Horsey talk

“Look, Ahalteke horse, look your star has risen, and we believe that it will light your way and will neverdie [sic] out.” This rather garbled quote from Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s book, The Flight of Celestial Race Horses, is one of several that have been posted as part of a newly launched government website in honor of Turkmenistan’s famous horse breed, Akhal-Teke.

Berdymukhammedov is a known horse lover. In 2011, he ordered annual beauty contests for horses. The website seems to underline this importance of horse. As news agency Radio Free Europe reports, it is filled with badly photoshopped photos and adulatory quotes. A peculiar quote is: “Riding on horse, driving plane steering wheel, sea liner, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov not just demonstrates wonderful physical shape and high professional skills in every business, he fixes in people’s minds the image of modern strong man.”