Akhal Teke UK
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As we emerge from the depths of the British winter, we have a year of mixed fortunes to
relive:
On the positive side, the young stallion Salimrashid is safely out of hospital after a
mysterious life-threatening infection, Mualim Shael has narrowly escaped what could have
been a serious kick from a mare and Double Or Quits survived a bout of grass sickness,
thanks to his owner’s dedicated care.
Just three purebred foals were born this year – Iriska (Salimrashid-Guldjady), Muromets
(Mualim Shael – Perimli) and Makhachkala (Mualim Shael – Mushmula). Sadly, the latter
sustained a shoulder fracture at 8 weeks and had to be put down. A new purebred mare
Anisha of classic German breeding – Melgun-Amara - arrived in the UK, soon to be joined
by Parchagozel from France whose son Pompei is competing under EGB rules at
Advanced level.
Several pure- and partbred Tekes continued to fly the flag of endurance – Pompei, Gidchi
Shael, Saintwestwell Red Sadar, Saintwestwell Silver Mask and Mualim Shael while Aschir
braved Pre-Novice Eventing courses. All those who competed throughout the season met
with the inevitable mixture of success and disappointment, to remind us that equestrian
sports are full of trials and tribulations, and require utmost dedication from us as owners and
riders.
BEF Futurity brought joy and satisfaction to Christina Anderson (formerly Wenman) whose
foal Muromets came out with a top score in the Endurance Section in his age group, and to
Darya Hannigan whose 3-year-old filly Ayazgul (Dominik-Oinam) did well in the Eventing
Section, her first serious outing which she took fully in her stride. The ¾-bred colt Yoldash
(Dominik - Firyuza) repeated his excellent foal results now as a yearling and Azar (Dominik
– Oinam) ventured out to local showing venues and impressed the judges with his good
attitude. Almaz (Karpat – Zarnitsa) found a new owner in Suffolk who is discovering the
joys of the expressive Teke personality, Pharach Sunbird (Junuwitsch – Natashique) is
learning to be traffic-proof in Yorkshire, in preparation for greater things to come, while
Gorski (Maksat – Rhona) is jumping his socks off in Birmingham. And to top it all, two
lucky Tekes are in training with a much-respected British eventer William Blaine.
For me personally, the highlight of the year was seeing, last Spring, two of Maksat “babies”
at Saintwestwell in Wales: Olympic Ascent (2001) and Olympic Aspire (2003) are both out
of Askania, a ¾ AT - ¼ TB Kyrghiz-bred mare which technically makes them 7/8th Akhal-
Teke. Having seen quite a few horses in the last five years, both in the UK and in Europe, I
can say without hesitation that these two are a cut above the rest and put all the heated
“purity” debate into a sobering perspective.
The European show this year was in Nancy, Northern France, where the Gala dinner was
spiced up with a free-jumping demonstration at which Altair (Alakhriat – Keiki) gave a
bunch of gigantic warmbloods a run for their money. The high standards of the Gala dinner
were not matched by the quality of the riding arena: stone-hard sun-baked clay led to three
of the four German horses being withdrawn from the dressage, depriving the audience from
seeing the best-trained Tekes under saddle. As seems to be common nowadays, ridden
classes were thin on the ground while the many in-hand classes had some undeniably
deserving individuals mixed up with horses whose participation in breeding classes was
questionable at best. The whole event made me nostalgic for the old times at Polling where
all classes were ridden and to a good standard too. Nevertheless, there were some good
riding horses at the French show, one who caught my eye was an 11-year-old Peren-line
gelding Alamanchi (Arab-Kaishi), a somewhat plain-looking fellow with a superb
conformation and a matter-of-fact attitude to everything he was asked to do, including
providing opposition, at the eleventh hour, to the only German dressage combination –
Sabine Toepfer-Gebert on Fatykh – who decided to brave the unfavourable conditions of
the arena.
On a less positive note, we are seeing fewer and fewer Akhal-Teke owners in this country,
with more horses each, some rescued from sad circumstances. This confirms what many of
us have always known – the breed is not for everyone but once “hooked”, we find it hard
to give them up. It is our responsibility to continue to educate the general public about the
appropriate level of care which an Akhal-Teke needs if it is to thrive rather than to barely
survive: not a “weekend horse”, not a low-maintenance hardy native, not a piece of sports
equipment to guarantee a quick progression through the levels and grades, but a highly
intelligent, sensitive horse who demands a high level of knowledge and commitment from its
carer. Those who can show this commitment will have a horse that is loyal, responsive,
reliable and willing.
Cherish and enjoy your Akhal-Teke! Also read our update about Breed Recognition
relive:
On the positive side, the young stallion Salimrashid is safely out of hospital after a
mysterious life-threatening infection, Mualim Shael has narrowly escaped what could have
been a serious kick from a mare and Double Or Quits survived a bout of grass sickness,
thanks to his owner’s dedicated care.
Just three purebred foals were born this year – Iriska (Salimrashid-Guldjady), Muromets
(Mualim Shael – Perimli) and Makhachkala (Mualim Shael – Mushmula). Sadly, the latter
sustained a shoulder fracture at 8 weeks and had to be put down. A new purebred mare
Anisha of classic German breeding – Melgun-Amara - arrived in the UK, soon to be joined
by Parchagozel from France whose son Pompei is competing under EGB rules at
Advanced level.
Several pure- and partbred Tekes continued to fly the flag of endurance – Pompei, Gidchi
Shael, Saintwestwell Red Sadar, Saintwestwell Silver Mask and Mualim Shael while Aschir
braved Pre-Novice Eventing courses. All those who competed throughout the season met
with the inevitable mixture of success and disappointment, to remind us that equestrian
sports are full of trials and tribulations, and require utmost dedication from us as owners and
riders.
BEF Futurity brought joy and satisfaction to Christina Anderson (formerly Wenman) whose
foal Muromets came out with a top score in the Endurance Section in his age group, and to
Darya Hannigan whose 3-year-old filly Ayazgul (Dominik-Oinam) did well in the Eventing
Section, her first serious outing which she took fully in her stride. The ¾-bred colt Yoldash
(Dominik - Firyuza) repeated his excellent foal results now as a yearling and Azar (Dominik
– Oinam) ventured out to local showing venues and impressed the judges with his good
attitude. Almaz (Karpat – Zarnitsa) found a new owner in Suffolk who is discovering the
joys of the expressive Teke personality, Pharach Sunbird (Junuwitsch – Natashique) is
learning to be traffic-proof in Yorkshire, in preparation for greater things to come, while
Gorski (Maksat – Rhona) is jumping his socks off in Birmingham. And to top it all, two
lucky Tekes are in training with a much-respected British eventer William Blaine.
For me personally, the highlight of the year was seeing, last Spring, two of Maksat “babies”
at Saintwestwell in Wales: Olympic Ascent (2001) and Olympic Aspire (2003) are both out
of Askania, a ¾ AT - ¼ TB Kyrghiz-bred mare which technically makes them 7/8th Akhal-
Teke. Having seen quite a few horses in the last five years, both in the UK and in Europe, I
can say without hesitation that these two are a cut above the rest and put all the heated
“purity” debate into a sobering perspective.
The European show this year was in Nancy, Northern France, where the Gala dinner was
spiced up with a free-jumping demonstration at which Altair (Alakhriat – Keiki) gave a
bunch of gigantic warmbloods a run for their money. The high standards of the Gala dinner
were not matched by the quality of the riding arena: stone-hard sun-baked clay led to three
of the four German horses being withdrawn from the dressage, depriving the audience from
seeing the best-trained Tekes under saddle. As seems to be common nowadays, ridden
classes were thin on the ground while the many in-hand classes had some undeniably
deserving individuals mixed up with horses whose participation in breeding classes was
questionable at best. The whole event made me nostalgic for the old times at Polling where
all classes were ridden and to a good standard too. Nevertheless, there were some good
riding horses at the French show, one who caught my eye was an 11-year-old Peren-line
gelding Alamanchi (Arab-Kaishi), a somewhat plain-looking fellow with a superb
conformation and a matter-of-fact attitude to everything he was asked to do, including
providing opposition, at the eleventh hour, to the only German dressage combination –
Sabine Toepfer-Gebert on Fatykh – who decided to brave the unfavourable conditions of
the arena.
On a less positive note, we are seeing fewer and fewer Akhal-Teke owners in this country,
with more horses each, some rescued from sad circumstances. This confirms what many of
us have always known – the breed is not for everyone but once “hooked”, we find it hard
to give them up. It is our responsibility to continue to educate the general public about the
appropriate level of care which an Akhal-Teke needs if it is to thrive rather than to barely
survive: not a “weekend horse”, not a low-maintenance hardy native, not a piece of sports
equipment to guarantee a quick progression through the levels and grades, but a highly
intelligent, sensitive horse who demands a high level of knowledge and commitment from its
carer. Those who can show this commitment will have a horse that is loyal, responsive,
reliable and willing.
Cherish and enjoy your Akhal-Teke! Also read our update about Breed Recognition
©Black Fox 2007-2011
| Akhal- Teke News 2010 |
