As we reported earlier, on 6 Sep 2023, in Almaty, the Embassy of Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan hosted a ceremony awarding the honorary title “Honored Horse Breeder of Turkmenistan” to Yakov Dik, the Director of the Akhal-Teke horse breeding farm of Kazakhstan.
The popular Kazakhstani blogger Yakov Fedorov, who came from Astana to attend the event, shared his impressions of the ceremony on social media. He also told about a famous fellow for whom horse breeding has become a lifelong passion.
Here is the text of Yakov Fedorov’s Instagram post:
“I met my namesake, a great professional in his field – Yakov Yakovlevich Dik. He devoted his life to one thing – breeding the Akhal-Teke breed of horses. Akhal-Teke (they are also called the Turkmen horse) are considered the oldest of the cultivated breeds, which has not been crossed with other breeds for 5000 years.
Yesterday, Yakov Yakovlevich received great recognition for his many years of work. The Embassy of Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan organized a ceremony to award Yakov Dik the honorary title “Honored Horse Breeder of Turkmenistan”. This title was awarded to him by a special decree of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov during the XIII meeting of the International Association of Akhal-Teke Horse Breeding.
It turns out that the Turkmens have a saying “Irden turda ataňy gör, ataňdan soň atyňy“, which means: “In the morning after waking up, first look at your father, after your father look at your horse.” Even according to folk proverbs, one can understand that Akhal–Teke is not just a horse for Turkmens, but a national pride. Therefore, this award of Yakov Yakovlevich is really a great recognition of his skill.
Of course, I also visited the stud farm with great pleasure. It was founded back in the 90s jointly by Yakov Dik and the Meirembekov family. Now the stud farm is called “Altyn-Tai” in honor of their famous horse, who was a multiple champion of exhibitions.
Here, every horse has its own story to tell. Take, for instance, the jet-black giant that I found most impressive. It turns out that he has the blood of a legendary ancestor running through his veins: Absinthe, the horse that carried Sergey Filatov to victory in the 1960 Olympic Games, making him the first Soviet equestrian champion.
The stables are spotlessly clean. Each horse is carefully matched with a suitable mate so that their offspring inherit the desired coat colors. For example, I saw a beautiful Isabella foal, which I would describe as having a “milk” coat color. Beauty in every detail!
To be honest, I don’t know what impressed me more at the stud farm – the Akhal-Teke themselves, or the love with which the employees told about them.
A huge amount of work that real, dedicated fans of their business can accomplish! It’s nice that such people are the ones who get well-deserved awards!”
///nCa, 7 September 2023 (Photo credit – Yakov Fedorov)
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