These magnificent horses originated in the USSR. The usual height is between 14.3 and 15.2hh - the colour is one of the exceptional parts of this breed. The general colours are a pale honey gold with black points, bay, chestnut, gray and black. Most coats have this metallic bloom. Very exceptional and beautiful.
These horses have enormous stamina and the ability to withstand great extremes of temperature. The Akhal-Teke was used as a charger, no weak specimen was allowed to survive, only the strongest were used for breeding and in war.
The Akhal-Teke is fast, and has great powers of endurance. It has long been used for racing and attempts were made in the beginning of the 20th century to make it even faster by crossing them with Thoroughbreds. The Akhal-Teke proved to be very fast over long distances but it remained smaller than the Thoroughbred and lost its distinctive features. The Akhal-Teke's lack of size has restricted its value as a competition horse, however, there were exceptions. A stallion named Absent, who won the individual gold medal at the 1950 Olympic Games. There have been good jumpers and in 1935, a group of Akhal-Tekes performed an outstanding endurance test by travelling 2,500 miles (4000 km) to Moscow. This epic journey included 3 days spent crossing a desert without water.
The Akhal-Teke is an elegant, narrow, light framed horse. The head is intelligent and beautiful, with a face that is usually straight but can be slightly Roman or concave below the forehead. The eyes are large and expressive and the ears long. The neck is straight, long and narrow. The withers are high and the shoulder has good shape. The body tends to be shallow, the back is long. Often the back and loins lack strength and muscle, the croup is straight to slightly sloping and the tail is set low. The thighs are fine and strong, the forearm is long, the cannons short and the hindleg is often sickle-shaped. The feet are small and strong - there is little hair in the main and tail.