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[RC] Breeder a political prisoner - Lynn WhiteThis is kind of a long story, but a premier breeder (Geldy Kyarizov) of Akhal-Teke horses in Turkmenistan (TM) has been a political prisoner since January of 2002. Only by a miracle has he managed to survive his ordeal, but I guess he looks like a survivor of a concentration camp. His family is taking care of his 90 horses with the help of donations. I think only a handful of horses have died of starvation. Most look relatively fabulous now. If you want to read more about Geldy's situation, please check out the link below: http://www.gsuttle.free-online.co.uk/geldy_and_the_at.htm Anyway, with the death of the TM president things are really unstable over there. A couple weeks ago the government started bulldozing the stables and fences. Though the destruction has stopped, many of the stallions and mares have no shelter. Southern TM is desert, so in the winter the nights get really cold. Traditionally the Turkoman nomads would tether their horses to a line and cover them with a thick felt blanket. It looks like this is going to have to be the case for these horses for a while. By law the family can?t even sell their horses to outsiders. I had originally considered sending donated used blankets for these horses, but the cost of shipping to TM is outrageous, and the family can purchase felt blankets for $10 each. So probably the best alternate would be to send funding to the family. This family has no income, and when one is a political prisoner, they and their family become persona non grata to everyone else. Food is not provided to prisoners in TM so families have to send food and medicine to their loved ones in prison. The fear climate is really similar to that of North Korea?if that gives you an idea of what it?s like over there. I know many endurance people don't know about Akhal-Teke (AT) horses, but they are rare, only about 3000 purebreds in the world. Geldy?s heard is one of the best in the world?in fact the horse on the TM flag was bred by Geldy. Many consider AT's the OLDEST breed in the world. They have been used as foundation stallions for many Russian breeds (the Orlov and the Don), warmbloods (the Trakehner), and most likely the Thoroughbred. They are a priceless gene pool to the equine world. They are awesome endurance horses...the few that participate in endurance do quite well. Ramona Thacker's horse Midnights Sky's Shiraz is half AT. So if you want to help, you can check out the link above or email me privately. There is a lady in Washington state that sends funds monthly to the family via Western Union. I can give you her email as well. Any little bit helps. We?ve managed to keep Geldy?s herd alive this long, and it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks! -Lynn White lynndeepoo@xxxxxxxxx ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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