History of the Akhal-Teke Compiled by Kathy Curtis

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Origins

The Teke tribe of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan was once part of the Soviet Union. Turkmenistan is on the northern borders of Iran and Afghanistan with the Caspian Sea to the West and Uzbekistan to the East.

The environment of this region is very arid and mostly inhospitable. In the ancient past, it was rarely a destination of the Mongols to the East or the Greeks and Romans of the West, it was an area to endure and pass through.

Genetic Heritage

The Akhal-Teke is a desert breed of horse that is thought to have descended from an ancient Scythian type. It is thought that four principal types of ancient horse served as the progenitors for all of today's modern breeds, with a fifth type being represented by Przywalski's horse. The Akhal-Teke's heritage is thought to be from the fourth, almost gazelle like and light bodied horse of the arid deserts of Central Asia.

The grasses of this region were sparse, although nutritious and along with the extreme heat, a light bodied yet wiry horse had a better chance for survival than slower thicker horse types. The landscape was treeless and open, so a swift horse with stamina, capable of outrunning predators had again the best chance for survival. These desert types were built for speed, they had a "hot" temperament and very quick reactions, and a long body ensured plenty of room for long periods of deep athletic breathing.

These adaptations to the environment served the ancient peoples of the area very well. The Akhal-Teke horses were originally bred as war and raiding, or "Alaman" (translates to raiding) horses which was also naturally suited as a race horse. Its lineage and breeding was kept pure through an oral tradition of maintaining bloodlines and due to the relative isolation of the Teke tribes.

"Akhal" translates to "pure". The horse was so named to identify with the Teke tribe, "Pure Teke". Akhal is also the name of an isolated oasis located in Turkmenistan on the Northern slope of the Kopet-Dag mountain, center for the nomadic Akhal-Teke tribe.

The Scythians were renowned as warriors and as early as 700 BC, had huge cavalries. Their horses were known under a variety of names, Turanian, Bactrian, Median and Parthian horses. They eventually came to be known as Turkmene horses after the tribes who kept them. An ancient royal Scythian frozen gravesite was found to contain slaves, pack animals and supplies for the king to take with him in the afterworld, much like the Egyptian tombs. It is estimated that this site dates back to 500 B.C. and because it was frozen, much of its contents were found in good relative condition for its age. Horse skeletons and even some frozen skin has been examined which bears a high resemblance to today's Akhal-Teke horse.

The Tekes were a nomadic people descended from the ancient Scythians who regularly traveled between summer and winter ranges. The region is frequently subject to drought however, so in order to survive, people traveled from place to place to find arable land. This frequently displaced other tribes already settled the few irrigated areas. To provide for the shortfalls of an unreliable environment, the Tekes took to routinely invading neighboring tribes or countries to take what was of necessity and value then quickly leaving on their swift horses. Or they hired themselves as mercenaries for others to accomplish similar missions.

The Teke tribes built on the natural proclivities of the ancient Scythian horse to breed horses of imposing height, incredible stamina and fiery temperament in order to withstand long distance raiding journeys. The pride the Tekes had in their horses became intertwined with their reliance upon them to support their way of life.

The Teke people revered their prized horses and were highly devoted to them. Their horses were brought into the family tents, the horses were blanketed against the cold desert nights and winter winds. They were given the best foods that could be found, including grains, animal proteins and fat.

Horses were valued as the single measure of true wealth. From as young as two, Teke children learn to ride and then care for the family's horse or if wealthy enough, more than one horse. When Russia took over Central Asian areas and prevented customary raiding, the Turkmene focused on racing their prized Akhal-Tekes. Today, racing Akhal-Tekes and maintenance of the breed itself is a principal source of national and cultural pride.

Traditional and Common Uses

• Race horses and war horses as described above.
  
  
• Improvement of other lineages of horses for height, stamina, refinement and animation
  
  
• Currently, Akhal-Tekes are promoted in a number of equine sports to make the world aware of this ancient and unique breed including dressage, jumping, endurance, eventing and the Olympics. In 1960, an Akhal-Teke purebred stallion, Absent, won the dressage gold medal and by the end of his career, had won 6 Olympic medals. Akhal-Teke crossbreds are competed as warmbloods in a number of sports.
  
  
• The desirable characteristics of the breed are many and therefore crossbreeding them was and is vigorously pursued. This came to such an extreme however that as recently as 1973, there were only 18 purebred mares and 3 purebred stallions known to exist in Russia. Since that time, the Akhal-Teke has been bred for purity, while still contributing its outstanding qualities to cross-breeding efforts.

Historical Anecdotes

It has been accepted as a fact generally that the Arabian horse is the oldest of the purebred horse breeds. This may be a fact to many in the West, but to those of the upper Middle East and Central Asia, the Akhal-Teke is just as or an older purebred horse breed. As is described below, Akhal-Teke owners will state as a fact that these horses contributed to the development of today's Arabian breed among many others.

"Blood Sweating"
The fame of the Akhal-Teke in the ancient world spread very far, and they were highly desired by ancient Chinese emperors. One emperor in particular, Emperor Wu Ti of 141 B.C. single-mindedly pursued acquisition of the Parthian "blood sweating" horses, as the Akhal-Tekes were then known in the Chinese court. He was relentless. He sent an initial expedition including large amounts of gold to exchange for these horses. His offer was refused and the treasure was captured. Several years later, he sent another expedition this time of 60,000 soldiers, 30,000 horses and 10,000 cattle. He accomplished a coup and was presented with 10 "elite" horses and 3,000 average horses. Only 1,000 survived the return trip. It is believed that the "elite" horses were horses of Akhal-Teke type.

The reference to "blood sweating" horses has received some recent scientific study. Emperor Wu Ti believed the blood sweating horses to be touched with a divine grace and the blood sweating set them apart as a special breed touched by Heaven. They were worth it to him to expend an enormous fortune to obtain.

Horses of the region today also "sweat blood". It was thought for many years that this was due to their thin skin and when heavily exercised, that blood burst through their skins. It has been discovered however that the bleeding is due to a parasite that is picked up in drinking water. The rivers that are known to carry the parasite are the Gorgan and Fergana rivers. At a certain point in the lifecycle of the parasite, it breaks through the skin causing the bleeding. This bleeding is known to occur in other animals such as donkeys and cattle, but not people.

Outstanding Stamina and Endurance
One of the most outstanding exhibitions of equine endurance ever recorded occurred in 1935 with the Akhal-Teke horse. The Turkmene people took a group of Akhal-Teke stallions over 2,500 miles from the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashkabahad to Moscow in 1935 in 84 days. 225 miles of the journey crossed the KaraKum desert, which was covered in 3 days with almost no water available. Temperatures of the desert can reach 149° Fahrenheit during the heat of the day. They rode from 4:00 in the morning to 9:00 am, rested during the day, then rode again from 5pm to 10pm. They rode up to 75 km per day. This endurance ride was repeated in 1988. This extreme long distance trek served to put the world, (most importantly, Russian officials), on notice that the Akhal-Teke was a rare and valuable breed of horse worthy of preservation and devotion to keep pure. In addition, it was pointed out that the Akhal-Teke could provide refinement, stamina and athletic ability to crosses with other breeds of horses.

The Bolshevik Revolution
However, notwithstanding this huge equine effort, one of the darkest periods in the history of the breed came as a result of the Bolshevik revolution and Communism. When Kruyshev came to power, he ordered all horses slaughtered to be replaced by tractors and other machines. He was so impressed with the tractors and huge expanses of productive corn fields he saw on a tour of the United States, that he was determined to cover his homeland landscape with even larger and more fruitful plains throughout the U.S.S.R. Even though Akhal-Tekes are not draft animals, he created a total "anti-horse" campaign. Thousands of horses were slaughtered and the horsemeat was turned into sausages sold throughout Europe. Besides being incredibly brutal, his actions were appallingly short sighted as the Turkmene people were also deprived of a means to bring in much needed cash into the economy through the sale of their horses. It goes without saying that this campaign also tore at the very soul of the Teke people.

Rather than allow their prized horses to become sausage, many Tekes disappeared into the deserts with their horses or turned their horses loose into the wide desert wastes to fend for themselves. In addition to these actions, Akhal-Tekes were also rescued by a Russian horse breeder, Vladimir Petrovich Shambarant. He knew of and appreciated the desert-bred horses and captured a number of wild Akhal-Tekes to carefully breed them in Russia. Today, Russia is the holder of the General Stud Book for the Akhal-Teke, registration in which is required in order for a horse to be declared a purebred Akhal-Teke.

The Akhal-Teke Influence on Other Breeds

Horses of Turkmene type were known to Alexander the Great. A great many horses from the Turkmenistan region were taken or imported by both Alexander and his father into ancient Greece. Some even suppose that Bucephalus was actually of Turkmene breeding rather than Thessalonian, however this is disputed.

Draft Breeds
Taller and faster than other breeds of horses of this time, Akhal-Tekes were valued by the Romans to develop large and strong war horses from the small yet stocky European breeds. And of course, these Roman war horses are supposed to have become the progenitors of many today's heavy draft horse breeds.

Enthusiasts of Akhal-Tekes refer to ancient historical texts in which within 200 years A.D., there is no mention of horses to be found as war booty of defeated Arab tribes. There is no mention of horses or horse traditions in Arabia by writers of the time who do however, write of horses of other contemporaneous peoples. At this time, Arab tribes principally relied upon camels for transportation and wealth, not horses.

The Arabian
Mohammad in 600 AD is generally credited with "starting" the Arabian purebred lines and his beliefs for the necessity of purity of the Arabian are mentioned in the Koran. Horses of Akhal-Teke type however pre-date Mohammad by many centuries. In fact, it is suggested that Akhal-Tekes played a role in developing the modern Arabian breed, particularly the Muniqui line of Arabians, known as the "racing type" of Arabian horse.

Many people in fact assume that the finest Arabian horses were developed on the Saudi Arabian peninsula. This is not at all correct, and is substantiated by the Saudi's themselves. As Bonnie Hendricks reports in her book, "International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds", pp 40: "despite the legends, I was told, the Arab horse did not originate on the Arabian Peninsula, but with the "Arab" peoples of Iran (Persia), Iraq, Syria and Turkey – countries all referred to as "Arab" before Saudi Arabia existed as a country." These regions are all where the Akhal-Teke was well known for hundreds of years.

Turkmene horses were used extensively in Russian tsar's stables from the 14^th to the 17^th centuries. They were found in the ancient city of Baghdad in the 8^th to 10^th centuries. It is a given that these elite horses contributed to local breeds of horses.

The Thoroughbred
In addition to development of large draft breeds, Arabians and others, Akhal-Tekes perhaps have their strongest link and more recent influence over the development of today's Thoroughbred. Everyone knows that the three foundation stallions of the modern Thoroughbred to be the Godolphin Arabian, the Byerly Turk and the Darley Arabian with the Darley Arabian's lineage the most prevalent in today's horses. These have always been simply called "Arabian" horses. Turkmene imports were included automatically by Europeans as "Arabian" horses, and many European breeders dealt directly with Arab people rather than Teke tribes.

The Europeans of the 17^th and 18^th centuries frankly generally did not care to precisely identify the nationality of the people they dealt with or the precise breeding of the horses. They were simply interested in acquiring the fastest running horses with the most stamina that could be had, and those were said to be "Arabians". All horses of Oriental type were "Arabians" and they were purchased from "Arab" traders. So there while there was not a verbally defined distinction between Akhal-Tekes and Arabians at the time the English Thoroughbred was being developed, it is believed that the rather sloppy reference to "Arabians" actually includes Akhal-Teke horses. A comparison between the Arabian and the Thoroughbred, and the Akhal-Teke and the Thoroughbred reveals a closer morphological appearance between Akhal-Tekes and Thoroughbreds, rather than to Arabians.

There were many "Turkish" horses imported to Europe around the time of the original development of the Thoroughbred breed. Through these factors along with the tradition of breeding Akhal-Tekes for speed as well as stamina, it is thought that the Godolphin Arab, (or Barb as he is sometimes known), the Darley Arabian and the Byerly Turk were actually Akhal-Tekes, or of at least Turkmene descent. The Darley Arabian's breeding is the best known of the three. He was from the Muniqui strain of Arabians which carries ancestors to Turkmene type horses.

The Nez Perce tribe was lucky to have four Akhal-Teke stallions and several Akhal-Teke mares donated to them by a breeder who was selling all of his stock. While the Akhal-Teke is generally considered an unfriendly breed, the horses were responsive and trainable after some handling.

When the first Akhal-Appy foals were born, the breeders were overjoyed. The babies had the beautiful metallic coats of the Akhal-Teke and the spotted patterns of the Appaloosa! While a few of the foals were solid-coloured, they still had the shiny Akhal-Teke coat. As the youngsters grew, they also had the great temperament of the Appaloosa and the athletic abilities of both breeds."