Akhal-Teke Foundation

10/14/2026

Featuring Akhal-Teke colts Kieran and Sami as they continue trust-building training with Hope Horsemanship. Go slow to fast!

10/14/2026

The days are getting shorter! Akhal-Teke girls after dinner at dusk.

Akhal-Teke Center

10/11/2026

A peaceful moment in the big barn run in, with Akhal-Teke mares, foals, and fillies… Grace and Abby, Alex, Zenus, and Zoe, Kizy, Ava, and Ally. ❤️

On a recent morning, sunnier than today. 😉

10/10/2026

Wow. Thank you so much, Friends & Followers!! 💙

What a milestone for this community! With real horses, real science, and real people.

10/09/2026

Inbreeding research…

Recent genomic research is providing new insight into the genetic factors that influence long-term health, population sustainability, and responsible breeding in Baroque horse breeds.

A study of 1,160 horses from 15 Baroque populations used more than 34,000 genetic markers to assess genetic diversity, genomic inbreeding, effective population size, population structure, historical admixture, and recent gene flow.

The study identified two broad historical bottlenecks in genetic diversity. The first occurred approximately 19 to 24 generations ago, corresponding roughly to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

This pattern was particularly evident in several Lipizzan populations, Friesians, Lusitanos, and Cartujanos.

The second occurred approximately 8 to 13 generations ago, corresponding broadly to the period from the late nineteenth century through the aftermath of the World Wars.

This later decline affected Kladrubys and several Iberian and South American populations.

The findings showed genomic inbreeding in every population, but the levels varied considerably.

Criollo and Peruvian Paso horses had the lowest genomic inbreeding estimates and relatively high measures of genetic diversity.

Lusitanos and the broader Pura Raza Española population also showed comparatively favourable results.

By contrast, the Friesian sample had the lowest heterozygosity and haplotype richness, together with the highest genomic inbreeding in the study.

The Carthusian strain of the Pura Raza Española also showed a higher level of genomic inbreeding than the broader PRE population.

These findings do not mean that every Friesian or Carthusian horse will experience health problems, but they do indicate a greater population-level risk associated with reduced genetic variation and recent common ancestry.

For individual horses, a favourable genetic profile would generally include lower individual genomic inbreeding, fewer long runs of homozygosity, limited relatedness to a proposed mate, and negative results for known inherited conditions.

Genetics however, also interact with nutrition, management, infection, injury, conformation, workload, and environmental conditions.

Vostra-Vydrova et al. (2026), “Genomic diversity and historical legacy of Baroque horses: a living cultural heritage.” Animal, 20(8), 101897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2026.101897

10/09/2026

Tuesday afternoon at the Akhal-Teke Center in , with Ally, Ava, and Kaelie across the front, and Kurinka, Dory, and Abby across the back. 💕

10/08/2026

Akhal-Teke mare Tia is feeling good and ready for action this afternoon. 😆

Tia is Adlumia Tiamat (Anduma x Ahmiyetli, 2022).

10/08/2026

🐴☺️

Quiet moment in the big barn for Akhal-Tekes after breakfast, with Alex, Grace and Abby, Zenus, Zoe, and Kizy. ❤️

10/08/2026

“Andi’s Big Adventure” with Hope Horsemanship at the Akhal-Teke Center. 💕

Okay, maybe not such a giant adventure, out of the pasture to the round pen and back. 😊

Still, it’s so valuable to to do it well, to start out right. Our point here is to build from solid basics, so even a bold young horse like Andi gets a chance to learn to leave her herd, do some work, and return to her herd, while regulating herself calmly enough for focus and connection along the way.

We don’t want to take having a good foundation for granted.