The Akhal Teke World Championship

Back in the day, I spent a lot of hours researching various types of tack. Most of that research happened online, but every now and then,  I'd get the chance to see things in person and take my own reference pictures. That was the best. I loved those days.

This weekend, my Dutch friend, Anne - who is also a tackmaker - got to experience one of those days. Even better, she's sharing the experience with all of us! Here's her report from the 2026 Akhal Teke World Championship.

The 2026 Akhal Teke World Championship

by Anne Veeneman–van der Weel

This weekend the inaugural edition of the Akhal Teke World Championship took place in the Netherlands. Being a fan of the breed and a tackmaker with a fascination for the more exotic and unusual types of tack, I had to go check it out. 

The event was held at the Peelbergen Equestrian Center, only an hour and a half from where I live. My husband and kids wanted to come with me (at least for a while), so we got on the road, making sure to arrive in time for the Decorated Horse competition. The programme described that class as follows: The decoration class celebrated the rich cultural heritage of the Akhal-Teke through the presentation of horse and handler in a traditional Turkmen setting.

After an uneventful trip we parked the car, found our way to the Akhal Teke village and determined in which ring the Decorated Horse competition would take place. Some of the other rings were hosting a showjumping competition. To the delight of my three year old son, we stopped to watch three tractors tidy the showjumping course between classes. 

While waiting for the tack class to start we watched several of the contenders make their way over to the indoor arena, which seemed to serve as a waiting area. The class took forever to actually begin and I was desperate to see the tack up close, so I did some exploring and found out visitors could also enter the indoor arena, yay!

That gave me a much better opportunity to get close to the tack than sitting in the stands would have done. 

I talked with two of the contenders for a bit and had some interaction with the guys handling the horse with the red blanket and old saddle. 

Unfortunately I don't speak Turkmen and I was too shy to gesture if I could see (and photograph) more of the saddle underneath the carpet. I did get to pet the horse, so all was not lost. This, incidentally, was the horse that ended up winning the class. This horse was wearing what looked like a woven blanket rather than a rug. The material seemed a lot thinner. The bit on top of the saddle was definitely a rug.

From the conversations I had and my own observations I learned some things about the tack. Historically the collars were silver and each tribe had their own style. Modern versions are less intricate and often gold nickel plated. 

There is no significance to the colors of the metal or the rug that the horse is wearing. Personal preference and matching the coat color of your horse are the deciding factors. I was surprised to see that most of the rugs on the horses are literally the same as carpets you'd use in a home. Same material, same finish, same thickness. 

I watched the cremello stallion be saddled and nothing but the rug went between the horse and the saddle. I suspect the same goes for most, if not all, of the others. Some saddles had a strap loosely connecting the stirrups under the horse's belly. I didn't ask but I assume this was to keep them from flinging around as the horses reared, which several of them did. 

Historically the saddles had wooden trees and were covered with whatever materials were handy, including rawhide, leather, metal, etc. Modern saddles are strongly inspired by western saddles but have some Turkmen details. 

The tree has a different shape, the horn is a bird, the stirrups have a different shape and they are covered in the same style of gold nickel plated decorations as the collars. What surprised me is that I didn't see connector straps between the front and back cinches. 

Also, one Turkmen lady told me that the breastcollar can have a strap looping around the cinch but not all of them do, even when used in combination with a saddle. The breastcollars I saw this weekend were strapped to rings on either side of the saddle, but it's also fine to loop the breastcollar around the neck. It serves no function other than decoration.

In the end the Decorated Horse competition started more than two hours late. My husband and kids had gone to check out a nearby interactive museum and would pick me up in time for dinner. After the president of Turkmenistan and the judging panel had taken their positions the class finally started. The announcer introduced the horses and their owners, and they all walked several laps until the winner was announced. 

Immediately after the Decorated Horse competition concluded we moved on to the overall champion of the beauty competition (= halter division). The winner was a stallion named Yyndam, from a French breeder. When I walked back to the Akhal Teke village I saw a crowd gathering around the stunt ring, and I was in time to watch the entire performance. 

I've seen trick riding in several countries but this show was the fastest paced and most energetic I've ever seen. They did several tricks I'd never seen before, such as the rider picking up a guy from the ground straight onto his shoulders in one quick motion.

After the stunt show was over I roamed the village. 

There was an art competition with classes in several media, including carpets. Several Turkmen pavilions had displays with traditional crafts, more tack (yay!), carpets and various other traditional items. 

Other pavilions hosted regular horse and rider gear, the breed association, more art, food, etc. 

Just after the dressage class started my family picked me up and we concluded the day with pancakes. Yes, it's perfectly normal to have pancakes for dinner in the Netherlands, haha. I'd say this has been a wildly successful day! 

It was awesome to see so many wonderful Akhal Teke horses and I can't overstate how happy I am to now have so many decent photos of the spectacular tack that the Turkmen people use to decorate their beloved horses. 

I hope this guest post may help other tackmakers fill in some of the blanks that a Google search won't readily answer.

Thank you so much, Anne. I loved reading about your day, and your pictures are so inspiring! In fact, I plan to share more of them in the days to come. Thank you, thank you!

P.S. The tractor tidying up the ring between rounds was little Ryan's favorite, too!