The Akhal-Teke is the only remaining pure strain of ancient Turkmene horse, a breed whose common ancesters bear a sucession of different names over time. Massaget, Parthian, Nisean, Persian, Turkmene and finally, Akhal-Teke. Excavations in southern Turkmenistan have uncovered skeletal remains of tall, fine-boned horses dating back to 2400 BC. The breed name, however, dates back only to the end of the nineteenth century. It consists of two words: "Akhal," the long oasis nestled in the foothills of the Kopet Dag Mountains (once a part of the kingdom of ancient Persia, now present-day Turkmenistan and "Teke," after the Turkmen tribe, the dominant nomadic people who inhabited the oasis and for centuries raised the Turkmen horse.
The profile of the Akhalteke horse Yanardag is depicted in the inner circle of National Emblem. Yanardag became the world champion at the international exhibition of the Akhalteke breed in Moscow in 1999 an won numerous races. The carpets (see later) in the second circle, cotton and wheat in the third with the symbol of the five regions.
When in November 1998 we flew over London and Jerevan to Ashgabat, the ticket officer in London asked: By the way, Sir, where is Ashgabat? The following years many people have asked the same question. We did not know at that moment that, over the next 12 years, we would travel more than 100 times to Turkmenistan!
In this blog we will tell you the story of the "Divine Akhal-Teke Horse" of Turkmenistan.
