Date: December 2000
Q: A couple of years ago the NZ Herald published a picture of a Turkmenistan stallion as part of an article on eastern European politics (?). Looking at that horse and looking at xx's TB, we couldn't help but notice the links.
Maybe those who insist on a lack of Teke heritage in TBs don't actually
'see' the horses they are researching.


A: I've attached a pictures of a teke sire and a TB sire both from the 20's,If anyone on this list have a picture of an Arabian horse from the 20's we can add this one as well, preferreably from the Manegi strain. The Manegi strain of the Arabian horse is from northern Mesopotamia, the Anaze tribe used Turkmen sires in their breeding program, that is why the Manegi strain Arabians are taller and swifter than the smaller and more compact horse
from Nejd.

Most hipplogists today are well aware of the fact that the Arabians are not the single fountainhead of the TB. Two or one of the foundation sires are supposed to have been Turkmen. Also the belief that the Arabian horse was the first hotblood ever is now considered obsolete.

From "Breeds of Horses in Middle Asia" by W.O. Witt published in
1937;

"1.Hippological literature from the 16th to the 18th centuries proves that in Europe the Arab horse became famous only after the second half of the 18th century. Of the generally admired "Turkish horses" the most highly valued were those, which, according to descriptions of their appearance character and working properties which have come down to us, most closely resembled the Turkmenian horses.
Ancient chronicles speak of the smaller size and less thoroughbred
conformation of the Arab horse as compared with the noble "Turkish" or
Persian horse from the nothern provinces. Speaking of the origin of the
Arab horse ancient historians favor the view that these"were horses of the Persian breed", i.e. that the Arab horse was bred from the Persian and not vice versa.
In performance the Arab horse was also inferior to the "Turk" and for this reason, during the epoch of the development British thoroughbred it was held in very low esteem and, fundamentally it was not the Arab horse which founded the British thoroughbred.
2. During the second half of the 18th century, interbreeding on a large
scale was begun in the countries of western Europe, in order to produce
large number of cavalry remonts. The export of larger numbers of stallions from the East was possible only from Arabia and Syria; this market was opened by western Europe in the 18th century after a number of wars in which Turkey was defeated. Export from Turkmenia and northern Persia was greatly hampered. Under these conditions the Arab horse commenced to penetrate Europe in large numbers and as, owing to its qualities, it successfully fulfilled its role of an improving breed in the development of light cavalry horses, it gradually won fame in western Europe, was acknowledged as the best breed in the world and even as the ancient founder of the breed."

The status of the breed is quite the same today, the Arab horse flow the
market, they are available to everyone and can be found in great numbers everywhere in the world, while the Turkmen horse, are as rare as it was in Europe in the middle of the 18th century. The marketing of the Turkmen horse has been non-existent until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.