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KaraKum Akhal-Teke breeding goals
In our breeding program we aim to enforce the good traits in the horses and to avoid to breed on animals with known exterior or interior defects.
Exterior goals
The Akhal-Teke we aim to produce is a noble, light, long legged, long lined horse with an expressive carriage. The stallions must be masculine in type and temperament without being aggressive, the mares shall be feminine in body type. All gaits shall be balanced, fluid and forward with good impulsion.
The head must be beautiful with expressive yet calm eyes and dry lips.
The head shall be set freely to the neck (well defined zatylok), the neck shall be long and freely set to the shoulder. The topline of the neck shall be longer than the underline and the neck should not resemble a deer neck when the head is raised. The neck should not be coarse set to the shoulder or prohibit the horse from a naturally high head and neck carriage.
The shoulder must be long and sloping with long withers. The back shall be of medium length and the loins must be strong. We allow for shorter necks and longer loins in the mares. The torso must be dry and firm. The croup shall be long and sloping (not short and steep not flat).
The tail should rather be low set than high set.
The front legs shall not look short compared to the hindlegs, the height of the horse should come from the length of the front legs rather than the depth of the torso.
The hindlegs that does most of the work must be strong and powerful, the angle of the hock must be good, a straighter hock is preferred from an angled hock. The hock must be agile.
If the horse is slightly toed out or toed in it does not matter that much as long as the deviations does not affect the movements.
Cannon bones cannot be short or weak they should be long, strong and elastic to assure comfortable, fluid gaits.
The hooves must be of good quality.
Mane and tail should be sparse, the skin shall be thin and tight over bones and ligaments, coat should be soft and short. White markings shall be minimal and the coat shall have a metallic sheen.
The overall impression should be of a horse of smooth elegance without flaws that catches the eye. The horse should move and act with maintained self- confidence smoothness and elegance.
Coarseness, choppiness, frailty, imbalance, disharmony, nervousness or spookiness are traits we try to avoid in our breeding program.
We do not breed for a certain discipline, we aim to breed a horse with a body and mind to perform on beginner to medium level in equestrian sports such as show jumping, dressage and endurance. Our Akhal-Tekes shall maintain racing ability by having the soundness, hardiness and aptitude for racing.
Interior goals
The Akhal-Tekes we met that got us interested in the breed all had an excellent can-do temperament with high work ethics and energy. We want our horses to be fast in reactions and in learning ability. They must be able to focus on the rider and want to cooperate. They should be high energy but not obstinate.
The horses must be balanced under the rider and responsive to the aids. It must be comfortable to ride, elastic with energy and willingness to work.
The horse must have the body and mind to be good for riding, short, straight shoulders combined with a long soft back will not make a balanced riding horse especially if the neck is low set. The horse must look attractive to ride and work with, not like an awkward artifact from ancient times.
The character must be trusting with a natural aptitude to follow the leader, spookiness is difficult, almost impossible to improve.
The walk should be economical, long and relaxed, head, neck and back should move freely.
The horse shall show cadence in the trot and hindlegs should be active and under the horse not left trailering behind.
The canter shall be smooth, fluid and forward.
The horse should show a lot of expression in free movements.
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