Akhal Teke

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Lolita

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Just wondering if anyone on here has or previously owned an akhal teke . I've never had one and I dont think there are many in the uk?? Ive always admired them because they are so stunning but Im not entirely sure what they are mainly used for? :) :) :)
 
They're gorgeous, always secretly hankered after one.

I think they're used for racing and also processions, would love to go to turkmenistan and see the studs.
 
There was an Akhal Teke that did dressage to Olympic standard I think, I'd imagine they would be amazing endurance horses. I think they are stunning...was oohin and aahing over one advertised in H&H recently!
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Im going to against the grain here...I think they are hideous...ewwwww :p
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Have to agree - there's something wrong about the shoulder, neck and back conformation on them, which makes them look odd. I'm not too keen on the thin, super shiny coat either because it reminds me of those cats with no fur (sphynx?).

They use them for racing - the ones with traditional breeding are very good at the endurance stuff and the ones that come from the thoroughbred x lines are used when more speed is required. But they use them for general domestic riding too.
 
They were my dream horse as a kid. I had a big poster of a silver one above my bed :-) I still think they are stunning...lucky enough to have seen a few in the flesh, including one out doing a fun ride recently.
 
There are at least two Akhal Teke breeders in this country; one in the Forest of Dean, who has one for sale at the mo and one in South Wales. I understand from talking to one of these breeders that whilst they are fabulous they are not the easiest to manage. Because of their desert heritage, they do not do wet or cold. Also, they are very much one person horses and are hot blooded and clever. I imagine that you need commitment and knowledge of the breed to make the most of them. Their conformation is unusual but it works for them and well bred Akhal Tekes are strong and sound with phenomenal endurance. Probably just not in the British winter!
 
palo1 said:
There are at least two Akhal Teke breeders in this country; one in the Forest of Dean, who has one for sale at the mo and one in South Wales. I understand from talking to one of these breeders that whilst they are fabulous they are not the easiest to manage. Because of their desert heritage, they do not do wet or cold. Also, they are very much one person horses and are hot blooded and clever. I imagine that you need commitment and knowledge of the breed to make the most of them. Their conformation is unusual but it works for them and well bred Akhal Tekes are strong and sound with phenomenal endurance. Probably just not in the British winter!
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Echo all of that. I've seen them at the Red Dragon Ride (endurance). The English ones carry more weight than their desert relatives back in Turkmenistan/Russia. I have a Russian friend who endorses all what you say (hot-tempered, one-person creatures) as she has been to the various studs as part of her work. The breed's stamina/speed is amazing and so it is likely that they would have been used when creating the Thoroughbred. Most likely the Byerley Turk was an Akhal Teke.
 
Most of them in those pictures have awful upside down necks, which do not look like they belong to the body and make the head look massive, not the nicest horses I have ever seen.

Just had a look at the perlino Stallion and he is gorgeous much better put together than the others.
 
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Most likely the Byerley Turk was an Akhal Teke.[/QUOTE]

That is ONE of many theories; not proven. Absent was the Akhal Teke stallion which won an Olympic dressage medal for the Russian team ridden by Sergei Filatov in the sixties - Google and marvel at the almost perfect piaffe; you'll not see anything like it in modern dressage competition.
 
There are 2 people who compete them in endurance, Sainwestwell in Wales & one from Cornwall. Results have been far from spectacular, from thoses I've seen been very far from impressed. Not very nice to look, necks are awful at & seem miserable as sin in their temperaments.
 
I think it has been commented on before that kambarbay is not particularly typical of his breed - and if you look at his heritage they are more typical - hence it being interesting what he might throw.
 
Kambarbay doesn't look typical to me, but then the English endurance ones didn't either - too soft and rounded and muscled.

He probably is, as are they. I think it's probably because my everlasting idea of an Akhal Teke is the picture in my head from my Observers Book of Horses, which was a desert-bred stallion at a desert stud, so absolutely no spare flesh whatsoever on the creature, sculpted and spare, and probably handfed with grain, one handler (male).
 
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Yes, the picture I have in my head is from my Observer book of Horses :D


I don't find them attractive at all, but that's nothing against them as such, just that I like something altogether more chunky as a rule. I think they come in some fabulous colours though!
 
Cortez said:
Absent was the Akhal Teke stallion which won an Olympic dressage medal for the Russian team ridden by Sergei Filatov in the sixties - Google and marvel at the almost perfect piaffe; you'll not see anything like it in modern dressage competition.
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I saw a video of Absent years ago and he was very graceful... I must look him up again and study the piaffe. :)

I love AT's. They have evolved/been bred for a specialised purpose and it shows. There is something extremely beautiful about an animal that has that level of athleticism, toughness and function. Ignore all preconceived ideas about what a horse *should* look like and look at what these horses can do.

Atamekan was a great example.
http://www.gsuttle.free-online.co.uk/kat_atamekan_at_stud.htm
This tremendously resilient horse was imported from Central Asia, after surviving conditions of famine there which killed hundreds of horses.

Atamekan raced at the Ashkhabad Hippodrome, Turkmenistan, for five seasons, and at two and three years was classed as "Grade I" under the Soviet grading system. He subsequently carried out a long-distance ride on the Silk Road route from Nisa to Merv, covering between five and six hundred kilometres unshod, and with little food other than grass. After arriving in the UK he covered over 400 miles in the 2001 Odyssey for M.E. (a marathon Sponsored Ride for medical research).

Atamekan won show-jumping, and jumped Open XC after only three outings. His breed’s exceptional affinity with people and his bombproof temperament are outstanding in all his foals.
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I was really lucky to ride an Akhal teke a few years ago (prob 10!!) and she was lovely, very easy and much more sure footed than my bambi-like thoroughbred (the frozen pond scene). I also met Atamekan who was lovely and didn't try to nip me once even though I must have smelled of my own mare, and I've met a few loutish stallions over the years. The only thing that was disconcerting was how narrow she was, I don't know enough to know if that is normal but it really was like riding a gate and my TB is pretty narrow but she felt fat when I got home. They are also not very big, compared to the giant warmbloods that we have now.
 
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