Turanian Horse

Turanian Horse Tidbits

The Golden Horse in Legend

According to an Iranian Legend, written in the Imrulskaya, a book of legends compiled by Ibn Kordardbek, all the Golden Horses are descendants of a single supernatural stallion. According to the legend,

In the mountains of Central Asia was an oasis, and around this oasis lived a taboon of mares. Every day, when they visited the oasis, a supernatural stallion would appear. He was a huge and splendid figure. One day he was captured and ridden. He was able to navigate between heaven and earth, obedient to the bridle, running effortlessly.

This legend, of the origin of Central Asian horses, is repeated, with varying details, in many different sources.

We are still compiling legends, so bear with us.

Famous Turanian Horses and Their Accomplishments

Bucephalos____________________________________

Just about every breed of horse claims Bucephalos as an ancestor. It may have been Marco Polo who first mentioned him as the founding sire of the "Turcoman" horses.

Whether Bucephalos was a "true" Turanian will forever be a matter of conjecture. The best guess today is that he was a Thessalian horse, a breed which probably carried a good deal of Turanian blood. The best clue that we have to his descent is his character. He was devoted to Alexander, and trusted no one but his rider; traits found even today in horses of Turanian descent.

Absent______________________________________

The electric black stallion Absent is probably the best known Turkoman horse of our age. Under rider Sergei Filatov (the two are pictured together at left), Absent won three Olympic medals in Dressage, including the Individual and Team Gold (in different years). He won another medal under a different rider, and competed in Rome, Tokyo and Mexico City. His medal count was unequaled by any other horse until the modern-day Rembrandt.

Absent was born at Djambul, sired by the already famous Arab out of the unregistered mare Bakkara. He was trained and ridden by Filatov until Soviet officials, unhappy with his "poor" Bronze medal performance ordered his rider changed. (Under the new rider, Absent finished fourth in Mexico City.) Absent stood at stud for only three years and did not produce many offspring, although a few, such as his grey son Akin, were also Grand Prix horses. He competed until he was seventeen years of age, and retired to stud at Lugovskoi State Stud Farm, where he died at the age of 23. A monument stands to him at the farm today.

The photo above is a restoration of a photo appearing in the June, 1982 issue of Konevodstvo I Konnusportu.

Penteli________________________________________

Penteli was a "mere" 15.2 hands high, but the gelding could jump with the best of them--and often beat the best in Europe.

To be continued...

The photo above is a restoration of a photo appearing in the June, 1982 issue of Konevodstvo I Konnusportu.

*Senetir_______________________________________

*Senetir was not the greatest dressage champion, nor the greatest endurance champion. His fame comes from the fact that he was the first Akhal-Teke to have been brought to the United States, and the first Turkoman horse of any kind known to have come here. The circumstances under which he made it into the country are what make his story worth telling.

To be continued...

*Senetir lived in Virginia at Shenandoah farms, and died there in the summer of 1997 at the age of 20. *Oliva died later that year.

Sengar________________________________________

Arab

Byerley Turk

Turkman Atti

Katrina

If your "Turk" has an accomplishment to brag about, let's hear from you!