Last year, the art of breeding the Akhal-Teke horse and the traditions of horse decoration were included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
An Akhal-Teke stallion. Photo: iStock
If you are reading this article and happen to glance at the cover photo, the author of this piece can bet it will hold your attention for some time at least. Some may even think, is the photo real? Or some human dexterity? However, the animal in the photo is real. Such equines do exist. And today, on April 27, the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan is holding a…hold your breath…beauty pageant for them, a first.
The President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, “signed a Decree on holding an international beauty contest of Akhal-Teke horses on April 27, 2024 in the city of Arkadag…,” the website Turkmenportal.com reported reported recently.
It added:
This decision was made “in order to further increase the world fame of “paradise” horses, which are the national treasure and pride of the Turkmen people, as well as in accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan No. 12657 “On holding competitions on the occasion of the National Day of the Turkmen Horse” dated November 16, 2012.”
The last Sunday of April every year is celebrated in Turkmenistan, a former Soviet Republic, as the National Day of the Turkmen Horse or the Akhal-Teke.
The Turkmen, a Turkic people like most of the other ethnic groups of Central Asia such as the Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Uyghur, have depended on horses since time immemorial to survive in a harsh landscape made up of endless steppe, interspersed with the ranges of High Mountain Asia as well as deserts like the Taklamakan, Gobi and others.
The beauty pageant will be hosted by the newly-built city of Arkadag, near the Iranian border. Construction of the city started five years ago and it is intended to be Turkmenistan’s first ‘smart city’.
“In particular, competitions are planned among artists, sculptors, carpet weavers, jewelers, photographers, publishing houses, designers and cameramen. Their task will be the artistic embodiment of the beauty of Akhal-Teke horses in works of fine and decorative arts, printed products, photographs and on TV channels,” the note on Turkmenportal.com read.
The pageant has been preceded by the XIV meeting of the International Ahal-Teke Horse Breeding Association and an International scientific conference “Turkmen Horse and World Art of Horse Breeding”.
‘Paradise Horse’
What makes the Akhal-Teke so beautiful? What are its antecedents? And what about that name?
The International Association of Akhal-Teke Breeding (MAAK) notes that this horse was known in the ancient world, finding mention in Histories, the seminal work of the Greek Herodotus, the ‘Father of History’.
“This unique breed is not less than three thousand years old. The Akhal-Teke is a direct descendant of the horses of the Massagetae, the Bactrians and the Alans which were famous in antiquity. In ancient Persia these horses were known as Nisaean and several centuries later — as Parthian, but they were always spoken of as the best in the world.”
The horse has always been invaluable to the Turkmen. Sample this proverb:
When you wake up in the morning you must greet your father and your horse.
But while the ancients created equine pedigrees by keeping track of foundational stock and bloodlines, horse breeds, as we know them today, were not formalised till the last few centuries.
The Russian Empire invaded what is today’s Turkmenistan in the late 1800s. The Turkmen fought a losing battle mounted on the Akhal-Teke, against the armies of the Tsar.
Akhal-Teke light horse with blue eyes on the black background. Photo: iStock
But while the Turkmen lost, their horse won Russian hearts, MAAK notes.
“The Akhal-Teke is indeed endowed with legendary qualities. As a participant in the battle of Geok-Tepe testified: “An Akhal-Teke stallion wearing two heavy blankets and wounded by a sabre blow carried away three Teke tribesmen across the quicksand from pursuing Cossacks..”
It adds that “after the annexation of Turkmenia to the Russian Empire in l88l the Turkmen horse became known as the Akhal-Teke combining the name of the Teke Turkmen tribe and the Akhal oasis in the foothills of the Kopet-Dag mountains”.
The Tsarist Conquest also introduced the Akhal-Teke to the rest of the world. Today, it is bred by equine enthusiasts worldwide.
And what of that luminescent colour? MAAK tells us:
A feature of the breed is its great variety and gradation of colours, particularly golden. In antiquity the ancestors of the Akhal-Teke were golden. However the hair of the Akhal-Teke is so fine and silky that it gives a special metallic sheen to any colour. The commonest colours are: bay (39.9%), dun (22.4%), black (l2.3%), chestnut (ll.2%), gray, light bay and cream are less frequently encountered.
It is not surprising then that in December last year, the art of breeding the Akhal-Teke horse and the traditions of horse decoration were included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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