31:41
Homepage: http://www.cheval-akhal-teke.com

What i find curious is that lines come first from tradition. If now it's only one person that decides, it's strange no? In Turkmenistan, at the moment, Polotly is named as a line, and I anderstand why (very different from Peren, very good in races), but not in Moscow... I think the validity of this can only be relative as long as the specialists of the breed didn't give their opinion. That's really a big problem.<br>Leonid, sorry to ask a stupid question : i would love to have informations about families of mares but i can't find anything in english... And my russian just doesn't exist so i can't even find the document and ask for a translation!! If anybody can help...

14. Darya04/27/2007 04:40:27
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

Thanks for remarks, Leonid, I did my best to stick to the meanings, but if I do a literal translation, it will be just as confusing as the Babel Fish.

15. Petra04/27/2007 07:53:38
Homepage: http://www.akhal.cz

Hello Blanka,

you can look on Czech association site (www.achalteke.cz), section Sires, where are listed breeding stallions. Some of the stallions, e.g. Almaz, Stambul, Seiran are not there, as their owners haven■t arranged yet all necessary documents according Czech legislation (you have to set out DNA test, pedigree passport and licence issued by mother studbook to Czech Central Register of Breeding Stallions). Without it you can■t officially use stallions in CZ for breeding.

16. Leonid04/27/2007 08:06:17
Homepage: http://www.shael-teke.com

Petra, are you need licence for english thoroughbred horses too?

17. Jessica04/27/2007 09:10:09

Petra, how bad for Chech Teke breeding that you will not have the freedom of evaluating your Tekes for the western market needs but having to be under the rule of T.Ryabova. Isn't there anything you can do about it? I am more and more suprised over the later elite gradings of Tekes, what do the studbook management want this breed to look like, ugly, good-for-nothing horses?
The elite brand from VNIIK/MAAK has become worthless in my opinion.

18. Kerri-Jo Stewart04/27/2007 10:46:54
Homepage: http://Akhal-Teke.ca

Hi Laurence,
I would also like more information about the dam lines. I know documentation exists because of the references in the Golden Collection.

Darya and Leonid, I would really like to put your translation (with corrections) of Sokhov-2 on my blog with Dr. Rjabova’s article to have both viewpoints:
http://www.stewartclan.ca/akhal-teke/2007/04/24/line-sovhov-2nd-by-dr-rjabova/

Is that ok? I'll put up references and links of course.

19. Jessica04/27/2007 13:05:13

I'll create a new thread on bloodlines, as it is an interesting topic.

20. Darya04/27/2007 14:20:55
Homepage: http://www.avatstud.com

Kerri,
yes you can put it on your web, if that's ok with Leonid. I've translated it for the reason that I think it is only fair and good for education to hear all the opinions. I am hoping to do more translating when the time is available. I find a lot of interesting and in depth information about history modern and ancient and other issues, but all of it is in Russian and I find it unfair that a lot of people are missing out on it. Wether I agree with opinions or not is pretty irrelevant as I think it is still worth getting in as much information as possible. I will keep you updated on that work.

21. Petra04/30/2007 02:51:25
Homepage: http://www.akhal.cz

Hello Leonid,

yes, also for English TB you need licence here. It is in competence of Czech Jockey Club. But, in principal, you can use what stallion you want, just you have to send request on licence to Jockey Club. Owners of stallions do not abuse such system and they don■t use less than average stallions, as they wouldn■t have results on racetrack and customers for their offspring.

22. Leonid05/01/2007 15:51:23
Homepage: http://www.shael-teke.com

Petra, it's owfull. It is dictatura. There are not licence in akhalteke breed in the rules of breed.