On This Page:

The Turkmen came from the Altai region soon after the fall of Rome. When they took stewardship of the Turanian Horses from the Parthians and Sarmatians, they became a force which, with a short time-out for Chinggis Khan, was unstoppable until the middle of the 19^th century. Read about what made the Turkmen such a force, and how their horses helped their rise to power.

The Turkmen paid special attention to the keeping of their Thoroughbred. In Iran today, Turkmen tribesmen raise, keep and race their Turkoman horses--Tekkes, Yamouds and Goklans--in the same ways as their successful ancestors. Read about how the horse has been kept and bred for the last millennium, and continues to be kept on the Turkoman Steppes today.

The "Great Game" between Great Britain and Russia, as each tried to control routes through the Middle East and India, had a profound effect on the Turkmen and especially on their horses. Read about how after 1500 years the Turkmen were finally overcome, and what happened to their horses in a new society which saw them only as a weapon of rebellion.