Horses

CHARACTERISTICS
By modern standards the Akhal-Teke is not a model of genetic perfection.. Standing at about 1.57 m (15.2 hh), it is usually proportionally long backed for its height, with a tendency to be split-up behind, lacking the substantial second thigh prized by western riders. The rib cage is shallow but has ??unusually pronounced muscular development leading on to a long neck. They are thin skinned and fine haired typical of desert-bred horses. The coat colours are bay, chestnut, or dun, often with a golden metallic sheen. They usually carry their heads high, above hand level? - this is often seen as causing a lack of control required for racing and turning yet they are traditionally used as race horses.

ORIGINS
As far back as 1000 BC, horses bred at Ashkhabad, (Akhal-Teke are still bred there now), were famed as racehorses and remain so today. Half a millennia later ?the 30,000 man Bactrian guard of King Darius of Persia (522-486 BC) were mounted on horses of this type in and around Turkmenistan. The Russian version of the Akhal_Teke history(less credible but possible), claims that the Akhal-Teke is a pure breed. It also claims that it is as old as the Arab. Fact or fiction, the breed approximates virtually exactly to the Horse Type 3 and bears a distinct similarity to the Arab racing strain, the Munaghi.

In recent times times the Akhal-Teke was "improved" for racing with outcrosses to the Thoroughbred. However these thicker skinned and heavy haired horses fared less well in the heat, and this practice was soon reversed

COMPETITIVE SPORTS
The Akhal-Teke is able to keep a strong pace up over distance, even in extremely hot conditions.? It is not a sprinter or a stayer, it is an extremen condition endurance horse. The most famous test of their endurance was the ride from Ashkhabad to Moscow completed in 1935 by Akhal-Teke and Iomud horses. The horses travelled 4,128 km (2,580 miles), a quarter of this over desert with little or no water. The horses managed to travel 50klms a day and completed the journey in 84 days which is remarkable, something no thoroughbred would come close to emulating.

In the countries that made up the former USSR, Akhal-Teke horses are used for a variety of competitive sports, such as jumping, long-distance riding, and dressage. The 1960 gold medal dressage winner in Rome Olympics , the stallion Absent, was an Akhal-Teke, and was the son of a noted high-jump specialist.? Most likely, he was a genetic variation and carried his head lower than the riders hands.

In recent times and with the opening up of their traditional home lands in the east to both Western style breeds and Western style horse competitions, the Akhal-Teke has been bred to a more western breed conformation


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