Mother looks after her new foal in the first few minutes of its new life. [Photo by Zhang Shu/ts.cn]

Xinjiang Ancient Ecological Park, located in the Urumqi High-tech Industrial Development Zone, a park famed for rearing the much-coveted Akhal-Teke breed of horse welcomed the birth of a beautiful black foal on Feb 27.

The park is the China’s largest exhibit base for Akhal-Teke horses and it boasts some 50 Akhal-Teke horses, prized horses that are renowned for their speed and endurance and can fetch around one million yuan ($145,000) at auction.

The birth of the foal caused a tremendous amount of excitement at the park and after the 40 minutes of assistance from the onsite veterinarians the Akhal-Teke horse was on its feet.

The baby Akhal-Teke horse stands up with the help of two veterinarians. [Photo by Zhang Shu/ts.cn]

The foal can certainly be considered an international horse with a Russian mother, in China since March 2013, and a Kazak father, in China since January 2008.

The Akhal-Teke originates from Turkmenistan where it is considered a national symbol. There are about 3,000 purebred Akhal-Teke horses in the world, with some 100 in China.

One veterinarian, who works at the park, checks the foal’s health conditions. [Photo by Zhang Shu/ts.cn]

By Sun Hui and edited by Richard Whiddington