Tersk Stud - Influence of American Buyers

Influence of American Buyers

By the mid-1980s, Russian Arabians were viewed as an exotic and profitable business in the U.S. Notable examples include *Pesniar, who was purchased from Tersk in 1981 for $1 million, and Peleng, who was purchased for "well in excess of $3 million" in 1985. Before American-purchased Tersk Arabians were eligible for registration in the U.S., Howard F. Kale traded two Standardbred stallions worth $1 million each to Tersk Stud for the stallion *Muscat.

Russian horses also retained their value within the U.S. A half-interest in the aged broodmare *Nariadnaia was sold at auction in the U.S. for $580,000 in 1983 and the stallion *Abdullahhh was sold for $3.2 million at a U.S. auction in 1984. The Soviets noticed the inflated prices that westerners were willing to pay for their horses and accordingly set high reserves on their auction lots.

Prices began to come down at the annual Tersk auction starting in 1985 and the values of all big-investment Arabian horses dropped dramatically after the U.S. tax laws were changed in 1986. After that point, breeding "straight Russian" Arabians, or horses that were descended only from Tersk-bred horses, was not as common in the U.S. Some American breeders increasingly crossed Russian-bred horses with other lines to produce more exotic type and movement, while Arabian sport horse breeders outcrossed to Russian lines for their athletic ability.