Turkoman Horse - History

History

The breed was developed from an ancient Oriental horsekeeping tradition and breeding philosophy. The horses were raised in an unusual manner, with the mares kept in semi-wild herds that have to defend themselves against the weather and predators and finding their own food. Male foals, colts were caught at six months, when their training begun. The colts were kept on long tethers, usually for life. At only eight months of age, they were saddled and ridden by young and lightweight riders, racing on the track, by the age of one. These horses were bred for racing. They had free-flowing movements and a good temperament.

The Turkoman horses were fed a special high-protein diet of broiled chicken, barley, dates, raisins, alfalfa, and mutton fat. They wore thick felt blankets to cause sweating on hot days, keeping them slender and free from body fat.

How much the Arabian and the Turkoman have been crossed in the past is open to debate. There are those who believe that this was never done, on either side; and it may well be that in remote places like the Nejd the core Arabian was kept "pure," just as the Turkoman would have been kept "pure" by the most remote tribes of Turkmen.

However, it is very likely that there was some intermingling between these two types of Oriental horses, especially where their borders met. Turkoman stallions were kept for use by the elite palace guards of the Caliph of Baghdad, and that it was these stallions which the Caliph used for breeding with his Arabian mares. It may have been from these horses that the Muniq'i strain of Arabian arose, a strain with known crosses to Turkoman horses some time during the 17th century.