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The Turkmens have always been passionate enthusiasts of racing. Moreover, speed
was an important attribute of the war horse and for centuries their horses were
selectively bred to develop and maximise this quality. There is evidence that in
Europe too the methods used to train racehorses originated in Central Asia. In
respect of speed the Akhal-Teke comes second to the English Thoroughbred and to
warmbloods with a high proportion of Thoroughbred blood.
Akhal-Teke breed bears the following records:
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1000m -
1.03,9
1200m - 1.16,7
1400m - 1.28,0
1500m - 1.40,2
1600m - 1.43,6
1800m - 1.57,0
2000m - 2.11,5
2400m - 2.41,6
2800m - 3.09,6
3000m - 3.00,5
3200m - 3.40,9
4000m - 4.39,2
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The
twentieth century presented the Akhal-Teke with new challenges. Today a
riding horse is first and foremost a sports horse and the most ancient
breed has also excelled in this field. Everyone has heard of the black
stallion Absent, seven times national dressage champion, first
Soviet champion at the 1960 Rome Olympics and medallist at two
subsequent Games. Absent's marks in dressage - 82.4% have not been
surpassed.
Absent's sire, the gray stallion Arab, took part in the famous
1935 ride from Ashkhabad to Moscow, covering 4300 km in 84 days.
For the next 12 years he successfully competed in the All-Union eventing
and show jumping championships and at the age of l6 - a respectable age
by any standard - became national show jumping champion in the
prestigious "USSR Cup" and "Supreme Class". In the Puissance Arab
cleared 2m l2 cm. Another Akhal-Teke, the small light bay Poligon
set new Puissance records over five successive years, achieving a
maximum height of 2m. 25 cm. When the long jump was an official
competition the Akhal-Teke stallion Perepel "flew over" 8m 78 cm.
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For the
third year in succession (l999-2001) horses belonging to the Akhal-Teke
breed are winning and being placed at the World Cup show jumping
competition qualifiers in the countries of the Central Asian region (Bishkek,
Alma-Aty, Tashkent): Man, Arslan, Kovum,
Karamashal and others.
The Akhal-Teke also possesses the essential qualities for the discipline
of eventing which requires rapid recuperation after intensive effort.
Such representatives of the breed are : Propeller, Maksut,
Sugun, Bugar and others. |
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The Akhal-Teke
also has a promising future in the sport of endurance riding which is
growing in popularity all over the world. Akhal-Teke horses have long
been renowned for their great powers of endurance. In l945 the stallion
Tarlan won a 500 km endurance ride in which eight different
breeds took part. More recently, in l999, when endurance riding was once
again included in the sporting calendar after years of being consigned
to oblivion, the Akhal-Teke stallion Peikam won a testing l20 km
marathon around the Moscow ring road, amd in 200l the stallion Zabeg
became Russian champion over 60 km. In the Czech republic is known in
endurance stallion Adjibei, witch represented Slovakia on the
European championship in Italy 2001.
The black stallion Kulyuk (known as Black Angel) won a Czech
championship in western competition in 2002.
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