Akhal-Teke [Completed 2024-07-18]

[brettdiesel]

This Is awesome! I've got a new batch of some on their way!! I'll let ya know when done!

[Ealesi]

This Is awesome! I've got a new batch of some on their way!! I'll let ya know when done!

if you need any stock before i rehome a lot of the ones i won't use, lmk, i'm planning on putting up a bunch up for like 500-1k

[slayqueenn]

I've got a 4th gen akhal-teke with around 17% coi (should've checked next time ) but it's on my side so i have no idea if it counts or not, here is is though.
4th gen akhal teke


big thanks to ealesi, ravenmire & pearl II for the stock

[Raikit II]

Just letting everyone know, I'm cracking the seal and breaking some of my AC Turk boys out of the freezer for use with this project. I have a lot of good-quality, low-COI boys ready to roll. Feel free to look around and see if anyone interests you.

Some highlights:

[Pearl II]

I wanted to share a few highlights from my efforts so far.

The first is this filly. I personally think she is drop-dead gorgeous. Double cream on brown, with metallic. *chef's kiss*

Cons: She's on the short side for a Teke, her face is a bit too short and jowl a bit too thick, ribs and flank are a bit shallow, hips too flat, legs a bit too thick, and a bit too downhill. Tail is too high set. (Tekes aren't supposed to have the flag tail of the Arab.)

Pros: Color. Face is nicely slender, good neck length, lovely shoulders, good back length.



Next is this first-generation bay colt, who I'm planning to use to work on a movement line. He also got the metallic gene.

Cons: Also on the short side. Face and neck are short, jowl is thick. His ribs are a bit shallow and his flank has no depth to speak of.

Pros: Great length in his back and nicely even from front to back, though still a tad downhill. He's nicely well-rounded.



Third is the first colt's brother. He has an impressive 40,291 HGP with a green in speed. I plan to use him for a speed line.

Cons: Short face, thick jowl. Point of shoulder is a bit high, shoulder a bit too upright, ribs too shallow. Needs to be more downhill for speed, though that would go against breed standard.

Pros: Good neck length, face is nicely thin. Depth of flank is great for speed, though may need adjusting if I want stamina as well. Nice back length.



Finally, a gen 3 stallion. He surprised me by popping up with a gold in speed, and the rest of his breeder's report isn't bad, either!

Cons: Short face, thick jowl. Super high point of shoulder. Back a little too short. Too downhill for breed standard, but it helps for speed.

Pros: Good height. Thin face, long neck. Shoulder is decently sloped despite the high point. Deeper ribs and flank than most of my stock.



I swear not all of my horses are bays.

[GrayGray]

Akhal-Teke

I'm in business! I will add the resulting horses to my storage account, I will immediately send a link to the entire barn.

[Silverine]

Please do not quote this whole post.

What do you say, everyone? Should we try to get a little orgainzed? I've been working on these like a mad-woman for the past 48 hours, so I'm going to try and set a few things up. Please, if you disagree on any of the points, let me know. I'm also going to tag some people that I know are working on this. If you know anyone else that would be interested, feel free to tag them. If you would like to included as a resource, just let me know

This first post will focus on the breed standard for conformation. The next will focus on color and available resources.

Akhal-Teke Breeding Project

The Breed Standard
Taken from ATAA's Breed Standard. The Akhal-Teke is the cheetah of the horse world - delicate and refined, yet powerful and athletic. The Akhal-Teke should be long and thin in basically all areas - head, neck, body, legs. They are of medium size (14.3h - 16h) with long, level backs, well-sloped shoulders, and deep chests. They can be any base color, as well as gray, but the only dilution allowed is cream (dun and pearl do not exist in the breed). A metallic coat is highly desirable. These are horses are generally very sensitive.

The Breed Standard - HWO Version
The following is how I have translated the above breed standard onto our HWO horses, and is what I breed for in my stock. The translation is, of course, up to interpretation. If you differ on any point, please feel free to let me know!

The images below are screenshots of the different conformation areas. A green section is ideal, yellow is acceptable, red is unacceptable. At the moment, no horses are being rejected for conformation in the red area, but breeders that are attempting to be as close-to-life as possible should aim for as close to the green areas as they can get.

Head and Neck

Face Profile
The head should flattish to a bit dishy. The face is distinct from that of the Arab - too much dish is not desirable. Roman noses are unacceptable.

Face Length
Akhal-Tekes are known for their long faces, so their faces on HWO should also be on the long end. This may prove difficult as AC Arabs have *tiny* faces, and they love to throw that around. Turks do have longer faces, but it seems that short is almost always preferred in the crosses. For the moment, I would consider stock with faces that aren't in the red area to be extremely valuable to the gene pool.

Jowl
Akhal-Tekes should have very thin jowls. I personally prefer as thin as they can go. It is usually not too difficult to get stock in the ideal range. Turks can cause the jowl to be a bit thicker, but usually the Arab has the most influence in this area as well and keeps things thinner.

Neck Length
The neck should be long. Necks at the limits of their length, or of middling length, are not entirely desirable but are acceptable. Necks that are overly short are unacceptable.

Shoulder & Barrel

Withers/Shoulder Angle
The withers should be well-sloped and free-moving. Upright shoulders are unacceptable.

Point of Shoulder
The point of the shoulder should be low in order to help the overall slope. However, a point that is too low with negatively affect how the horse's neck emerges from the shoulder, and is to be avoided. A point that is too high will restrict the movement of the shoulder and is also to be avoided.

Rib Cage
These are horses bred for endurance. As such, they need deep rib cages. This area may also be difficult for breeders. The Arab and Turk have decent depth, but the genetics still seem to favor a shallow rib cage. Horses with deeper ribs are quite valuable for breeding.

Depth of Flank
This is completely dependent on your preferences as a breeder. If you are breeding for speed, you will want the thinner side. If you are breeding for stamina, you will want the thicker side. If you are breeding for endurance, you will probably want somewhere in the middle. Somewhere in the middle is probably ideal, but it really doesn't matter. (Feel free to chime in if you have a differing opinion!)

Back, Haunches, & Legs

Hip Angle
The hips should be of middling slope. Being too flat negatively affects strength, and being too steeply sloped is bad for movement. The Akhal-Teke strives for balance in this area.

Hip Length
The longer the better!

Leg Thickness
Thinner is better, but a little thickness doesn't hurt.

Stifle Placement
Another area where it's up to your preference as a breeder. If you want a more agile horse, go for a forward placement. If you want better movement, go for a more backward placement.

Back Length
Akhal-Tekes have long backs, but the ideal is just a bit shorter than full-length. Short backs are unacceptable.

Croup Height
The ideal Akhal-Teke should have a level back. There can be a little variation of slightly uphill or slightly downhill to accommodate breeders aiming for specific disciplines, but the extremes on either end are a major fault.


Breeder Tags
I have added you here because you have shown an interest in breeding Tekes for this project. Let me know if you would like to removed.

Ping!

Ping!

Ping!

Ping!

Ping!

Ping!

[Silverine]

Akhal-Teke Breeding Project

The Breed Standard - Color
Bases
Akhal-Tekes can be any base color: red (chestnut), bay, brown, or black. Red and bay bases are much more common than brown or black, though brown and black do exist.

Modifiers
Gray: Though not overly common, Akhal-Tekes can be gray. These horses are born a dark color and fade with age.

Cream: The cream dilution is extremely common in the Akhal-Teke. Palomino, Buckskin, Cremello, and Perlino are all very commonly seen. While these dilutes are quite common, undiluted horses are also extremely important to the breed as a whole.

Metallic: The gene that the Akhal-Teke is most famous for. Most horses have a bright metallic sheen to their coat. This gene is highly desirable.

Flaxen/Plume/Sooty: These are all permitted, though sooty is discouraged on double-dilute horses.

Dun: Dun does not exist in the Akhal-Teke. Breeders are encouraged to avoid it.*

Pearl: Pearl does not exist in the Akhal-Teke. Breeders are encourage to avoid it. (Avoiding it should not be a problem if you use only AC stock.)

*If you are using current high HGP Arabians as your initial stock, avoiding dun will not be possible. Every single high HGP Arabian available for stud or sale has dun, and I have never known one to have a non-dun foal, even from a non-dun mare. They appear to be homozygous. Also, AC Turks do carry dun, so if you are avoiding dun you should be careful to only adopt AC Turks that do not have dun.


Resources
If you would like to be added as a resource, please let me know!

Me (Silverine/Pearl II)

• Second-generation 0% COI pairs for creating third generation and earning the event trophy.
• AC stock for creating your own Tekes from scratch.
• Blood-swapping to keep COI low. (Any stock I swap will be 0% COI.)
• Second- and later-generation, 0% COI studs.
• High HGP, low COI Turkmene studs.
• Color and DNA verification (if you don't what colorf your Arab, Turk, or Teke is and/or would like to know their possible genetic makeup).

My Ping-box

Code: Select all

[quote="Silverine"][quote="Pearl II"]Ping![/quote][/quote]

Ealesi

• Second-generation 0% COI stock available
• Can assist with choosing breeding pairs and keeping lineage straight for anyone trying for low-COI

Ealesi's Ping-box

Code: Select all

[quote="Ealesi"]Ping![/quote]

[Silverine]

If you need me, use this to ping me! (Keep the Pearl II quote on the bottom, I'm probably over there. )

Ping

[Ealesi]

Pearl: Pearl does not exist in the Akhal-Teke. Breeders are encourage to avoid it. (Avoiding it should not be a problem if you use only AC stock.)

This is the onlypart i'd question.

Those with cream, palomino or bay-cream dilute coats usually show a metallic shade which gives them the appearance of having golden body hair. In white horses, grey liarts, perlinas… the same thing happens, but the sensation is of silver hair. This curious effect is due to the fact that the proteins in the coat emit these metallic iridescence when light falls on them. Although dark-coloured horses do not have the same effect, they do have a high glossy coat. This means that the most valued and desired coats are the albinos and cremellas, which have silvery and pearly metallic reflections. And, of course, the palominos with that incredible golden effect given to them by the ‘cream gene’, which is why these animals are known as “the gold-plated horse”.

How the horses IRL coat presents could be seen as Pearl in game

Also happy to be a resource!