The Akhal-Teke breed is of Turkmenistan origin, and is known also by the names Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.  Used mainly for horse racing and endurance riding, the breed stands 150-160 centimeters tall, and it can be one of a variety of colors, including dun, brown, black or white.

The Akhal-Teke is the emblem of Turkmenistan, and is held in its country of origin in free-range flocks, which are called tabun. Mounted herdsmen in the vast steppe area guard the flocks.

The Akhal-Teke (also known as Turkmen-Teke) is one of the oldest breeds in the world. With the focus on extreme hardship due to the isolation of the desert oases and the arid desert climate, the breed is regarded as particularly suitable for routes of difficulty and distance.
It takes its name from the home territory of the oasis group of Akhal-Teke, which lies between the northern edge of the Kopet-Dag Mountains and the Karakum Desert.  The territory is in a narrow, 100-kilometer long strip of Annau, a city east of the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat and west of Baherden.  The name Teke comes from a tribe living in the area of the Turkmens.  The name Akhal is now transferred to the central province of the country Ahal Province, but also refers to the mountain, desert areas and oases further east around the towns of the Atek group, including Kaka.

The exterior of the Akhal-Teke is relatively uneven and yet fundamentally different from all other breeds.  The height of the Akhal-Teke is between 1.50 meters and 1.60 meters. The body structure is rather unusual for a racehorse, because he has some special features that are usually evaluated as an error.  These include the often cow-hocked hind legs, the close position of front and rear legs, the steeply erect neck, as well as being disproportionately built with a long back and slight loins.
The Akhal-Teke has a straight profile.  Its head is carried high on a long, narrow, fairly high neck.  The breed has a medium, sometimes steep shoulder and a long straight back. It is not high on feather, has small, hard hooves and a mane that is silky-looking but actually quite sparse.  The withers are pronounced, the croup is slightly sloping, the hind legs slightly bent – which is not desirable in other racehorses.  The ears are longer and wider than those of other breeds, and are standing apart and slightly falcate.  The eyes often appear almond-shaped.  This impression is exacerbated because many horses have a black border around the eyes.
With a fine, thin coat, the most common colors of this breed are brown, gray, black and dun.  The coat often has a metallic luster, especially on the isabellas, duns and even the golden cremellos.  The shimmering golden color has earned them the name in China of heaven horses.  The Chinese Emperor even went to war with Bactria to come into possession of the horses.

Their movements when covering ground are – in stark contrast to the straight back – very elastic, and the canter is particularly pronounced.  There is a predisposition to pass and canter.
Enormously footed, the breed is agile and strong nerved.  Many turn out to be true multi-talents in a variety of riding types and are not only durable but also perform extremely well into old age.  More than a few Olympic champions were Akhal-Teke horses.  The Akhal-Teke is mainly used for horse racing in Turkmenistan.  Outside of its farming areas he is known for its extreme hardiness over long distances under difficult conditions. Akhal-Teke horses are among the toughest, most durable horses ever. With them, it was possible in the past to cope with long distances in a short time.  Due to its high adaptation to life in the desert, frequent crossings of the desert areas were not insoluble problems.

Breeding History

The Akhal-Teke is as perfectly adapted to being in the desert as to being a horse race.  Their breeding area extends over several countries of Kazakhstan, from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan.  This very old breed of horse has been bred in this form in Turkmenistan for nearly 3,000 years.  Even before the Christian era, the Akhal-Teke was well known and desired in China.  Wars and raids decimated the breed, until it received, by Timur Lenk (1336-1405), a refresher from Arabian mares.
Akhal-Teke horses were used for refinement of European breeds, and are often represented in the pedigrees.

In Russia in 1791, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-stud in Neustadt an der Dosse was provided with four Trakehner stallions and mares.  They were listed as Arabians, and though there is no evidence, it is likely that the colt produced was an Akhal-Teke.  Even though noted as Byerley Turk, one of three founders of the English Thoroughbred suspects that it was of Turkmen origin.
The studbook of the breed was opened in 1917 and is kept in Russia, although since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan claims to have the right to discipline the accounting.  English Thoroughbreds were crossed on the 1920s.  This proved to be a disadvantage and it was decided by the breeding commission that all cross-bred Akhal-Teke born after 1936 are not to be considered purebred.  The crosses made before that date, however, remained in the studbook (for example, 044 Tillja Cush, grandson of the English thoroughbred stallion Burlak, or 831 Mach, both granddaughter of the English thoroughbred Blondelli and great-great-granddaughter of the English thoroughbred Junak).
Since all studbook records are in Moscow, only those considered to be purebred Akhal-Teke, whose ancestors in the VII are recorded in the studbook.

Hereditary disorders
Akhal-Teke horses currently have two genetic disorders of interest: Naked Foal Syndrome and congenital cryptorchidism.
Naked Foal Syndrome is probably an inherited lethal, autosomal recessive gene, though the exact mode of inheritance has not yet been scientifically substantiated.  The gene defect causes, from birth, a complete absence of hair, body hair as well as the mane and tail.  The lack of any protection leads to scaly, dry and inflamed skin, with severe sunburns in summer and frequent lung infections in winter.

In some cases, the incisors are not yet erupted, or the molar teeth are growing in an abnormal direction from otherwise normal-appearing pines.  Other symptoms include persistent and recurrent diarrhea, frequent indigestion, and treatment-resistant rotation of the distal phalanx.  NFS is always fatal and, although some horses live for up to two years, most of the foals die within a few weeks after birth.  The premature deaths are usually caused by digestive problems, while the older animals must be euthanized because of severe pain caused by laminitis.

The disease has some similarities with epitheliogenesis Imperfecta (JEB or EI), that occurs, for example, in Belgian draft horses and American Saddlebreds.  The first cases of NFS within the Akhal-Teke breed were recorded in 1938.  Despite the small number of animals, naked foals have been born in every county in which the breed is found, including Germany and the United States of America.  So far, about thirty-five carriers of the defect have been identified, including 943 Arslan, 736 Keymir, 2001 Mariula and 1054 Gilkuyruk.  The actual number of carriers is estimated to be much higher, as several Russian and Turkmen breeders have admitted that many NFS foals, if reported at all, are statistically reported either as stillborn or aborted.
Congenital cryptorchidism is very common in this breed. There are many cases in which affected stallions in a direct line can be traced over several generations.  The influential stallion 2a Boinou was cryptorchid, according to Russian breed experts.  Other confirmed cryptorchid were, for example, 779 Peren, 1248 Orlan, 971 Khalif and Garajusup.  1069 Kortik had three bilateral and unilateral suffering sons.  In contrast to most European and many North American breeding organizations, both Russia and Turkmenistan allow the breeding of cryptorchid horses.  Cryptorchidism is commonly seen in veterinary medicine as a cause of health and character issues, such as testicular cancer or malignancy. To castrate affected horses would significantly increase breeders’ costs.