Akhal-Teke

About the breed

The Akhal-Teke is a light, slender riding horse from Turkmenistan, known for its stamina and the metallic sheen of its coat. The breeding programme of the Bavarian breed society BZVKS, which keeps a branch of the Russian origin studbook, describes it as intelligent, very enduring, hardy, frugal and elegant. It is a rare breed: American breed and conservation organisations put the world population at somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 horses.

Origins: the Akhal oasis and the Teke tribe

The Akhal-Teke comes from the territory of present-day Turkmenistan, where Turkmen nomads bred it for centuries. According to the Akhal-Teke Association of America (ATAA), the name came into use after Russia took over Turkmenia in 1881 and combines the name of the Teke Turkmen tribe with the Akhal oasis in the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains. Before that, horses from the region were mostly called Turkmen or Turkoman horses.

The Livestock Conservancy, a US conservation organisation, reports that remains of tall, fine-boned horses dating to around 2400 BCE have been found in southern Turkmenistan, and it places the modern form of the Akhal-Teke in about the eighth century. Nomads needed horses for long, fast journeys, so they selected animals with great stamina and a fiery temperament. Many early stories about the breed are legendary and are best read as tradition rather than documented history.

National symbol of Turkmenistan and UNESCO heritage

The Akhal-Teke is one of the best-known national symbols of Turkmenistan: according to the Turkmen government's official portal it occupies a central place on the State Emblem. The National Holiday of the Turkmen Horse is celebrated every year on the last Sunday of April, and the International Association of Akhal-Teke Horse Breeding, which the same portal says was established in 2010, meets in the run-up to it.

UNESCO has inscribed the "Art of Akhal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horses' decoration" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO's description mentions naming rituals, horse beauty contests, and racing and riding games, and notes the horse's role at weddings, when the groom takes the bride away on a decorated Akhal-Teke. The jewellery and lace used to decorate the horses are made and passed on mainly by women.

Studbook and population today

The first official Akhal-Teke studbook was published in 1941, according to the ATAA, and since 1973 the All-Russian Research Institute of Horse Breeding (VNIIK) has served as the official international studbook of the breed. The ATAA website has a registration checklist for dual registration with the ATAA and VNIIK. In Germany the breed is recorded by the Bavarian breed society BZVKS, which keeps a branch studbook and follows the principles set by the origin studbook organisation; its Akhal-Teke studbook is closed, and the breeding method is purebreeding.

The Akhal-Teke is still a rare breed. The Livestock Conservancy estimates the global population at fewer than 7,000 horses and lists the breed as "threatened", while the ATAA says there are more than 6,000 worldwide and that numbers are growing. The ATAA adds that the breed is still at risk, especially because the horses are spread out and many regions have limited genetic pools.

Height at the withers, weight and build

The Akhal-Teke is a medium-sized to large riding horse. The BZVKS breeding programme gives about 150 to 166 cm at the withers for mares and 154 to 168 cm for stallions, while the ATAA standard gives 14.3 to 16 hands (14 hands 3 inches to 16 hands, about 150 to 163 cm) and adds that extremes in either direction are not desirable. The Livestock Conservancy gives an average of 15.2 hands (about 157 cm). An adult Akhal-Teke weighs about 410 to 455 kg (900 to 1,000 lbs) according to The Livestock Conservancy; the BZVKS and ATAA standards give no weight.

The ATAA standard compares the Akhal-Teke with a cheetah or a fine greyhound. According to the standard the head is long and narrow with long, slim ears; the BZVKS programme adds a straight to convex profile and large almond-shaped eyes. The neck is long and set high, the withers are prominent, the back is long but strong, and the chest is deep but narrow when seen from the front. The legs are dry, with short cannon bones, well-defined tendons and small, hard hooves. The skin is very thin, the coat short and silky, and the mane, forelock and tail are often sparse; the BZVKS programme notes that they are frequently extremely short and thin.

Colours and the metallic coat

The Akhal-Teke comes in a wide range of colours, the best known being golden shades with a metallic sheen. The ATAA standard accepts any colour and any white markings and calls the metallic gleam a desirable feature, while the BZVKS programme allows every colour except pinto and mentions frequent gold or silver shading. The BZVKS programme adds that the eyes of horses it calls "Isabellen" are sometimes blue; according to the ATAA, in Europe and in Russian the term "isabella" refers to cremello and perlino horses.

According to the ATAA, the breed has three main base colours, black, bay and red (chestnut), which combine with dilution genes and other modifiers to produce buckskin, palomino, cremello, perlino and smoky shades. The ATAA and The Livestock Conservancy both attribute the metallic sheen to the structure of the hair, which bends light and refracts it, often with a golden cast.

The 1935 ride from Ashgabat to Moscow

The Akhal-Teke's stamina is best known from the 1935 ride from Ashgabat to Moscow. The Livestock Conservancy reports that a mounted group of Akhal-Teke stallions rode more than 2,500 miles (about 4,000 km) from Ashgabat to Moscow in 84 days, including a 225-mile (about 360 km) crossing of the Karakum desert in three days with little water available. The ATAA gives a lower figure, 3,000 km in 85 days, including about 300 miles of desert, swamps and long stretches of forest, and says the group consisted of 15 Akhal-Tekes together with another native Turkmen breed and Anglo Akhal-Tekes; the sources do not agree on the exact distance. According to the ATAA, the purebred Akhal-Tekes arrived in significantly better condition than the Anglo-Teke crosses, which it presents as evidence for the superiority of the purebred Akhal-Teke.

Temperament: clever, sensitive and people-oriented

The Akhal-Teke is an intelligent, energetic and sensitive horse that works best with a calm, consistent rider. The ATAA standard describes these horses as sensible but also very sensitive. The Livestock Conservancy calls them active, spirited and loyal, says they respond well to sensitive training, and lists the experience level needed as intermediate to advanced. One private Russian stud, Shael Stud, argues that talk of the breed's excessively difficult nature is exaggerated.

The vet-reviewed PetMD breed profile classes the Akhal-Teke as a hot-blooded horse and says that, because of their temperament, such horses may not be right for beginner or inexperienced riders and trainers. For beginners, the Akhal-Teke is suitable only conditionally. An older, well-schooled horse can be a pleasant partner, but a young or very sensitive Akhal-Teke reacts quickly to rough or unclear aids and needs an experienced rider or trainer. The same applies to children: they should ride only a suitable, calm horse and under adult supervision.

Racing, endurance and Olympic dressage

In Turkmenistan the Akhal-Teke is still primarily a racehorse; the ATAA calls it the country's main racing breed, and the BZVKS programme says it is valued in its homeland as a racehorse over long distances. In Europe and North America it is a versatile riding horse for endurance riding, dressage, eventing, show jumping and leisure riding; the ATAA notes that the breed also thrives in non-competitive activities.

The most famous sporting Akhal-Teke is the black stallion Absent, who won Olympic dressage gold with Sergei Filatov in Rome in 1960 and a bronze medal in 1964. According to the Olympedia database, Filatov and Absent were the first Soviet horse-and-rider pair to win an Olympic gold. One private Russian stud, Shael, nevertheless notes that the Akhal-Teke is not a specialised sport breed and that succeeding in modern sport, which is dominated by warmbloods, requires deliberate selection.

Akhal-Teke vs Arabian horse: the difference

The Akhal-Teke and the Arabian are both old desert breeds famous for endurance, but they differ in build. The Arabian is usually somewhat smaller: the Slovenian breeding programme for the purebred Arabian recommends 145 to 160 cm for stallions and mares alike, and the Arabian Horse Society of Australia gives a usual range of 14.1 to 15.1 hands (about 145 to 155 cm), while the Akhal-Teke standards above give about 150 to 168 cm. Most Arabians have a dished facial profile and carry the tail high in a pronounced arch when the horse moves, whereas the Akhal-Teke has a straight to convex profile, a long, high-set neck and a low-set tail.

A genomic study published in Animal Bioscience (2023) placed 18 Akhal-Tekes in the same cluster as Arabians in its relationship tree and found relatively large genome segments shared with Arabians and their derivative breeds. In a model in which only the Arabian and the Caspian horse were tested as possible source breeds, the authors estimated that the Arabian accounts for 26 % and the Caspian horse for 18 % of Akhal-Teke ancestry. The authors describe the origin of the breed as highly controversial, and The Livestock Conservancy takes the view that the Akhal-Teke almost certainly predates the development of the Arabian.

Health: naked foal syndrome and lifespan

One documented inherited disorder in the Akhal-Teke is naked foal syndrome (NFS). According to Bauer and colleagues (2017, G3), affected foals have almost no hair and show a mild ichthyosis, and all known affected horses died between a few weeks and three years of age; it is not clear whether a specific pathology caused these early deaths. NFS is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. The authors found a nonsense variant in the ST14 gene that was homozygous in all the affected horses available to them, and they call it an "excellent candidate causative variant", so the cause is presumed rather than proven. Among the 191 further Akhal-Tekes they genotyped (all available samples, so not a random sample of the breed), 26 were carriers, and the first records of hairless foals date back to 1938. The authors write that their findings enable genetic testing to avoid the nonintentional breeding of affected foals.

The same study notes that the limited gene pool and the practice of line breeding have led to a high degree of inbreeding in the breed, which favours the appearance of recessive disorders. There are no lifespan statistics specific to the Akhal-Teke; the Merck Veterinary Manual gives horses in general an average of 25 to 30 years, depending on health, care and size. This information is general, and questions about an individual horse's health are best discussed with a vet.

Management, feeding and exercise

An Akhal-Teke needs the company of other horses, a forage-based diet and plenty of movement. The English DEFRA Code of Practice for the welfare of horses stresses that horses are herd animals and that isolating a horse from other horses can have a negative psychological impact. The horse evolved to spend 16 to 20 hours a day grazing and browsing, so it should have almost constant access to grass, hay or haylage and continuous access to fresh water. The code adds that supplementary feed, vitamins and minerals may need to be provided if grazing is inadequate; concentrates make sense only when the horse needs them for work or condition, and any change in diet should be gradual. Daily turnout benefits every stabled horse, and as an energetic breed the Akhal-Teke also needs regular, varied work.

The Akhal-Teke has thin skin and a short coat, but The Livestock Conservancy notes that a dense undercoat keeps it warm in winter. The DEFRA code notes that clipped, very young or elderly horses, and those of less hardy breeding, may need stable accommodation or other shelter against cold and damp, so in a colder climate it is worth watching how each individual copes with cold, wind and rain.

Care: hooves, teeth, vaccination and worming

Caring for an Akhal-Teke is moderately demanding. The short, fine coat is easy to groom and the sparse mane and tail need little work, while grooming is a good moment to spot rubs on the thin skin. Under the DEFRA code, hooves should be trimmed or re-shod as advised by the farrier, usually every 4 to 8 weeks, and teeth should be inspected by a vet or equine dental technician at least once a year. A programme for vaccination and infectious disease control, and a parasite control programme that includes faecal worm egg counts, should be agreed with a vet.

Who the Akhal-Teke suits

The Akhal-Teke is a good choice for an experienced rider looking for a clever, enduring and light horse for endurance riding, dressage or long hacks who enjoys working with a sensitive partner. It is less suitable for a complete beginner without a trainer or for an owner looking for a quiet horse that needs little work. It needs a stable with daily turnout, other horses for company, a forage-based diet and regular visits from the farrier, vet and equine dental technician. It is useful to keep a record of farrier visits, vaccinations and dental checks.

Pros & cons