Date: April 2001
Q: Then I showed Tatyjana Riabova in Russia, my progress.Her comment was
"Why are you not riding them?They should be ridden by the time they are
2".If you do not, we have the theory in Russia,that these horses become
more difficult to train and to handle because they are quick to learn
bad habits,as they become larger and stronger-they seem to like rearing
which frightens the average handler/trainer who then becomes severe and
a bad circle can develope.

A: This is merely an effect of the way some horses are saddle broken in Russia
and the way they are handled, not only the Akhal-Tekes develop so called
bad habits from rough and unsensitive handling. The average Teke that have
been saddle broken, trained and raced at the age of two is being pensioned
as a breeding animal at the age of five.

The Tekes that are going to be used as riding animals can in most cases be
trained under rider at the age of three and schooled like the warmbloods
with methods that have been developed by good trainers over the years. You
can ask your three year old to work on the bit in a low form in all gaits
in a month and then carefully train the strenght and ability of your horse
being very observant on the growth spurts.