Table Of Content

Jonathan Maslow SACRED HORSES The Memoirs of a urkmen 1 Cowboy R A N D O M H O U S E N E W Y O R K Copyright 0 1994 by Jonathan Maslow Map copyright 0 1994 by Amta Karl and Jim Kemp rights reserved under International and Par-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Lunited, Toronto. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maslow, Jonathan Evan. Sacred horses: the memoirs of a Turkmen cowboy/Jonathan Maslow. p. cm. "Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Torontow-CIP t.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-679-40875-4 1. Turkmenistan-Description and travel. 2. Maslow, Jonathan Evan-Journeys-Turkmenistan. 3. Horses-Turkmenistan. I. Title. DK934.M37 1994 915.8'50484~20 93-11382 Manufactured in the United States of America Book design by 1. K. Larnbert 24689753 Fist Edition F O B L I L I Y A I do not portray being; I portray passing. -Michcl dc Montaiqnc Fill up your time, to escape nostalgia and regret, and travel the earth, for perhaps it is your heaven. -Sinbad thc Sailor Acknowledgments The malung of this book over several years would have been impossible without the support and assistance of many inhviduals and institutions, only some of whom are named within its pages. Therefore, I would Me to acknowledge and thank my silent partners in h s e ndeavor: The John Simon Guggenheirn Foundation, for initially hnding my study of the Russian language; my Russian teachers Svetlana Guo Hong Xu, LAan Giverts, Mark and Marina Maymind, and my dear Professor Merle Barker of Rutgers University/Carnden; my equestrian guru, Ilona Uj- helyi, and my riding philosopher and companion, Professor Betsy Bowden of Rutgers University/Camden; my wonderful Cape May County librarians Marie Jones, Tom Leonard, and Robert Geddis, who have never rehsed me a single query or request for materials, no matter how arcane or outlandsh; my colleagues at the Louisiana Scholars College in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where I started and finished writing h s b ook; and Northwestern State University, which gave me a tempo- rary home whde writing. I would also like to thank new hends made during h sp roject, whose advice and encouragement helped enormously: and Gaha Fet; Phil and Margot Case; my fellow delegation members fiom Al- buquerque, Sally Alice Thompson and Professor Greg Gleason of the University of New Mexico; and Steven Weeks, for holding down the fort. Heartfelt thanks go, too, to my editor at Random House, my rock, always there with the right answers to my most ridiculous questions, and to my agent, Kathy Robbins, along with her user-friendly staff. For their able assistance in the photographing and filming of the Akhal-Teke horses, I must express my deep appreciation to my old friend Edde Marritz for all his camera help; Moira Ratchford, who survived the expedtion to Turkmenistan with flying colors; Peter Rolufs for his help in putting together the filming kit; Charles Cox for his fantastic faithhl- ness to the documentary project; Dina Levitt and Claire Downey for their professional succor to a fly-by-night filmmaker; and Peter Blum of Technisphere and Bob Manners of Camera Stop for technical assistance beyond the call. Finally, a posthumous salute to my dear friend Marion Zunz, who helped me shape my journeys to Central Asia, saw me off at the airport, and who never failed to believe in me for a single second. Hail and farewell: We will travel together on that dstant shore. Con tents Acknowledgments xi Map xiv I. Sofarawayistan 1 11. The Delegation 29 111. In the Shadow of Bucephalus 215 IV. Afterword 329 Selected Bibliog~apby 335 Index 339 1 R A N