The Turkoman horse, or Turkmene, is an Oriental horse breed from the steppes of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. It influenced many modern horse breeds, including the

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse. Modern descendants include the

Akhal-Teke The Akhal-Teke ( or ; from Turkmen language, Turkmen ''Ahalteke'', ) is a Turkmen horse breed. They have a reputation for speed and endurance, intelligence, thin manes and a distinctive metallic sheen. The shiny coat of the breed led to their ...

, the Iomud, the Goklan and Nokhorli. The Turkmen is only bred in north-east

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Turkmen influence on European horse breeds

The Turkoman horse has influenced the English

, most probably via the Byerley Turk. Turkomans were brought to England by soldiers stationed in various parts of the East. The best known was a stallion named Merv, who was brought to England by Baker Pasha in the 19th century. A very high stud fee was charged for Merv's services, £85, which was considered excessive for any stallion at that time. Unfortunately, other Englishmen did not esteem Merv the way Baker Pacha did. Sidney quotes a correspondent who had seen Merv and stated: "He looked to me about 16 hands high, fine shoulders, good head and neck, fine skin, good wearing legs, bad feet and leggy. I thought him unsuited to breed hunters ... he looked to me about an 11

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

horse, and did not like going through dirt." In this context, "11 stone" referenced rider weight, thus such a horse would be one expected to be able to carry about . Merv covered no mares in England, and in 1877, he was sold to the Earl of Claremont's stud in Ireland. Turkoman horses, aside from being occasional gifts of state, were often brought into Western Europe by various individuals, mostly connected with the military in some way. Some of these horses have profoundly impacted various European warmblood breeds.

Gervase Markham Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work ''The English Huswife, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woma ...

, Master of Horse to

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 unti ...

, preferred the English

first among all breeds of horses; the Neapolitan second, and the steppe-bred Turk third. He had seen Turks racing on English race courses circa 1566–1625. He also noted that the Turks he had seen were: "Naturally in they desire to amble, and, which is most strange, their trot is full of pride and gracefulness."

Turkmen influence on European horse breeds

References

Further reading