In the June 7 1958 issue of Horse & Hound, the magazine proved that its interest in all matters equestrian was not simply limited to the confines of Great Britain. The striking cover photograph featured a herd of Akhal Tekin horses being driven across the Turkmen region of southern Russia, modern day Turkmenistan.
Within the magazine, ‘Observer’ discussed the nature of the breed, reminding readers that when the Soviet leaders Bulganin and Kruschev had visited England in 1956, they had gifted a pony of the breed to the Duke of Edinburgh.
Observer noted that, “Official Russian sources describe them as being ‘light and lean in body’, speedy, extremely high-spirited and very light and dainty in their movements.”
You can read more about the breed, including detail on their origins, behaviour and upkeep, here.
