Mualim and Bracken
| Mualim and Bracken The story of an Akhal-Teke stallion and a Dartmoor Hill Pony mare sent in by one of our members Kathryn Hulland from the Dartmoor Pony Training Centre. The Akhal-Teke is an ancient Central Asian breed, a product of three thousand years of careful selective breeding for speed and stamina. There are about five thousand of them in the world, only about forty in this country. They are tall, fine, elegant, fast horses, renowned for the variety of coat colours, especially the golden dun, and for their legendary ability to travel over vast distances with little food and water. Raised individually, rather than in herds, by the tribesmen of Turkmenistan, the Akhal-Teke are very intelligent and eager to interact with humans but are also sensitive and can be highly strung. |  |
The Akhal-Teke is an ancient Central Asian breed, a product of three thousand years of careful selective breeding for speed and stamina. There are about five thousand of them in the world, only about forty in this country. They are tall, fine, elegant, fast horses, renowned for the variety of coat colours, especially the golden dun, and for their legendary ability to travel over vast distances with little food and water. Raised individually, rather than in herds, by the tribesmen of Turkmenistan, the Akhal-Teke are very intelligent and eager to interact with humans but are also sensitive and can be highly strung.
I got hooked on the breed now almost ten years ago. We bought our stallion as a yearling in Russia in 2003. He has superb bloodlines and excellent conformation, and we wanted to keep him entire and eventually breed from him. Even as a two-year-old, he possessed great confidence, hacked out on his own and would go past anything: tractors, lorries, cattle, deer and even pigs. Nothing scared him. But there was one problem: kept on a remote farm on the edge of Dartmoor, with only one 28-year-old old cob for company (not in the same field!), he was not used to being around other horses and would scream and prance, and generally announce his arrival every time we went past other horses. Naturally, this did not endear him to our neighbours and I soon found that nobody wanted to ride out with me. It all culminated with Devon County show where Mualim found the Shire Demonstration at the Lady Clinton Ring so exciting, that we had to be escorted out of the grounds via the Orange Gate!
After Devon County, I felt quite dejected and was seriously considering getting him gelded, unless something could be done about his social skills. It was then that we met Bracken, a Dartmoor Hill pony mare. Her owner, Sara, drives the postal van around our area and she had seen me out riding on my own many times. Sara said to me "I don't mind riding out with you, Bracken is quite laid back". I jumped at the offer - by then, I was starting to loose my confidence, kept thinking he might do something unexpected if we met another horse and I wouldn't be able to cope. The first few times out with Bracken he was being his usual exuberant self but Sara and Bracken just didn't pay any attention to his antics. Bracken is 12,2hh and 8 years old, and Sara has owned her from when she was a three-months-old weanling; Bracken is ridden in a head collar and barefoot, she can be quite lively and loves a good gallop, and is an excellent jumper too, but in those early days, she had to put up with a steady walk around country lanes behind a 16hh+ vanilla-coloured young stallion with piercing blue eyes. I knew we were making progress when, after a few hacks together, Mualim agreed to walk behind Bracken and soon after that, they were going neck-in-neck. Another month, and he stopped trying to greet Bracken with a wild scream when we met up at our usual place by the village pub. The real break through came when Sara let Bracken canter ahead of Mualim across an open field and he kept a respectable distance. This was a big achievement and a reward for Bracken for all her angelic patience over many months - finally she was allowed to go in front at her own pace. Although only 12,2hh, she has some speed, and plenty of enthusiasm! After that Sara and I decided to tackle the Mare&Foal Sanctuary Pleasure Ride on Haldon Hill. Admittedly, Mualim did not behave perfectly in the car park, and we even had to move our trailer to the far end, as we were starting to upset other horses, but as soon as he saw Sara and Bracken, he let out a big sigh, as if saying: "Ah, now I know why I am here". We let Bracken canter ahead and Mualim followed her familiar tail all the way around the eight-mile course which we completed in 45 minutes. Thank you, all the riders, who kindly let us overtake!
This year we will have an Akhal-Teke breed stand again at Devon County Show, in the same place as last year - opposite Lady Clinton Ring, next to the Dartmoor Ponies. Mualim may not be quite ready for the Devon County this year but we will have other Akhal-Teke at the show, and with Bracken's help, we are hoping to get Mualim there eventually too!
Added on: 09/04/08.
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