Today there are no pure Akhal Teke left at all, which also are inscribed into the closed studbook. The last one died 1998.

There are less than a mere dozen horses left, which have an infusion of foreign blood of less than 1%, and maybe another two dozen under 2%. Worldwide. There may be a few hundred individuals between 2% and 4%.

The majority of the Russian Teke vary between 4% and 10%, with those of lesser percentage usually being inbred to a higher degree. Those Turkmenia-bred Teke still inscribable into the closed studbook have rarely less than 10%, the majority is well above that amount.

While some Russian breeders are aware of the Thoroughbred background of their broodmares and sires, the majority breed to the latest show or sport champions without much care for purity.

Breeding without care about purity is even more pronounced outside of the CIS. Even though there were many still absolutely pure and very pure horses available in Europe some 15 to 20 years ago, the preference of Europeans for horses of a distinct warmblood type saw to it, that they were not used at all in the case of sires, or that highly impure horses were used on very pure mares. It is the high-infusion horses which tend to look more like warmbloods.

We have the group of horses banned from the studbook at its closure, which in the majority funnily were and still are on the rather pure side, many below 6%, not just that, many also have rare and unrelated to the main gene pool bloodlines. Here we can see the folly of the current system at its worst.

And then there is that large group of Turkmenia-bred Teke which actually are real crossbreds, some of which are circulating without proper pedigrees and being bred to horses inside the closed studbook.

A possibly very pure group of Turkoman horses exist in Iran, potentially also in Afghanistan. These horses as well are not inscribed into the closed studbook, but there are herds - which according to oral and written records - have been bred pure since their owners fled from Turkmenia between 1881 and 1945. While not all of them can be called Akhal Teke (as per the pre-1900 definition), they are Turkoman horses much like those not belonging to the Akhal Teke breed inscribed into the first studbook of the modern Akhal Teke breed as Akhal Teke.

Unnoticed by the general public the Yamoud horse, the other Turkoman breed which made it barely past the bottleneck of the wars between 1881 and 1932, has been completely crossbred using a wide variety of non-Turkoman breeds, warmbloods and English Thoroughbreds included.

Anyone approaching the modern Akhal Teke with the idea of having a very pure, old breed in front of him, ought to carefully read the whole chapter on purity and do a raincheck. No horses are completely pure anymore, but a very small part is very pure and the majority constitute a population having suffered a large infusion of foreign blood. Pure - as per international and normal standard - is different, especially when regarding the rather short time span between the old pure Turkoman horses and the now heavily infused modern Akhal Teke.

A word with regard to those who call the modern Akhal Teke a purebred because of the recently closed studbook:

This is but a mechanical and modern definition. It is arbitrary and does not represent the actual facts. The original Akhal Teke or Turkoman was a purebred breed, the modern breed called Akhal Teke is not. The original Akhal Teke was never formed as the English Thoroughbred was formed, using various breeds to create a new one, instead it was the legacy of an unbroken, direct line from ancient past. It is nonsensical and also dishonest to apply notions to this breed which fit the English Thoroughbred as an artificially created breed, unless you own up to the fact, that we are practically dealing with a new breed here.

Whether it will be only loosely based on that old, all but extinct pure one or not is something decided these days.