UZBEKISTAN: A HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE RECORD FOR THE ASHGABAT TO MOSCOW TREK ON HORSEBACK

Record ID: 564735

  • Title: UZBEKISTAN: A HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE RECORD FOR THE ASHGABAT TO MOSCOW TREK ON HORSEBACK
  • Date: 14th May 2004
  • Summary: (L!2) KYZYLKUM DESERT, UZBEKISTAN (RECENT [APRIL 21-22]) (REUTERS) VARIOUS: SHAMIL AND ALEXANDRA RIDING THROUGH THE DESERT (3 SHOTS) CU: OF HORSE'S HOOVES LV/MV: LOCAL BOY ON DONKEY LOOKING ON (2 SHOTS) LV: SHAMIL AND ALEXANDRA HANGING A BANNER READING "ASHGABAT-MOSCOW 2004" ON A SUPPORT TRUCK SCU: HEAD OF A HORSE MV: ALEXANDRA CLEANING HER HORSE MLV: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SHAMIL GALIMZYANOV, ALEXANDRA'S HUSBAND AND PARTICIPANT OF THE ASHGABAT-MOSCOW 2004" EXPEDITION, SAYING: "It's a race horse, it took part in equestrian contests and won Uzbek championship among young horses. We were very lucky to buy it. It's a very good horse, it has a good character, but loves fighting." WS: THREE COWS, FOLLOWED BY BOYS ON DONKEYS AND A TRACTOR, MOVING ALONG THE ROAD CU: HEAD OF A HORSE LV: SHAMIL TRAINING HIS HORSE WS: CAMELS WALK THROUGH DESERT MV: OF A CAMEL WALKING THROUGH DESERT WS: ALEXANDRA AND SHAMIL RIDING THROUGH A VILLAGE MV: VILLAGERS WAVING WS: ALEXANDRA AND SHAMIL RIDING ALONG THE ROAD, LOCAL BOY ON BICYCLE PASSING THEM
  • Embargoed: 29th May 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KYZYLKUM DESERT, UZBEKISTAN/ UNKNOWN LOCATION, SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA
  • Country: Uzbekistan
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAEB0SGB4702OWEZ7Q3USW5RWN1
  • Story Text: Historic expedition on horseback - all about breaking a record, charity and of course horses.
    These horses are the stars of a historic expedition that aims to shatter a 70-year-old record. It's late in the night in Uzbekistan's Kyzylkum (pron: KEY-zeal-koum) desert, and the three Akhal Teke stallions are being rested after a journey from the Turkmenistan border across into Uzbek territory.
    The Ashgabat to Moscow trek on horseback has been organised by Alexandra Tolstoy and her husband Shamil Galimzyanov. Alexandra Tolstoy is a distant relative of Russian author Leo Tolstoy, and no stranger to adventures of this kind.
    Their 4,300 km (2,700 miles) journey began in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat on April 9, and will take them through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia and all the way to Moscow on horseback.
    It's an epic journey by any imagination, taking the duo and their small support team through some very hostile and barren landscapes. It is a journey that follows the route of a similar expedition back in 1935, when a group of 28 Turkmens rode the same distance in 84 days.
    Alexandra and Shamil, aim to break this record. But for them the expedition is more than just breaking a record.
    They want to publicise the Akhal Teke horses, a Turkmen breed, praised by specialists and sportsmen for its noble stature and outstanding stamina.
    "Yes, it's partly the same aim as in 1935. In the West people know so little about the Akhal Teke horse, and it really has no recognition. And I think that it is true that the Akhal Teke predates all other breed of horses, it predates the thorough-bred and the Arab horses. So, again, I have the same idea to draw attention to this and also, because I am writing a book about it, to compare...because places like Turkmenistan are extremely interesting in the West, especially with all the fuss going on about the Muslim world, because it's such a closed country, it's very difficult to get in there and people are fascinated by this," said Alexandra.
    The 30-year-old former London stockbroker, is a veteran of difficult and adventurous journeys. In 1999, she and three other women took part in an 8,000 km journey on horseback and by camel along the ancient Silk Road. It was on this journey that she met husband Shamil, an Uzbek who was their guide along their route from Uzbekistan to China.
    Shamil, a former professional show-jumper, is passionate about horses and in particular the Akhal Teke.
    "It's a race horse, it took part in equestrian contests and won Uzbek championship among young horses. We were very lucky to buy it. It's a very good horse, it has a good character, but loves fighting," said Shamil mounted on one of their three Akhal Teke stallions.
    Having crossed into Uzbekistan, Alexandra and Shamil will soon face the most difficult landscape ahead - the Ustyurt Plateau, a 1000-km of rocky barren land, infested by poisonous snakes.
    But man-made bureaucracy and not physical hardships are what Alexandra and Shamil fear the most, and on a journey such as this one, crossing numerous frontiers, there is bound to be plenty of it around.
    Their worst expectations came true, when Turkmen authorities refused to let the couple's three Akhal Teke horses enter Turkmenistan, forcing Alexandra and Shamil to ride from Ashgabat to the Uzbek border on a hired local Akhal Teke, poorly trained and unfit. Now, with their own horses back, they are ready to take on the 3,200 left to Moscow, trekking across Kazakhstan and Russia.
    Alexandra and Shamil plan to donate money raised from their expedition, through sponsorships and post- expedition lectures to a foundation that does charity work in Russian and Eastern Europe. Alexandra also plans to write a book about the journey.
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