WAHO Report by the Russian Arabian Breeders Association
1 December 2014, Qatar ~ At the November WAHO Conference Qatar 2014, Natalia Kurolesova from Tersk Stud gave this report on the status of Arabian horses in Russia as of 2014.
“As of today, the total livestock of Arabian horses in Russia is around 1,700, of which 400 are active broodmares and 80 are breeding stallions. 70% of the whole livestock is concentrated within our Association.
Russian Arabian Horse Breeders Association (RABA) was established in July 2011 by the owners of the main Russian studs: Tersk, Khrenovskoy, Veles, Samovolov, Belov. 3 years later RAHBA numbered as much as 35 members.
RAHBA’s main objective is to promote the Arabian breed and to preserve its genetic diversity.
RAHBA is a member of WAHO (2012), ECAHO (2013), and starting from this year (2014) we represent Russia in IFAHR.
We are in a close cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Agriculture represented by the All Russian Scientific Institute of Horse Breeding, which keeps records of the Russian Arabian Studbook.
Racing
One of the main purposes of the Arabian horse breeding in Russia is racing. Arabian horses are tested at 6 racetracks. Overall number of races in the season of 2014 is around 160. RAHBA has been financing part of the trophies, exchanging information with the racetracks.
Endurance
Endurance riding is gaining popularity. One of the biggest studs of Russia – “Veles” stud – has an endurance breeding program and has been widely engaged in promotion of this kind of equestrian sport. For the past two years RAHBA organized 10 national and international endurance competitions. In October 2014, RAHBA hosted the International endurance competition (International North Caucasus Federal District Endurance Cup, 40-120 km).
Horse Shows
Arabian horse shows have been developing rather problematically. Since 2011 RAHBA has started to host regional shows. For the last 4 years we have been hosting 6 shows per year, 3 of which, starting from 2013, have been hosted under the patronage of ECAHO. We do hope that shows will become more popular in our country.
Auctions
In 2012 our Association has put forward an initiative to resume auctions in the Northern Caucasus. For the past 3 years 50 Arabian horses of different age groups were sold. We note the growing interest in auctions.
Children’s competitions
Children’s competitions in show jumping and dressage are hosted on a regular basis. The biggest studs – members of RAHBA – host Open Houses on a yearly basis. For example, this year Tersk Stud celebrated the 125th Anniversary of the Arabian breed; about 3500 people attended the celebration!
Breeding
It should be noted that serious work is being carried out within the Arabian breeding. The regular exchange of breeding material is established, import of frozen semen is being carried out, as well as import of stallions with the most desirable bloodlines. The breeding program to preserve “Russian Arab” in which only classic Russian bloodlines are used, has been recently renewed. As an example, Tersk Stud experiment with the frozen semen of Aswan, Moment, Mashuk and Muscat, which resulted in some great progeny of 2013 and 2014.”
~ end