Horses of Rawski's

Jim on JC Hasil, Jaxson on JC Flash, Tabitha on JC Zymone

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see Connie's Team Gold Medal from 100 Mile Endurance Race

Jim and Darius at Coats Creek 2015 - Wendy Webb Photo

Akhal Teke Arab Akhal Teke

Connie Winning Team Gold in 100 Mile Endurance Race in Beaver Valley Ski area.

The Akhal-Teke as written by Cathy Leddy of the Akhal Teke Association of America, Mike Maul AERC stats and Connie Rawski all write the information below.

According to the AERC, Arabians or Arab crosses comprise about 80% of all horses competing in Endurance in North America. Other breeds, in descending frequency, include Appaloosas (2.5%) and Anglo Arabs, Tennessee Walkers, Morgans, Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds and Mustangs all at about 1.5%, all the way down to the Welsh Pony at 0.03%. Akhal-Tekes represent only 0.2% of all endurance horses, but there are only about 500 purebreds in North America. While Akhal-Tekes compete successfully in Eventing, Dressage and Western disciplines, many consider this breed to be ideal for the sport of Endurance.

A little history: The Akhal-Teke (pronounced Ah-Kul Tech-Eh) is the most distinct strain of the ancient race of horses known as the Turkoman or Turkmene. The Turkmene horse has been known by many names, including the Massagetae, the Bactrian, the Parthian, the Nisean and the Persian. Both physical and written evidence points to horses very similar to today’s Akhal-Teke living while mammoths were alive. Poets and historians have written of these horses over the millennia, praising their elegance, strength, stamina and beauty. In 101 BC the Han Chinese under Wu-Ti were so impressed by the ‘heavenly blood-sweating horses’, that they tried to buy a stallion for a horse of pure gold. When this offer was rejected, they sent an army of 80,000 into ancient Turkmenistan and came home with 30 purebred horses and less than 3000 part-breds. When Marco Polo traveled the Silk Road through what is now Turkmenistan on his way to Cathay, he wrote of ‘good Turcoman horses” in his famous “Travels”

Alexander the Great captured hundreds, if not thousands of these horses during his campaigns in Central Asia. His famous horse Bucephelos is said to have been a Turkoman.

Five successive empires, the Scythian, Parthian, Ywati, Hun and Turkmen, invaded the area, laying waste to everything before them, and taking horses as spoils of war.

The modern representative of these ancient horses takes its name from the “Akhal” oasis by the “Teke” tribe. Located in Southern Turkmenistan, away from the trade routes, bordered by the Kara Kum desert and the Kopet Dag mountains, the Akhal oasis is in an area that was not subjected to continual conquest or occupation. This isolation, along with the great pride the Teke tribesmen took in the purity of their horses has produced a breed of ancient lineage and great purity.

The history of the Akhal-Teke is tied to the wars that swept through their homeland, time and time again. Mongol invasions in the time of Genghis Khan divided the Turkmen into small clans and pushed them into the deserts, northward to the plains of Kazakstan or eastward to the shores of the Caspian Sea. They took their horses with them into the deserts, treating them as part of the family and developing a specific regime of care, including blanketing with many layers of felts, which not only protected the horse from the biting cold and stinging flies, but also was said to increase the metallic shine of the horse’s coat. It has been hypothesized that the metallic golden glow would help the horses disappear into the treeless steppes.

Besides utilizing the horses in wars, they were often useful to the nomads in their attacks on caravans coming from Buchara or Samarkand on their way to India. Because the life of these ‘robber knights’ depended on the speed and endurance of their horses, special attention was paid to their training and preparation. In his book, “Travels through Turkmenia and China: the Russian Muravjew (1820) wrote about the performance and endurance of the Akhal-Teke horse; “It is hard to imagine what these horses can endure. In eight days, they cover about 143 German miles through waterless, bare deserts, eating only small quantities of millet and sometimes going without water four days in a row”
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At one point, there were estimated to be over a 100,000 Turkmene horses in Central Asia. Wars, famines and selling horses to other countries brought their numbers down to dangerously low levels. Horse-breeders across Asia and Europe prized the Turkoman horse for cross-breeding. It is said that Byerly Turk, one of the founding stallions of the TB breed, was an Akhal-Teke, and that Darley Arabian was of the Muniqi strain of Arabians that had Turkoman blood in them.

In the 19th Century, the Turkmen were one of the last ethnic groups to be incorporated into the Russian empire

Before the Russian revolution of 1917, most Turkmen families owned at least one horse. They depended on their horses for transport, battle and companionship. The horses were tethered to the family tent, hand-fed, and blanketed with layers of felt, summer and winter. On top of that, a stiff saddle, pillow and silken cover were added. Then the horse would be decorated with necklaces and breast collars made of semi-precious stones and metals, some of which were considered to protect horse and rider from evil spirits.

While some Turkmen welcomed the Russians, others did not. The battle of Geok-Tepe broke the Turkmen tribes though, as General Grodekoff , who conducted the war against the Teke tribe said “if we can only capture the best stallions and mares from the Tekes, they would no longer be dangerous in one stroke: After Turkmenistan joined Russia, the numbers of Akhal-Tekes dwindled again, between horses killed in wars and horses being sold out of the country by people needing income. Russia gathered up many of the remaining purebred Akhal-Tekes and started 2 State Studs, and started keeping written records, as there was only oral tradition before.

The Russians conducted an experiment, crossing Akhal-Tekes and Thoroughbreds, with the idea of increasing the horse’s size and racing speed. This experiment was a failure, with the crossbreds less hardy than the purebred Akhal-Tekes. This was demonstrated most convincingly by the famous 1935 ride from Ashkabad to Moscow, which was organized by Turkmen horse breeders. Purebred Akhal-Tekes were embraced in Russia, and at the end of WWII, General Zhukov rode a white Akhal-Teke stallion named Arab in his triumphant ride into Moscow. The most famous Akhal-Teke of all is the black stallion Absent, who went to 3 consecutive Olympics in dressage, in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Absent won the gold medal in Prix de Dressage at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the Individual bronze medal in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo under Sergei Filatov... as well as Soviet Team Gold at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, ridden by Ivan Kalita.

Many have said, “nothing like the smooth gaits of the Akhal-Teke to make the miles fly by!” Jim and Connie Rawski (AERC # 2516 and 2517) who have been competing an Akhal-Teke since 2012. Connie writes:
‘There is a different looking horse on the Northeast endurance circuit, usually competing in Ontario and Michigan. It may be the reflective gold sheen in the horses’ coat that may have caught your eye. But the more you investigate, the more there is to this unique breed of horse. Yes you are seeing a horse breed called the Akhal Teke.
As I was looking for a horse for myself, I had a long list of impossible attributes that the horse must have.
The body type, that was first on my list, was the rectangular body shape. It may be placed on short legs or long legs but they all had that rectangular shape. So to start the search I had to ask the question, what breed of horse predominately has the rectangular body shape? Thoroughbreds do but a lot of them have hooves that can’t stand up to the regular pounding from the miles of different terrain that we subject our horses to. Some Arabians have the rectangular shape also, but I wanted to be sure they were comfortable to ride and definitely wouldn’t spook. I am getting older and I don’t bounce as well off the ground anymore. My joints hurt so I needed a horse that was also smooth to ride. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find that perfect breed of horse.
In the endurance world, the thought is, Arabians are the way to go if you want a horse that can compete with the top athletes of the world. Well you know what, our last campaigner was a grade horse with no Arabian influence in him and yet he did really well. I have also had a Standardbred horse too that did really well when I was younger, so it isn’t always Arabians that can place well.
OK, smooth ride, rectangular shape, athletic and comfortable. We needed to find something soon. Then I came across the Akhal Teke. The Akhal Teke is a war horse that was bred to go long distances tirelessly, bred to carry heavy loads (long backs contrary to what I have been taught) and travel days with little food or water. They are designed to cool out quickly with their narrow frame and angular body shape and they have a comfortable athletic stride. They are also smart and they aren’t going to let anybody push them around. I have also found that the Akhal Tekes have two different body types, one more narrow and the other more of a stockier build, but they all still have the comfortable gait, tenacious attitude, competitive spirit and sensitive, alert demeanor.
I did a lot of reading, Internet searching and more online reading and came to a decision. This is what I am looking for! Now the problem was to find one. Not an easy task in North America. There are around 500 of these animals in North America and they are very expensive. Prices have come down since the crash in 2009 so I did manage to pick up some youngsters from a breeder and an older mare from Bold Vantage Farm. Owner Cynthia Swenson from Alberta loaned me a mare for my husband to ride. The mare had a slight attitude problem. See these horses are smart and like I said they aren’t going to let anyone push them around if they develop some bad habits. It is an ongoing project, but her attitude and love of endurance, (especially her love for my husband) is making an adjustment in her attitude.
I am impressed as she has stayed sound, can continually do the miles and has placed well in AERC the last three years. I find that she is the stockier heavy dressage/jumper build as I call it, and our youngsters are the more “greyhound” type. Can’t wait to see how they do. (This horse is doing awesome as he has places 2 year (2018, 2019) in a row in the top ten of the Jim Jones Stallion award in AERC through out all of North America!) My husband has ridden my 6-year-old gelding a few times and he says he is going to be a really good endurance horse. I am bringing him along slowly (for his mind and my aging body) as I find they mature much later than other equines. In endurance this is a good thing because any horse will last much longer if you don't push them when they are young.
We are open to talk to anyone about the Akhal Teke breed and we will share with you our experiences of their captivating bold nature.’
We expect that we will see many more Teke and Teke crosses on the endurance trail in years to come. If you would like to own an Akhal Teke you could just purchase one of our foals or use one of our Akhal Teke mares for breeding to a stallion of your choice.

We expect that we will see many more Akhal Teke and Teke crosses on the endurance trail in years to come. If you would like to own an Akhal Teke you could just purchase one of our foals or use one of our Akhal Teke mares for breeding to a stallion of your choice. Email for more information. connie.rawski@gmail.com

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