Horses Turkmenistan
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The ancestors of the breed may date back to animals living 3,000 years ago, known by a number of names, but most often as the Nisean horse.[14] The precise ancestry is difficult to trace, however, because prior to about 1600 AD, horse breeds in the modern sense did not exist; rather, horses were identified by local strain or type.[15]
The breed is very similar to, and possibly the direct descendant of the Turkoman horse, a breed believed to be extinct, though a related strain may be bred today in Iran. Other breeds or strains with Turkoman roots also include the Yomud, Goklan and the Nokhorli.[16] Some historians believe that these are different strains of the same breed. Other ancient strains that may have contributed to the breed included those named the Massaget and Parthian.[17]
It remains a disputed "chicken or egg" question whether the influential Arabian was the ancestor of the Turkoman or was developed out of that breed, but current DNA evidence points to a possible common ancestor for both.[18] A substantial number of Arabian mares were reportedly been used to improve the breed in the 14th and 19th century.[19] It is also possible that the so-called "hot blooded" breeds, the Arabian, Turkoman, Akhal-Teke, and the Barb all developed from a single "oriental horse" predecessor.[20]
Akhal-Teke stallion Mele Koush, foaled 1909
Tribal people in what today is Turkmenistan first used the Akhal-Teke for raiding. The horses were their most treasured possession since they were crucial for income and survival. They selectively bred their horses, keeping records of the pedigrees via an oral tradition. Horses were managed and trained in very specific ways. Stallions were tethered next to the tent while mares and foals were free to seek forage. The stallions were covered from head to tail with up to seven layers of felt, which kept their coat short and shiny. Before raids they were put on a sparse diet to prepare them for the long ride through the desert with no water and hardly any feed.[21] The horses were called Argamaks (divine or Sacred Horses) by the Russians,[22] and were cherished by those who valued their speed and stamina in the desert and loyalty to their owner. Han emperors from China sacrificed armies to obtain just a few of the precious "Argamaks".[23]
In 1881, Turkmenistan became part of the Russian Empire. The tribes fought with the tsar, eventually losing. In the process, however, the Russian general Kuropatkin developed a fondness for horses he had seen while fighting the tribesmen, founded a breeding farm after the war and renamed the horses, "Akhal-Tekes", after the Teke Turkmen tribe that lived around the Akhal oasis (near Geok Tepe). The Russians closed the studbook in 1932 which included 287 stallions and 468 mares. Stallions are not gelded in Central Asia. The studbook was printed in 1941.
The ancestral Akhal-Teke has had influence on many breeds, possibly including the Thoroughbred; the Byerly Turk, which may have been an Arabian, or a Turkoman Horse, was one of the three major foundation stallions of the breed. Three other stallions thought to be of Turkoman origin, known as the "Lister Turk", the "White Turk", and the "Yellow Turk" were among a number of minor stallions from the orient who contributed to the foundation bloodstock of the Thoroughbred breed.[24] The Trakehner has also been influenced by the Akhal-Teke, most notably by the stallion, Turkmen-Atti, as have the Russian breeds Don, Budyonny, Karabair, and Karabakh.
The breed suffered greatly when the Soviet Union required horses to be slaughtered for meat, even though local Turkmen refused to eat them.[25] At one point only 1,250 horses remained and export from the Soviet Union was banned. The government of Turkmenistan now uses the horses as diplomatic presents as well as auctioning a few to raise money for improved horse breeding programs.[26]