TEHRAN – Some 100 Turkmen purebred horses on Thursday competed in a purebred horse festival which was held in Aliabad-e-Katul to promote tourism in northern Golestan province.

Breeders, owners, and trainers, who came from the provinces of Golestan, Tehran, North Khorasan, and Khorasan Razavi, showed off their horses in the festival, with an eye to promote agritourism and travel across Golestan.

The Turkmen horse is noted for endurance, bravery, smartness, and slender body. Many locals believe that breeding of such horses is actually one of the toughest jobs in the world.

Golestan is reportedly embracing some 2,500 historical and natural sites, with UNESCO-registered Gonbad-e Qabus – a one-millennium-old brick tower – amongst its most famous. Narratives say the tower has influenced various subsequent designers of tomb towers and other cylindrical commemorative structures both in the region and beyond. The UNESCO comments that the tower bears testimony to the cultural exchange between Central Asian nomads and the ancient civilization of Iran.

AFM/MG