Tag: Horses

Horsin’ Around

One of our oldest friends, workers and pets, horses have been with mankind for thousands of years. Whether pulling our wagons or getting us from Point A to B, the horse is as much a part of the human fabric as apple pie. Today, though their necessity has been diminished with time, those statuesque creatures remain a pillar of American tradition. But what don’t we know about Horses? Below are some little-known facts about our four-legged friends that are sure to flip your lid.

Laughter: Though often mistaken for a hilarious attempt at a human smile, horses have a nasal technique called a flehmen response. By tilting their head and curling their lip, horses can direct the flow of air into their nasal passages and to a special set of olfactory glands. The flehmen Amanda Starbuckresponse is more common in males than females, as it’s the primary way a male horse can determine if the female is in heat. Remember, the next time you see a horse smiling at you, they’re just giving you a whiff.

Eyes: Some say that horses have soulful eyes, and they wouldn’t be wrong. Staring into those nearly two-inch-wide eyes (largest of any land mammal), some say they find kinship. Over nine times the size of a human’s eye, legend states that horses can see objects “larger” than a human sees them. An explanation for why the smallest objects scare such a large creature. This, of course, is not true. Science tells us that a horse’s eye is rather advanced, though. With three eyelids designed to clean the eye and keep it free from dirt, their benefits don’t stop there. Without the ability to focus like a human eye, a horse’s is designed like bifocal lenses, where one portion can see at a distance and the other is better suited for  closer objects.

Breeds: There are many different species of Horse, each with their own traits. With the advent of genetic science and cloning, crossbred horses are becoming a regular occurrence. Whether part zebra, donkey, or pony, these combinations create hilariously adorable mishmashes of each component with adorably apt names like “Zonky” or “Hebra.” However, on the other end of the spectrum runs what some consider to be the purest of all horse breeds. The Arabian horse, bred in the desert for thousands of years by horse nomads, is thought by many to be not only the most beautiful, but powerful. Years of proper breeding may have left the Arabian horse apart from its equine brothers, evidenced by their skeletal structure being almost completely different, they are amazingly strong. Able to run 100 miles without rest or water, the Arabian horse is truly a wonder.

An Advocate of Rare Horse Breed

A long-time protector and expert of the Turkmenistan’s quintessential Akhal Teke horses, historian, breeder of Akhal Teke horses, and former General Director of “Turkmen Atlary” was bestowed the illustrious honor of being made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a fellow of the Long Riders’ Guild.

Geldy Kyarizov is joining an nonpareil group of equestrian explorers that have been honored by both organizations, who’ve recognized his dedication towards protecting, preserving and promoting the rare horse breed.

Turkmen-Long-Rider-Geldy-Kyarizov-in-historical-costume

The Akhal Teke bloodline dates back to days of antiquity, but had almost been wiped out during the reign of the Soviet Union. In the late 1980s, Geldy rode 4,300 kilometers from Ashgabat to Moscow to petition Soviet Union government officials to intercede on behalf of the rare breed.

The petition was a success, thus began Geldy’s travels across a wide area of land in the Soviet Union, searching for prized specimens of the Akhal Teke blood line. To preserve the majestic creatures’ posterity, he began a breeding program which proved very successful in marking the breed’s resurgence. One success, Maksat, a stallion with a pedigree going back thousands of years, was bestowed upon the then British Prime Minister John Major as a gift from the Turkmen nation.

 

Yanardag, arguably the most successful horse in Geldy’s program, was considered so beautiful, so perfect, that Turkmenistan’s president placed the stallions image on a national stamp, ordered a statue to be erected in the horses’ honor, and named Yanardag the country’s national symbol.

Due to the program’s success, Geldy was able to secure government funding in order to establish a large equestrian complex in Turkmenistan’s capital, which subsequently introduced the nation’s first veterinary laboratory able to perform DNA testing that was necessary to set up a new stud book for the Akhal Teke.

In honor of Turkmenistan’s 10th anniversary of independence, he organized over one-thousand Akhal Tekes to march through the hippodrome in Ashgabat, an event known as the “Parade of Horses.”

A world-renowned and recognized expert of the breed, his educational conferences, equestrian journey’s, academic investigations, and DNA research have been invaluable to promoting and protecting the nation’s beloved breed.