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State College is a university town in the state of Pennsylvania, USA. The favorite place for recreation for its residents of all ages is the local Tudek Park. On its territory (about 400 thousand square meters) there are zones for active and passive pastime: games and sports, a dog park and a butterfly garden, etc. And recently, two Akhal-Teke horses and a foal settled here - representatives of one of the rarest and most ancient horse breeds in the world. They found their home in an idyllic pasture in the park (where you can rent a plot of land) with a building suitable for a stall.

This is how Jean Sanders, a professor of visual arts at the University of Pennsylvania, realized her childhood dream about horses, who decided that city residents would also be interested in watching the Akhal-Teke horses and was not mistaken: the horses attracted a lot of attention from the "State College people". The horses were also accompanied by Jean's dogs.

This allows locals to see an amazing breed of horse that few people have the opportunity to see here, Sanders said. In an interview with the local newspaper, she said that the Akhal-Teke, bred in Turkmenistan several thousand years ago, numbers only about 500 individuals in the United States.

Known for its stunning appearance and athleticism, the breed has a rich history full of adventures, dangers and examples of incredible resilience, Jean noted, saying that in their homeland, Akhal-Teke horses have always been an integral part of the life of the people who created a unique school of equestrianism.

The publication cited information from the Akhal-Teke Association of America, although it is common knowledge that many historical figures, including Chinese emperors, Alexander the Great, Russian generals, etc., owned and rode horses of this breed. In the 20th century, interest in the breed increased again, and its breeding methods were revived.

In 1979, Virginia breeder Phil Case and his wife Margot, an avid horse lover, imported the first Akhal-Teke horses to the United States. The couple founded a stud farm and eventually created the Akhal-Teke Association of America. Thus began the American acquaintance with this unique breed.

Sanders acquired her first Akhal-Teke in 2009. “Sufi was a broodmare,” she said. “She had two foals before I got her. One is a stud in Australia, and the other is a mare in North Carolina.”

In 2021, Sanders acquired a second Akhal-Teke, Chapuis, a young filly from Seattle. “She came across the country in a huge stall. This big truck pulled up, and this little horse stepped out,” Sanders recalled of the touching moment.

Sanders then found a mate for Chapuis, a stallion from Denmark. And Chapuis gave birth this spring. Mares typically foal under the cover of darkness, between sunset and sunrise. Sanders had hoped to witness the birth and stayed up all night waiting for the event in the stall, but Chapuis and her baby had other plans.

The next day at work, Sanders got a phone call. People passing by had seen the mare lying in the meadow giving birth. They didn't know Sanders or how to contact her, so they started asking around, and one person knew who to call. "And I got there before the cord was cut and the foal was standing up," Jean says.

She named the newest member of her little herd Nanushka. Although Sanders missed the birth, people passing by took photos and videos, so she has a record of Nanushka's arrival. And, of course, the new golden-chestnut mare attracts a lot of attention from park visitors.

“People are always standing by the fence taking pictures of her,” Sanders says. “And Chapuis is a fantastic mother. Plus, she had Sufi as a midwife when Nanushka was born. So Nanushka has two mothers!”

“The little filly enjoys the attention of her admirers. She runs, stretching and bending her elegantly long legs, her coat showing characteristics only seen in this breed,” writes the local publication, noting that the appearance of Akhal-Teke horses differs from most other breeds in a number of ways.

“They have long backs, long necks and long legs, their movements are smooth and their gait is elastic,” comments Sanders. “Some of them look as if they are made of gold. The ‘metallic’ shine of their coat makes the breed exceptional. They have very fine skin and hair. And the transparent coating around each hair reflects the light. This is especially noticeable in light-colored horses.”

“The coats of Chapuis and Sufi shimmer with copper, bronze, and onyx in the late afternoon light as they graze on clover and grass. That brilliance, combined with their unusual conformation, makes these horses’ uniqueness obvious,” this is how journalist Annie Walker describes the Akhal-Teke at State College Park.

“That long back may not be desirable in other breeds,” Sanders says. “But in Akhal-Teke horses, it allows them to excel in disciplines like dressage and endurance.”

A kind of equestrian ballet, dressage requires horses and their riders to perform a series of choreographed steps to music. Dressage horses must be agile, supple, balanced, and strong. The Akhal-Teke’s superb characteristics make it well suited to such feats. In this part of the material, the author cited the example of a famous Akhal-Teke horse named Absinthe, who competed in dressage competitions in four Olympic Games from 1960 to 1968, winning gold, silver and bronze medals.

Sanders says she didn't grow up with horses. She was born in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Being a horse-mad child, she collected horse figurines and horse art and took riding lessons, but she never dreamed of owning one.

Later, as a professor of visual arts at the University of Pennsylvania, she met a graduate student who owned a horse...

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Photo: by David Silber