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Our fourth day in Turkmenistan brought many adventures of the kind we had been hoping for all along! For the first time since our arrival, we got to "sleep in" until breakfast was served in our hotel at 7am. As was the custom... we had no idea what the program was for the day... particularly since the "official program" had ended the night before. But as we chatted over breakfast... bits of information drifted in and we soon pieced together that we would be going to see a circus.
And a circus in Turkmenistan can only mean one thing:
Akhal-Tekes.
In fact, we would have the honor of a private performance with the entire stadium all to ourselves. Which meant we were front-row-and-center to some of Turkmenistan's finest heavenly horses... the closest we had been to any of them thus far on our trip. We recognized some of the performers and their horses from the Ashgabat hippodrome... including the "Snake Stallion," and his trainer (also the circus leader), and the lovely white stallion he rode in the parade at the opening ceremony for horse racing.
Although the circus turned out to be a compilation of equestrian performance, acrobatics, gymnastics, and comedic skits... it was obvious that the horsemen (and women!), and their gorgeous Akhal-Tekes, were the real stars of the show.
Amrita took lots of photos... and I took lots of video... so this blog post will be more showing than telling!
A video of the finale:
Here is the "Snake Stallion," as we dubbed him. He walked on his hind legs... literally... and stayed there for the duration of his performance. This stunningly beautiful animal reminded us of a cobra teased out of a basket. Not only did he look rather snake-like... but he played the part, too. He struck his hooves, gnashed his teeth, rolled his eyes... and I would not have been surprised to hear him hiss. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure he wasn't acting...
This King Cobra was pissed-off:
A Video of Mr. Snake Himself:
I witnessed more trick riding in one weekend in Turkmenistan than I've seen in my entire life... including anything I've watched on TV!
This circus ring was small.... and the horses were cantering fast and leaning in like motorcycles. Just the fact that nobody fell over seemed impressive.
Just like at the hippodrome, most of the horses were outfitted with very tight martingales... sometimes combined with double bridles. The strategy being, I assume, to hold their necks in an extremely high arch.
As things sped up... the performers started jumping in and out of the ring.
Some of the riders were girls:
And this one was a little boy (they start them young in Turkmenistan!):
For the grand finale... the circus leader brought out his bull whip and made quite a commotion in the center of the ring while the performers jumped in and out of the arena... speeding around the circumference as fast as they could go:
After the show was over... they brought out a youngster in training who was, of course, immensely elegant and soooo Akhal-Teke:
I think he looks a lot like our colt, The DP!
A video of this handsome young man:
We learned that the circus horses spend most of their lives inside this stadium in Ashgabat, never going outdoors except to perform at an event like the one we saw at the race track. I couldn't imagine such a life for a horse... and of course it made me think of our own happily-pastured Akhal-Tekes, at home on the other side of the world. This was a circus both unlike and like so any others; beautiful and brutal and mesmerizing all at the same time. It left me with a sobering-sickening-yet-awe-inspiring impression that I still can't make sense of. It's like a cultural can of worms that's bigger than my measly American vocabulary. How do you blog about something you can't quite put to words? Simply put... you don't.
And the day was just getting started! That afternoon we were given the rare opportunity to visit two rural stud farms... one in the desert flatlands, and one high in the mountains.
Details coming up on Turkmenistan Day 4, Part 2!
Read all about our Trip To Turkmenistan by visiting the following posts:
To Turkmenistan We Go
Jet Lag
Turkmenistan Day 1 - The International Akhal-Teke Horse Breeding Association
Turkmenistan Day 2 - The President Rides & An Akhal-Teke Beauty Contest
Turkmenistan Day 3, Part 1 - The Races
Turkmenistan Day 3, Part 2 - A Bigger-Than-God-Himself Hippodrome-In-The-Works
Turkmenistan Day 4, Part 1 - The Circus
Turkmenistan Day 4, Part 2 - The Stud Farms
Turkmenistan Day 5 - The Russian Bazaar
1 COMMENTS:
I watched the little guy. He is so sweet and looks like a delicate little deer. The video is a good example of how trainable and personable the breed is. But Mr. Snake. Oh my. He is down right frightening. I wonder what he endured in order to be trained to do that. Thank you for sharing. This is a most unusual blog series.
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