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A description of the Iomud Horse
Because so little attention has been paid to the Iomud breed -- except in the context of being lumped together with the Akahl-Teke as another kind of horse raised in Turkmenistan -- there is a tendency in some quarters to consider the Iomud a "poor relation" of the Akhal-Teke in terms of power and performance. This is quite erroneous. The Iomud is perhaps not as fast as the Akhal-Teke, but every bit as enduring. Iomuds took part in the Ashkabad to Moscow ride in 1935, and in the 1945 endurance race, the two Iomuds entered, Parakhat and Karakum were second and third behind one of the Akhal Tekes. Judith Cambell, who rode a Yamout in the 1970s, compared her mount to the Tekke as "the tougher of the two."
This should not be unexpected. Genetically, the Tekke, Yamout and Goklan are all strains of the same horse, as shown by preliminary work done at the University of Kentucky by Dr. Gus Cothran. The Akhal-Teke and Iomud breeds are distinguished from their Turkmen relatives by dint of the addition of English Thoroughbred blood early in the 20th century to both breeds, and Kazakh to the Iomud in the mid-20th century.
The Iomud is a slightly shorter, stockier horse than the Akhal-Teke. The extreme angularity is not evident, and the back is shorter, reflecting the breed's heritage of being a hill-country horse. It also, typically, has a shorter neck than the Akhal-Teke, again reflecting its need to shift its weight with speed and stability over uneven terrain. It comes in most of the colorations of the Turkmen Horse but is predominantly chestnut, golden chestnut, bay or grey.
The Development of the Iomud Breed
The history of the Iomud as a Russian Breed is a curious one.
Yamout Turkomans were almost certainly used in the creation of the Akhal-Teke breed. Horses of clear Yamout type occur regularly in the breed even today, and many older photos of Akhal-Teke line stallions show this definite type as well.
Yamouts were perhaps never as numerous in Turkmenistan as elsewhere, as the Yamout Turkmen lived in the main in lands never occupied by the Russians/Soviets. When Makhtum-Kala became a State Studfarm in the early 1900s, Yamout/Iomud horses were brought there to be bred.
In 192_ Josef Stalin made it illegal for horses to be privately owned. Many Turkmen left Turkmenistan and fled with families and horses to Iran; most remaining in Turkmenistan simply let their horses loose on the steppe. This was not terribly hard on the mares, as Turkmen mares had always lived more or less feral lives in herds or taboons on the steppe.
The mares gathered into groups, and may have met up with other taboons of mares owned by Yamout Turkmens in Iran. Occasionally, as they do to this day, they strayed over the border into Turkmenistan.
In 1926 a herd of such mares was captured by Turkmenia, and taken to a collective farm for breeding. Akhal-Teke and Kazakh stallions were used, and from this nucleus the Iomud breed was formed.
The Iomud was never afforded the attention that the Akhal-Teke was given, and due to this its numbers declined sharply, until in the early 1980s, only an estimated 140 Iomud mares were left in the Soviet Union. In 1983, a new stud for this breed was set up in Tashauz, Turkmenistan, specifically to breed Iomuds. In six years, the number of Iomud horses had risen to 946 (according to the FAO's Genetic Resources of the Soviet Union).
However, there is reason to question these numbers. Assuming that all 140 mares were 100% fertile and all produced a foal every year and none of the mares died, and all the foals survived, and all the fillies produced foals of their own at 4 years of age, all of whom, again, survive, the population could grow to 1,400 horses in six years. However, this is an extremely unreasonable assumption. If the mares are of average fertility (80%), and an average number of foals born survive (being generous, considering the conditions, 90%), then 648 mares, foals and grandfoals are the best increase that can be expected. And as at this time even the Akhal-Teke, with all the attention being devoted to it, was still being raised for meat, it is not unreasonable to believe that this was also the case with the Iomud--making even the 648 number high.
Where did the other horses come from? Some Turkmen living in Iran allege that they are strays who wandered across the border into Turkmenistan and were never returned, as, again, happens to this day. Unfortunately, there is probably no way to discover, at this point, what is really going on.
Because so little attention has been paid to the Iomud breed -- except in the context of being lumped together with the Akahl-Teke as another kind of horse raised in Turkmenistan -- there is a tendency in some quarters to consider the Iomud a "poor relation" of the Akhal-Teke in terms of power and performance. This is quite erroneous. The Iomud is perhaps not as fast as the Akhal-Teke, but every bit as enduring. Iomuds took part in the Ashkabad to Moscow ride in 1935, and in the 1945 endurance race, the two Iomuds entered, Parakhat and Karakum were second and third behind one of the Akhal Tekes. Judith Cambell, who rode a Yamout in the 1970s, compared her mount to the Tekke as "the tougher of the two."
This should not be unexpected. Genetically, the Tekke, Yamout and Goklan are all strains of the same horse, as shown by preliminary work done at the University of Kentucky by Dr. Gus Cothran. The Akhal-Teke and Iomud breeds are distinguished from their Turkmen relatives by dint of the addition of English Thoroughbred blood early in the 20th century to both breeds, and Kazakh to the Iomud in the mid-20th century.
The Iomud is a slightly shorter, stockier horse than the Akhal-Teke. The extreme angularity is not evident, and the back is shorter, reflecting the breed's heritage of being a hill-country horse. It also, typically, has a shorter neck than the Akhal-Teke, again reflecting its need to shift its weight with speed and stability over uneven terrain. It comes in most of the colorations of the Turkmen Horse but is predominantly chestnut, golden chestnut, bay or grey.
The Development of the Iomud Breed
The history of the Iomud as a Russian Breed is a curious one.
Yamout Turkomans were almost certainly used in the creation of the Akhal-Teke breed. Horses of clear Yamout type occur regularly in the breed even today, and many older photos of Akhal-Teke line stallions show this definite type as well.
Yamouts were perhaps never as numerous in Turkmenistan as elsewhere, as the Yamout Turkmen lived in the main in lands never occupied by the Russians/Soviets. When Makhtum-Kala became a State Studfarm in the early 1900s, Yamout/Iomud horses were brought there to be bred.
In 192_ Josef Stalin made it illegal for horses to be privately owned. Many Turkmen left Turkmenistan and fled with families and horses to Iran; most remaining in Turkmenistan simply let their horses loose on the steppe. This was not terribly hard on the mares, as Turkmen mares had always lived more or less feral lives in herds or taboons on the steppe.
The mares gathered into groups, and may have met up with other taboons of mares owned by Yamout Turkmens in Iran. Occasionally, as they do to this day, they strayed over the border into Turkmenistan.
In 1926 a herd of such mares was captured by Turkmenia, and taken to a collective farm for breeding. Akhal-Teke and Kazakh stallions were used, and from this nucleus the Iomud breed was formed.
The Iomud was never afforded the attention that the Akhal-Teke was given, and due to this its numbers declined sharply, until in the early 1980s, only an estimated 140 Iomud mares were left in the Soviet Union. In 1983, a new stud for this breed was set up in Tashauz, Turkmenistan, specifically to breed Iomuds. In six years, the number of Iomud horses had risen to 946 (according to the FAO's Genetic Resources of the Soviet Union).
However, there is reason to question these numbers. Assuming that all 140 mares were 100% fertile and all produced a foal every year and none of the mares died, and all the foals survived, and all the fillies produced foals of their own at 4 years of age, all of whom, again, survive, the population could grow to 1,400 horses in six years. However, this is an extremely unreasonable assumption. If the mares are of average fertility (80%), and an average number of foals born survive (being generous, considering the conditions, 90%), then 648 mares, foals and grandfoals are the best increase that can be expected. And as at this time even the Akhal-Teke, with all the attention being devoted to it, was still being raised for meat, it is not unreasonable to believe that this was also the case with the Iomud--making even the 648 number high.
Where did the other horses come from? Some Turkmen living in Iran allege that they are strays who wandered across the border into Turkmenistan and were never returned, as, again, happens to this day. Unfortunately, there is probably no way to discover, at this point, what is really going on.
