The Iomud is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of light

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

from

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. Like other breeds of Turkmen horse, it is named for the Turkmen tribe that raised it, the

Iomud The Iomud is a breed of light horse from Turkmenistan. Like other breeds of Turkmen horse, it is named for the Turkmen tribe that raised it, the Iomud. Both the name of the horse and the name of the Turkmen clan may be spelt in many ways, inclu ...

. Both the name of the horse and the name of the Turkmen clan may be spelt in many ways, including Iomud, Yomud, Yamud and Yomut. The Iomud horse is raised in Turkmenistan, particularly in the

velayat A velayat (also spelled vilayat; fa, ولایت) was a type of administrative division within Safavid Iran, which functioned as a semi-autonomous province. The velayats were situated in the frontier of the country, mainly in its mountainous are ...

Daşoguz Daşoguz (also Dashoguz, Dasoguz; roughly "stone spring" in Turkmen), formerly known as Tashauz (until 1992; russian: Ташау́з) and Dashkhovuz (1992–1999; russian: Дашхову́з), is a city in northern Turkmenistan and the capital o ...

; in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

; in

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

(now part of Uzbekistan), particularly in the

Khwarezm Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...

region; and in Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Unlike the

Akhal-Teke The Akhal-Teke ( or ; from Turkmen ''Ahalteke'', ) is a Turkmen horse breed. They have a reputation for speed and endurance, intelligence, and a distinctive metallic sheen. The shiny coat of the breed led to their nickname, "Golden Horses". ...

, it usually kept in herds in desert or semi-desert areas.

History

Like other breeds of Turkmen horse – including the

, the Ersari, the Goklan, the Salor and the Sarik – the Iomud breed is named for the Turkmen tribe that formed it, the

. The Iomud people occupy the northern part of modern

, from the eastern shores of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

in the west to the area of

, on the northern edge of the

Karakum Desert The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum ( tk, Garagum, ; rus, Караку́мы, Karakumy, kərɐˈkumɨ), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name in Turkic languages means "black sand": "" means sand; "" is a contraction of : " ...

, in the north-east. They are principally concentrated in the

s of

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and

, and this is considered the area of origin of the Iomud horse. The early history of the Iomud breed, like that of Turkmen horses in general, is not clear. The qualities of Turkmen horses, and the differences between the various breeds, were recognised by western travellers in the area in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Clement Augustus de Bode wrote in 1848 that the Tekke horses had the best endurance, and were preferred to pure-bred

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

s, while the Iomud and the Goklan were faster and more lightly built. In the twentieth century, numbers of the Iomud breed declined. In 1980, in the Soviet era, the total number was recorded as 964, of which 616 were considered pure-bred. In 1983 stud farms were set up with the aim of increasing the number of breeding mares from 140 to about 250. A conservation farm was also established in the

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district, in south-west Turkmenistan. The Iomud contributed significantly to the development of the

Lokai The Lokai, a mountain horse bred in Tajikistan, is used as a riding horse, a packhorse, or even sometimes a light draft horse. Although small, the breed is agile and hardy. The breed was developed by crossing native mountain horses with a mixture ...

breed in Tajikistan.

Characteristics

Iomud horses have remarkable endurance. According to local information collected in 1937, they could cover the from Daşoguz to Etrek in seven days. They can carry without difficulty in mountain or desert terrain. Iomud horses are usually

grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

; golden chestnut and black can occur. Stallions stand about , mares a little less. Thoracic circumference (girth) is about ,

cannon bone Good conformation in the limbs leads to improved movement and decreased likelihood of injuries. Large differences in bone structure and size can be found in horses used for different activities, but correct conformation remains relatively simil ...

measurement about The profile is straight or slightly convex, the legs fine and often bowed; the mane and tail are sparse, and the skin is delicate.

References

Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Turkmenistan {{Horse-breed-stub