For three days in early September, a quiet corner of the Dutch province of Limburg became the world capital of one of humanity’s oldest and most storied horse breeds. The Peelbergen Equestrian Centre in Kronenberg hosted the World Championship of Equestrian Sports and Beauty Contest among Akhal-Teke Horses — the first time such a large-scale, Turkmenistan-backed celebration of the “heavenly horse” has been staged on European soil.
Kronenberg, Limburg — 4–6 September 2026
The numbers alone signal the scale of the undertaking: participants and guests from 25 countries, more than 100 horses — among them 30 elite animals flown in from Turkmenistan — and a programme that fused elite sport with scientific exchange, craft exhibitions, national cuisine, music and cultural diplomacy.
A partnership between Ashgabat and Europe
The championship was co-organised by the”Turkmen Atlary” State Association and the Akhal-Teke Horse Association (ATHA) in Europe, under the patronage of Turkmenistan’s 2026 national motto,“Independent neutral Turkmenistan — the homeland of purposeful winged horses.” Peelbergen — one of the largest and most respected equestrian venues in the Netherlands, close to both the Belgian and German borders — was chosen precisely because it regularly welcomes owners and professionals from across the world at the highest sporting level.
Organisers framed the Turkmen–European co-organisation as a milestone in itself: a bridge between the breed’s homeland and the European breeding community that has kept Akhal-Teke bloodlines alive outside Central Asia. Entry for visitors was free.
The Akhal-Teke horses, National emblem
The Akhal-Teke is instantly recognisable — a fine, dry build, long elegant lines, and a coat that catches the light with a famous metallic sheen that has earned it the nickname “Golden Horse.” Speed, stamina, agility and intelligence have made it one of the most distinctive breeds on earth.
But for Turkmenistan, the horse is far more than a sporting asset. It appears on the State Emblem, and in 2023 UNESCO inscribed the”Art of Akhal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horses’ decoration” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity — recognising not only breeding and care but naming rituals, beauty contests, racing, equestrian games, and the jewellery, lace and carpet work used to adorn the animals.
Three days of sport, science and spectacle
Horses and owners arrived between 1 and 3 September, turning Peelbergen into a temporary global gathering point for the breed.
Friday 4 September opened the World Beauty Championship with judging of young horses and mares aged one to four before an international expert jury, alongside the first dressage class. In parallel, the town of Venray hosted the International Scientific and Practical Conference“Akhal-Teke Horse: The Turkmen Art of World-Class Horse Breeding,” where researchers, veterinarians, historians, trainers (seýis) and breeding specialists debated gene-pool preservation, selection science and the breed’s future in modern sport.
Saturday 5 September was the centrepiece. High-level guests attended the open session of the International Association of Akhal-Teke Horse Breeding (IAAA), followed by the beauty competition for adult horses, the crowning of the World Champion across all categories, the crowd-pleasing Best Decorated Horse competition, and an afternoon of show jumping demonstrating the breed’s athletic versatility.
Around the arena, a large exhibition-fair unfolded in themed zones: national pavilions presenting breeding achievements alongside textiles, carpets, regional jewellery, music and sculpture; a ceremonial stage; an ethnographic zone with white yurts, raised sekis platforms and clay tamdyr ovens representing Turkmenistan’s five provinces plus Ashgabat and Arkadag; a Turkmen cuisine area; and an arena for the”Galkynyş” National Equestrian Games Group, honoured earlier this year at the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival.
Results
The title of”Absolute Champion” and World Champion Among Akhal-Teke Horses 2026 went to Yyndam (reported in some outlets as Yandym), a black stallion owned by French breeder A. Martinez of the CaratKoum breeding farm. In keeping with Turkmen custom, the winner received the keys to a car on behalf of the National Leader and the President — the vehicle duly sprinkled with flour and tied with a traditional alaja cord.
Other awards:
| Category | Winner | Owner / origin | Prize |
| Young Horse Champion | Meledag | International Akhal-Teke Equestrian Sports Complex | €10,000 + cup |
| Best Horse of Europe | Agana Shael | A. Bailey, France | €10,000 + cup |
| Best Decorated Horse | Toýly (chestnut) | Presidential Akhal-Teke Equestrian Complex, Turkmenistan | €5,000 + cup |
| Beauty, 1–2 years | Jerengözli | International Akhal-Teke Equestrian Sports Complex | €3,000 + cup |
| Beauty, 3 years | Günesh | International Akhal-Teke Equestrian Sports Complex | €3,000 + cup |
| Beauty, 3–4 years | Ming-de-Ahal | S. Playi farm, France | €3,000 + cup |
| Beauty, 5 years and older | Ýagşyja — Owadan | B. Mamelekov, Ukraine | €3,000 + cup |
| Dressage | Bady-Saba | Lilyan, Ukraine | €3,000 + cup |
| Show jumping | Yhlas Chopanov (rider) | National Equestrian Sports Centre of Turkmenistan | €3,000 + cup |
An International Creative Competition also crowned winners in sculpture (P. Patdykov), painting (A. Atahanov), carpet weaving (O. Amanjayeva), photography (W. Osowski, Ukraine) and jewellery (A. Sahedow), each receiving €1,500. The”Audience Favourite” award went to the Galkynyş equestrian games group.
Cultural Diplomacy
The championship carried unmistakable political weight. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, National Leader of the Turkmen people and Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty, travelled to the Netherlands to attend, addressing the IAAA open session. He outlined how Turkmenistan has built modern equestrian complexes in every region, introduced DNA testing to guarantee breed purity, created an electronic studbook database, and implemented science-based breeding and health-monitoring programmes — with the IAAA, headquartered in Ashgabat, now uniting breeders from dozens of countries.
Among the guests were former Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Limburg King’s Commissioner Emile Roemer, Horst aan de Maas mayor Ryan Palmen, ATHA president Marian Weltevreden, and a wide diplomatic contingent including Central Asian and Turkish ambassadors. Diplomat Magazine noted the presence of ambassadors from Uruguay, Peru, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan among those attending.
The sporting event was underpinned by a genuine bilateral push. On 3 September in The Hague, Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov met his Dutch counterpart Tom Berendsen, with both sides welcoming the championship as a large-scale international event on Dutch soil and reviewing cooperation in trade, transport and logistics, port infrastructure, agriculture and agri-technology, energy, high technology and industrial cooperation. Turkmenistan reaffirmed its commitment to permanent neutrality, the UN Charter and political-diplomatic conflict resolution. Particular attention went to the long-standing partnership with the Clingendael Institute on training diplomatic personnel.
The same day, Meredov met Christoffer Jonker, adviser to the Dutch Prime Minister on foreign affairs and defence, exploring shipbuilding, maritime infrastructure, healthcare, innovative technologies and methane emissions reduction, and offering to host executives of leading Dutch companies in Turkmenistan. Both sides underlined the value of deepening dialogue bilaterally and within the Turkmenistan–European Union format.
A global media stage
Organisers accredited some 50 journalists, with coverage carried by outlets including Al Jazeera, EU Reporter, EUReflect, Wanderlust Magazine, The Gulf Observer, The Europe Today, Diplomat Magazine, Global Tourism Forum, Travel Tomorrow, Eurasia Focus, EminSight, London Post, EU Briefs, and KEMA.
The championship closed with a gala evening, a concert of Turkmen artists, and fireworks over Limburg beneath the Turkmen flag, a finale deliberately tied to the country’s 35th anniversary of independence.
What Kronenberg ultimately demonstrated is that the Akhal-Teke has become one of Turkmenistan’s most effective diplomatic instruments. A French-owned black stallion taking the world title, with Ukrainian, French and Turkmen horses sharing the podium, made the point better than any communiqué could: a breed born on the edge of the Karakum has become a genuinely shared global heritage — and Turkmenistan is confident enough to celebrate that fact 4,000 kilometres from home.
Sources
Turkmenistan.gov.tm, “Turkmenistan: Golden Age” online newspaper,
Business Turkmenistan.
Historian and environmental management expert on Central Asia and researcher on Central Asia post-Soviet period. Journalist for EuReporter and EuReflect and Special Director of “The Gulf Observer” for Europe and Central Asia.
