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Turkmene Development Project
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Keagakinz
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2018 9:50 pm
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Turkmene Development Project
After trying out several different breeds and projects, I've decided for now that I would like to try developing a line of realistic and high GP turkmenes. I know that several people have worked on this before me, but I haven't seen many talking about trying to get traditionally realistic turkmenes.
Breed Information:
The Turkoman horse, or Turkmene, was an Oriental horse breed from the steppes of Turkoman desert. The Turkoman horse was noted for its endurance. It had a slender body, similar to a greyhound. Although refined in appearance, the breed was actually one of the toughest in the world. They had a straight profile, long neck, and sloping shoulders. Their back was long, with sloping quarters and tucked-up abdomen. They had long and muscular legs. The horses ranged from 15–16 hands.
Though both the Arabian horse and the Turkoman may have had a common ancestor in the Oriental horse prototype, in their purest old forms they were very like one another in some ways and very different in others. Both had excellent speed and stamina. Both had extremely fine coats and delicate skin, unlike many horse breeds found in Europe. They both had large eyes, wide foreheads and tapering muzzles. They both came from very arid environments. Here, however, the similarities between the Turkoman of Central Asia and the Arabians of the Nejd desert lands of Central Arabia end, and the horses begin to diverge to suit their environments and the fighting styles of their breeders. Some divergence may be attributable solely to natural selection of landrace traits, other differences may be attributable to selective breeding.
The Turkoman had small hooves, an adaptation to the steppes of the Central Asia, which largely consisted of a hard, rocky ground, covered with coarse sand, more like fine gravel and of stiff, parched vegetation. The Arabian had fairly large hooves for its size; this was useful when adjusting to the deep sand found in the Central Arabian desert, providing a larger surface area on which the horse's weight could be spread, making it less likely to sink.
The back of the Turkoman, the Tekke Turkoman, and today in many cases, the Akhal-Teke, is much longer than that of the Arabian. The reason for this may likely to be that when riding long distances, the Turkoman was expected to trot, and the Arabian was not; the Bedouin tended to ride camels over long distances, leading their war horses, saving them for raiding, which was primarily done at the gallop.
The Turkoman was taller than the desert-bred Arabian and had a sparse mane. The Arabian carries its tail high when galloping, and higher than most when walking or trotting; the Turkoman ran with its tail streaming behind. The Turkoman horse was also narrower in the body than the Arabian, or indeed than any other breed of horse. This helped it to dissipate heat quickly, but it was also a great aid in twisting and turning in the saddle, which would be invaluable to mounted archers who need to shoot in any direction, as opposed to lancers who need a firm footing from which to thrust a lance. Lance-throwing from horseback would be far easier on an Arabian horse shaped wider in the body would also help with making the sharp turns that close-fighting requires.
More Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkoman_ ... d%20horse.
Goals:
Height Range between 14.1 to 16.2 hh
Very Light to Light
5* Turkmene HWO rating
50,000+ GP
Green or Gold in Speed and Stamina
Conformation Guide:
Head:
Straight profile (medium head)
Long Face
Long Neck
Shoulder & Barrel:
Sloping Shoulders
Low Point of Shoulder
Deep Ribs
Moderate Depth of Flank
Back, Haunches, & Legs:
Flat Haunch
Long Hip
Thin Legs
Backward Stifle
Long Back
Downhill
Current Studs
Current Broodmares
Geldings and Mares
Breed Information:
The Turkoman horse, or Turkmene, was an Oriental horse breed from the steppes of Turkoman desert. The Turkoman horse was noted for its endurance. It had a slender body, similar to a greyhound. Although refined in appearance, the breed was actually one of the toughest in the world. They had a straight profile, long neck, and sloping shoulders. Their back was long, with sloping quarters and tucked-up abdomen. They had long and muscular legs. The horses ranged from 15–16 hands.
Though both the Arabian horse and the Turkoman may have had a common ancestor in the Oriental horse prototype, in their purest old forms they were very like one another in some ways and very different in others. Both had excellent speed and stamina. Both had extremely fine coats and delicate skin, unlike many horse breeds found in Europe. They both had large eyes, wide foreheads and tapering muzzles. They both came from very arid environments. Here, however, the similarities between the Turkoman of Central Asia and the Arabians of the Nejd desert lands of Central Arabia end, and the horses begin to diverge to suit their environments and the fighting styles of their breeders. Some divergence may be attributable solely to natural selection of landrace traits, other differences may be attributable to selective breeding.
The Turkoman had small hooves, an adaptation to the steppes of the Central Asia, which largely consisted of a hard, rocky ground, covered with coarse sand, more like fine gravel and of stiff, parched vegetation. The Arabian had fairly large hooves for its size; this was useful when adjusting to the deep sand found in the Central Arabian desert, providing a larger surface area on which the horse's weight could be spread, making it less likely to sink.
The back of the Turkoman, the Tekke Turkoman, and today in many cases, the Akhal-Teke, is much longer than that of the Arabian. The reason for this may likely to be that when riding long distances, the Turkoman was expected to trot, and the Arabian was not; the Bedouin tended to ride camels over long distances, leading their war horses, saving them for raiding, which was primarily done at the gallop.
The Turkoman was taller than the desert-bred Arabian and had a sparse mane. The Arabian carries its tail high when galloping, and higher than most when walking or trotting; the Turkoman ran with its tail streaming behind. The Turkoman horse was also narrower in the body than the Arabian, or indeed than any other breed of horse. This helped it to dissipate heat quickly, but it was also a great aid in twisting and turning in the saddle, which would be invaluable to mounted archers who need to shoot in any direction, as opposed to lancers who need a firm footing from which to thrust a lance. Lance-throwing from horseback would be far easier on an Arabian horse shaped wider in the body would also help with making the sharp turns that close-fighting requires.
More Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkoman_ ... d%20horse.
Goals:
Height Range between 14.1 to 16.2 hh
Very Light to Light
5* Turkmene HWO rating
50,000+ GP
Green or Gold in Speed and Stamina
Conformation Guide:
Head:
Straight profile (medium head)
Long Face
Long Neck
Shoulder & Barrel:
Sloping Shoulders
Low Point of Shoulder
Deep Ribs
Moderate Depth of Flank
Back, Haunches, & Legs:
Flat Haunch
Long Hip
Thin Legs
Backward Stifle
Long Back
Downhill
Current Studs
Current Broodmares
Geldings and Mares
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EclipticEnd
- Posts: 1816
- Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2020 12:21 am
- Location: USA
- Visit My Farm
Re: Turkmene Development Project
Fantastic! Turkmenes are a favorite of mine on this site. I have an overflow of foals that I'd be happy to pass on for free if any meet your requirements (Pasture links: 1 2 3). Anything under 3 years is free for this project if any catch your eye. I'm keeping the adults for my own breeding projects. Good luck!
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Soleil
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2022 7:10 am
- Location: On Saturn, waiting for it to rain diamonds.
- Visit My Farm
Re: Turkmene Development Project
I'm really excited to see how it turns out! It's great to know other people like the breed. I'll be following this farm log closely. I am working on Turkmen as well, so it'll be interesting to see how your project goes. Fingers crossed it goes great 
