Turkoman

Introduction:  If you have any comments or suggestions, please click here.  I am pretty sure the above picture is of a Turkoman (it was on a site about Turkmenistan); I will try to find a more certain one later.

Names:  Turkoman.  I believe this is the same as the Turkmen, Turkemene or Turkmenian horse.

Origin:  Comes from the Turkoman Steppes in northern Iran.  Ancestor of the Akhal-Teke.

Breeding:  It has been said that the Akhal-Teke is only the finest strain of this breed, not a breed in its own right, but I believe that at the least they are as separate as the different strains of Arab--the Persian, Shagya, and so forth.

Description:  The original Turkoman horses probably looked much like the primitive Przewalski horses from the Gobi desert, but having been crossed for centuries with Oriental breeds, they are now tall, good-looking animals with the greyhound build of the desert bred, and with a reasonable claim to be the ancestors of the Arab horse.

Color:  Usually gray or bay; but also dun or chestnut.

Neck:  Rather weak.

Profile:  Straight.

Size:  14.3-15.2 hands.

Temperament:  

Features:  Strong and tireless.

Uses:  Good riding horse.

Accomplishments:  

Curiosities:  Because frontiers are only man-made, at least half of one Turkoman tribe still lives in Russia, and the Russian Akhal-Tekes are identical.  I believe this is true in more than one way--the Turkoman tribe probably lives in both Russia and Turkmenistan (and probably Iran), and both Turkomans and Akhal-Tekes are probably the same as the others of their breed on both sides of the border.
    Twice a year, the Turkoman ride in through a haze of desert dust for their vivid, colorful race-meetings.  The jockeys, usually the lightest members of the family, may be only seven years old, and the horses, unshod as always, compete in events of up to eight miles.
    Nowadays, the Turkoman transport their horses by truck to the more sophisticated racing at Tehran.  One author described watching a seventy-two-year-old jockey ride two Turkoman horses to victory in the presence of the Shah and Empress.
    The Empress rides a fine Turkoman stallion, Shabro, and many of the royal horses are pure or half-bred Turkomans.  Despite their desert breeding, they, and the kindred Tchenarani, soon become excellent mountain horses.

Profiles: 

Conclusion: 

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