Argamak Photography

Teke Talk Archived blog about Akhal-Teke horses

breed information
Links

I’m not going to be doing Teke.ca anymore but I will archive the blog portion as it still has a large reference value. I originally started Teke.ca when there wasn’t much information about or images of Akhal-Tekes available any where, and now there is lots all over the internet. I had a great journey discovering [...]

the beauty contest finals

      The Turkmen Horse Holiday is on the last Sunday in April and that day is celebrated with horse racing at the hippodromes across Turkmenistan. We were at the main stadium for the event, the International Equestrian Complex, where the first part was the finals of the “most beautiful Akhalteke horse of the [...]

A Week with the Turkmen in Northern Iran

I was invited to visit Iran by the Turkmen Horse Breeding and Consulting Cooperative (THBCC). It’s founder, Dr. Abdoljalil Ghiadi, is the head of a group of eight breeders and researchers involved in Turkmen horse breeding, pedigree research and genotyping. They have worked as a cooperative since 1998, centred in Jergelan, Iran.

Yazdani Breeding Farm, Iran

The Yazdani Breeding Farm, located in Gez Village, Jargalan, North Khorasan, is a cooperative Turkmen horse breeding farm specializing in mares and with a successful racing program. All the breeders are members of the popular co-op of horse breeders in North Khorasan. The late Mr. Aman Mohammad Yazdani was the founder of the breeding farm [...]

Turkmenistan: Celebrating 20 years of Independence

Check out my photo journal from my trip to Turkmenistan in October: Turkmenistan Celebrating 20 Years of Independence by Kerri-Jo Stewart

The Day of the Horse

The Day of the Horse by Kerri-Jo Stewart

the Beauty Contest, pt V

Next the horses were presented saddled with their adornments: 1. Melegush 2007 (Melekhan-Talvas) 363.1 points; 9th place 2. Khanbegler 2008 (Bitaraplyk x Gyulyalek) 401.9pts, 1st place 3. Kapdagy 2008 (Kararym-Karkara) 365.1 points, 8th place 4. Khanburgut 2005 (Bitaraplyk-Patma) 392.0 points; 4th place 5. Dostbag 2006 (Kararym-Adzhap) 368.8 points; 7th place 6. Garagum 2003 (Gamkeser-Gyulperi) 383.4 [...]

The Beauty Contest, pt I

The final judging of the Beauty Contest for Akhal-Tekes bred in Turkmenistan at the Ashgabat Hippodrome and Equestrian complex. First some horses were presented to the President: 1. Melehan: 2. Melenan: 3. Dowletli: 4. Akhan: ______________ 5. _________ 6. ______________ 7. ______________ 8. ________________ 9. ________________ 10. Unfortunately the program didn’t come with the horse’s [...]

Opening Ceremony III

Next it was time for the ceremonial presentation of the Esteemed President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s book, “The Flight of Celestial Race Horses”. The presentations about the “The Flight of Celestial Race Horses” were interspersed with wonderful dancing and music and singing. The presenters were Jessica Eile-Keith, __?, Dr. Jalil Ghiadi, Petra Marešová, the Turkmen poetess __, [...]

Dreaming in Gold

Until the end of December, use these codes to get 20% off: £ GBP: NEWBLURB1 $ USD: NEWBLURB Check out my new book! It’s a coffee table book filled with photographs of some beautiful and interesting horses. It’s not specifically about Akhal-Tekes but most of the photography is of the many Akhal-Tekes I’ve seen over [...]

gallop!

Here are some shots of Darla galloping out the horses: Kamileshen is competitive and fast Akpai is elegant, smooth and under control and Darginka isn’t competitive with anyone except perhaps her riders We are going to have an Akhal-Teke race next year! It will be a combined race for all ages. Date, location and distance [...]

VNIIK grading 2010

Tito Pontecorvo (Akhal-Texas) and Tatyana Riabova (VNIIK) on the Canadian Akhal-Teke grading tour. I went to the one held at Lone Larch Akhal-Tekes in Lumby, BC. The results and a photo of each horse in attendance is posted on the Akhal-Teke Canada site. Cindy will be posting the rest of the Canadian results on ATSBA [...]

Pyatigorsk AATK meeting

February 6-7, 2010 in the town of Pyatigorsk held election meetings of the Association Akhalteke Horsebreeding Russia (AATK). It was attended by most members of AATK, including Ryabova TN, Abramova NV (VNIIK), Ismoilov Avaz (Horse Factory “Uz-Begim, Uzbekistan), Klimuk AS, (Stavropol stud), Timchenko VI (Krasnodar Region), Sirotenko VI (Rostov oblast), Gasanov R. (Dagestan stud), Karachi, [...]

Championship of Russia

Information from Abramova Nadejda & Riabova Tatiana: Dear Friends! The Sixteenth (XVI) International Racing Competition, and the Tenth (X) Aklah-Teke Horse Show “Championship of Russia” just finished on last week in Piatigorsk in southern Russia. This Competition and Championship were organized by the Russian Institute of Horse Breeding VNIIK, part of the Russian Ministry of [...]

Amazon of Peace

The Amazon of Peace has now completed another great ride. This time Laurence Bougault rode a Turkoman mare from Iran (Almila) for their 7,000 km journey from Isfahan, Iran to Paris, France (through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and France). I have very crudely translated some of her blog posts, they are a definite must read. [...]

Akhal-Tekes to South America!

Willy Lockheart is importing the first Akhal-Teke into South America. Dutar, born 1999 by Taigir and Duigurgush, was bred by the Pontecorvos in Russia and imported into the US as a colt. He will start training for endurance racing soon after arrival at his new home in Uruguay! See all the photos of Dutar on [...]

Teke Mania 2009

This is the cover of Teke Mania 2009. They used my photo of Magnatli!! The magazine is wonderful and full of lots of information. It is put out by the Akhal-Teke Horse Association (note: link is correct but website is currently down). Become a member and support an international Akhal-Teke organization. Download their membership application [...]

countdown to the Amazon of Peace

Dear Akhal-Tekke Friends, To paraphrase my friend Dr. Alf-Eckbert Füssel of SANCO, in Brussels, “We will either find a way, or make one” Hannibal (247 – 183 B.C.)… In response to our questions regarding the EU import rules for the temporary import of our mare Almila to Europe, to achieve our aim, a new WDR [...]

NA grading tour 2009

T. Ryabova is now making arrangements to come to both the US and Canada for a grading tour. She wants to try to include all Akhal-Tekes that entirely trace back to purebreds as registered by VNIIK. Please send the following information to Natalia Pontecorvo: 1. your address/not P.O.Box/ 2. number of PUREBLOOD AT horses that [...]

Dam families of NA stallions

On the North American Stallion directory there are references posted to both the sire line and the dam’s sire line. It is only used as a classification system. It would be more relevant to actually post the dam families, however, which dams are classified as the base of the family is difficult to discover. I [...]

Akhal-Tekes and Inbreeding

***** NOTE: this post is still in progress, I’ll update as I learn more !!!!!!***** Potential inbreeding problems with Akhal-Tekes was brought up on the Yahoo list and got me curious to find out more. As Akhal-Tekes are still on the rare side, especially outside of Russia and Turkmenistan, one thing to watch with breeding [...]

Amazone of Peace

Laurence Bougault is planning her trek, the Amazone of Peace, from Ashgabat to Paris, starting in April of 2009. Her plan is to cover the 7,000 km in six months, traveling through Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and through France by September. You can buy her book, “Sous l’œil des chevaux d’Afrique“, where she chronicles [...]

The Akhal-Teke Breed Management Conference at Equiros 2008

by Maria Marquise Baverstock Co-Director of Akhal-Teke UK Ltd (NOTE: this report is the personal opinion of Maria Marquise Baverstock but the following questionnaire has been approved by Klimuk and Babaev and will be fed back to the Executive Committee so please fill it out if you want to have an input in the formation [...]

World Akhal-Teke Organization

The World Akhal-Teke Organization is now officially founded. I think that WATO is going to be a great benefit to all, hopefully opening up more information about this breed. The group constitutes many major breeders and many have taken on multiple rolls to get WATO going. I think this is all very exciting for the [...]

Akhal-Teke Press Release

The Akhal-Teke, an artwork of ancient origin with such majesty that there is no comparison in the equine world so they must be compared to other species: “A serpent, an eagle and a cheetah – all in one…” I. Khienkina

Akhal-Teke videos VI
videos by the US Akhal-Teke Cooperative, joylavie & Laurencakhal
Akhal Teke UK
Congratulations to the Akhal Teke UK for their launch of such an innovative and informative website!!
Akhal-Tekes & jumping 2008

I’m trying to get sport information on Akhal-Tekes who are currently being campaigned in jumping. These are the horses I could find, if you have more information on these horses or others can you please let me know!!

Akhal-Teke conformation

Here are some of my favourite horses (for different reasons) from photos I can find. I want to learn more about conformation and think about what draws me to these photos. In general what is good conformation? Which is the fastest, the best for endurance, the best jumper, the best for dressage? And also, how much are body types affected by training (type/or lack of)?

Habib’s sire, Gayaz
Studfarm Shael stands some of the best Akhal-Teke stallions in the world.
We are fortunate to have Habib Shael, out of their great stallion Gayaz!
breed description

MAAK maintains the official breed standard. Other opinions exist, but all Akhal-Tekes must be judged using the MAAK rating.

A bit of Akhal-Teke history

Akhal-Teke history is one of tribal warfare and politics. These divine Argamaks have been selected through the harsh extreme conditions that created them, requiring survival in desert conditions and ensuring victory for their partners.

Self Promotion, re: Russian Poetry in Motion

This post is my comment to Jessica Eile Keith’s statement on the ShaEl Teke website:

The Golden Horses of Turkmenistan

Written by Jonathan Maslow and published in Saudi Aramco World, May/June 1997
Photography by Tor Eigeland (Orloff-Davidoff farm, Sussex, England) and John Sikora (Turkmenistan)

Celestial Argamak 2007
Here are some more sports photos!!
World Championship Results
Nadja from Akhalt-Service sent me these results (thanks Nadja!)
I’ll update and add photos as I find them!!
Akhal-Teke conformation
It is so hard to learn about the Akhal-Tekes. Plus their history is entirely intermixed with politics.
My interest is in the “old style” Akhal-Tekes with the solid conformation for performing raids by the old Turkmen tribes.
Akhal-Teke Gold Cup – SHAEL
Here are a few photos from equestrian.ru by Alexander Kochetov and by equiros.ru
Akhal-Teke videos II

including the 2007 Russian President’s Cup; the 2007 Luxembourg show, and the 1945 Russian WWII victory parade with Arab:

Gaigysyz

Habib is part of the famous Postman line which was revived by Gaigasiz. Here is some information about this preeminent line:
These amazing photos of Gajgysyz were taken by Natalia Kostikova (Russia)! Thanks!!

Equine Videos on the WWW

Videos from UTube and other web sources with cool horse content, including a Russian TV show about Akhal-Tekes, Mongolian horse racing, dressage, jumping, vaulting, and training…

Geldy’s documentary by Jonathan Maslow???

I have been trying to find the documentary video – “Geldi: A Horseman of the Turkmen Steppes” by Jonathan Maslow. I think it was not used? He must have some great footage of the Turkoman horses though!!

Historical Records II

For my pedigree research I am trying to collate which Akhal-Tekes have done well with racing in the past.
Here is a list of some records compared to results from the Championship of Russia 2005:

Historical Records I

For my pedigree research I am trying to collate which Akhal-Tekes have done well with racing in the past.
Here is a list of some noted results from longer distances:

my favourite types

Just going by these exterior photos, here are some of my favourites:

www.catha.ca

Be sure to check out the new Canadian Akhal-Teke Horse Association website!
Canadians are getting excited about these divine Argamaks!!

Alternate view on Sovhov-2 line

Here is a response by Leonid Babaev to Dr. Rjabova’s article about the new line of Sovhov-2, which appeared in the magazine Akhal-Teke Inform 2006.

line Sovhov 2nd, by Dr. Rjabova

Dr. Rjabova’s article appeared in the magazine Akhal-Teke Inform 2006.

The Importance of Dam Lines in Breeding

Not only does the mare give 50% of her DNA to the foals, genetic lines are traced through the female line. There are also certain performance elements that are passed down through the mares…

Contribution of the Akhal-Teke to the English Thoroughbred

I can’t resist writing this note, since Teke people like to state that the Teke is the precursor to the English Thoroughbred. Unfortunately I do not have time to write a review, but here is an overview:

Akhal-Tekes as Jumpers

My interest in jumping has always been from the bleachers as I ‘m watching (and in awe of those magnificent athletic animals and riders) a competition. I love Spruce Meadows and when I lived in High River, AB I pretty well went to all the major events…

Akhal-Tekes as racing and endurance athletes

So out of all the sire pictures, Yulduz 12 really stood out for me. He sure looks fast and very sleek. That picture got me thinking about which Akhal-Tekes are currently doing well at both short racing and endurance.

Sire lines

traditional sire lines: Ak Belek, Ak-Sakal, Arab, Dor Bairam, El, Everdy-Teleke, Fakir Pelvan, Gelishikli, Karlavach, Kir Sakar, Kaplan, Mele Kush, Peren, Posman, Sere, Skak, Toporbai

Golden Horses

I had to look up equine coat colour genetics to find out the chances of what colour mares would throw when matched to Habib, whom we think is a perlino but may be a cremello.

Akhal-Teke links

In my quest for information I have come up with a list of Akhal-Teke links:


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equine photography...
By Kerri-Jo Stewart
 
A visit to Turkmenistan
 
THBCC, January 2012
By Kerri-Jo Stewart