Super horse gets celebrity statue

Long treated as a national celebrity, the favorite horse of Turkmenistan's former president is to be immortalized with a personal statue in the gas-rich Central Asian country.

The Akhal-Teke breed of horse enjoys a prominent role in government propaganda in the former Soviet nation and Ak Khan - whose name means White Khan - was the prized stallion of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who stepped down in March after 16 years in power.

State newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported that Berdymukhamedov's son and successor, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, had approved the monument in the province of Akhal outside the capital Ashgabat.

In 2015, a golden monument portraying Berdymukhamedov atop Ak Khan, a dove on his wrist, was unveiled in the capital as a leadership cult intensified around the then-head of state. In 2018, Ak Khan, whom Berdymukhamedov claims to have reared personally, won a Guinness World Record for walking 10 meters on his hind legs in 4.19 seconds.