In Memoriam – Alexander Ponomarev

Der letzte Abschied - Alexander Ponomarev ist gestorben Foto: Alexander Avramenko

A last farewell –
Alexander Ponomarev passed away
Photo: Alexander Avramenko

Today, Alexander Ponomarev died in the morning; on 27th December last year he celebrated his 76th birthday.
Alexander Ponomarev studied veterinary medicine and afterwards spend some years in the former GDR to gain some work experience. Therefore he spoke some German, as well. In 1971, as a young vet, he was appointed as successor of Vladimir Shamborant as breeding manager at the Russian State Stud Tersk, a position he filled until the year 2002. In his active years fell the “Golden Age” of Russian show horses. Ponomarev continued to use Aswan, just as Shamborant before, and it was especially the Aswan-daughters which were sought after by the Western market – a market that just began to discover Russia as a source of quality horses. The auctions at Tersk Stud became legendary and buyers arrived from all over the world to find show and breeding stock. The prices reached astronomic heights, when Pesniar was sold for 2 Million Dollar in 1982 and Peleng for 3,2 Millions in 1985.
About half a year ago, Alexander Ponomarev suffered from a slight stroke, now he died as a result of thrombosis. Our condolences go to his wife Tamara and all his family.