WARSAW, POLAND
AUGUST 8 - 13, 2004
Poland was therefore a popular venue for a WAHO Conference and our Members, both voting Delegates and Observers, arrived from every corner of their globe for this event, with 45 countries represented. Throughout the week, the business of the General Assembly sessions was interspersed with sight-seeing tours, wonderful meals and social events, and the highlight of the week was a unique Arabian Horse Parade held in the beautiful location of the Sluzewiec Racetrack, on the outskirts of Warsaw. Our hosts truly ensured that all those lucky enough to participate went home with unforgettable memories and a true feeling for Poland, its people and its great importance to the international world of Arabian horses.
Before the Conference itself started, the WAHO Executive Committee held a two-day meeting, during which they also held talks with a number of Delegates from various countries.
WORLD REGISTRARS MEETING
In addition, the World Registrars Meeting took place on Monday 9th August. This meeting was Co-Chaired by James Carine of Great Britain and Xavier Guibert of France, both previous Registrars of their respective countries. This is a very important meeting for the Registrars, and once again it proved to be a positive and productive forum for discussion. A number of agenda items were discussed, such as mandatory parentage verification of foals; the practical problems arising from the changeover from blood-typing to DNA; micro-chipping as an additional aid to identification; correct interpretation and application of WAHO rules such as those for Horses In Transit, Import & Export, Embryo Transfer, the use of Semen Collection and Insemination Report forms and passports; issuing of stud books; and the creation of the new WAHO pedigree database. The Registrars were unanimous in their decision to reject cloning of Arabian horses.
There was also an election to appoint the members of the new WAHO Stud Book Advisory Sub-Committee, from nominations received. The formation of this Sub-Committee had been discussed and agreed at the 2002 Conference, its remit is to assist the Executive Committee with investigations into any registration or stud book matters whenever called upon to do so. It had previously been agreed that one Registrar from each geographical "area" of WAHO would be represented on this Committee. The final membership is as follows: Chairman (Independent) Mr. James Carine; Members: Mr. Xavier Guibert, Mr. Essam Abdulla; Dr. Mohammed Machmoum, Dr. Jose Luis Canelon; Dr. Bruce McCrea, Miss Helen Dohan and Dr. Nihat Pakdil.
2004 WAHO CONFERENCE
Warsaw is a historic city which has seen many wars and much destruction, and many changes in the past centuries, with perhaps the greatest changes coming in the past decade or so. However, despite the destruction of much of the city in World War II, Poland and its citizens once again showed their eternal optimism and love of their country in rebuilding most of the city’s old landmark buildings to their original appearance. The Old Town, situated on the banks of the Vistula River, is one such shining example, and has been named a World Heritage Site.
The Conference, as always, started with a Welcome Cocktail Party. The stunning venue for this most enjoyable evening was the lovingly reconstructed and very beautiful Royal Castle, situated in the Old Town. Standing alongside our Polish hosts including Mr. Zdzislaw Siewierski, President of the Agricultural Property Agency and with the presence of Mrs. Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, the new WAHO President Dr. Hans-J. Nagel welcomed the guests to the evening, a first chance for old friends to meet again and for new acquaintances to be made.
TUESDAY AUGUST 10TH:
The 2004 WAHO Conference was officially opened by the Polish Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Wojciech Olejniczak. There were 45 Registering Authority Member countries represented by Voting Delegates seated to conduct the official business and a further large group of Individual Associate Members attending as Observers, who often participated in the discussions. As always, simultaneous translation was available into English, Polish, Arabic and French.
| Dr. Hans-J. Nagel followed the Minister, and made his his opening address, during which there was a spontaneous standing ovation for WAHO’s Immediate Past President, Jay Stream. There was also a two minute silence in quiet remembrance of those WAHO Members who have passed away since the last Conference, including Executive Committee member Dr. Abu Bakre El Arifi, Executive Committee Emeritus Member Oswaldo Aranha, long-serving Argentinean delegate, Marta Cossio and also Helen McCoy from America. |  Hans Nagel |
The next few Agenda items followed in swift succession. First, the Executive Committee were introduced and reconfirmed by vote of the General Assembly. Two new countries were accepted as full Registering Authority Members of the World Arabian Horse Organization, on distribution of their first Arabian horse stud books, that is to say Slovenia and Azerbaijan. Both were welcomed with applause to the family of WAHO. The normal formalities of adopting the annual accounts and re-appointing the Auditors did not take long. A report was also made to the General Assembly by the Co-Chairmen of the Registrars Meeting, to bring everyone up to date on their discussions and decisions.
For the rest of the day, the time was taken up with the Reports from each Registering Authority Member country, detailing for the record their statistics & activities since the last Conference. This always throws up some very interesting information.
Tuesday evening brought the group to the delightful little "Palace on the Water" in Lazienki Park for cocktails accompanied by an unforgettable recital of Chopin’s piano music, followed by dinner at the nearby Belvedere Restaurant.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 11TH:
The Conference reconvened in the morning. The main Agenda item of the day was the discussion and vote on closing the WAHO stud books to any ‘new’ horses which do not trace to horses previously registered in a WAHO-accepted stud book. This topic has been of major importance to WAHO for many years and was last formally discussed as an agenda item by the General Assembly in Bahrain in 1998, when the vote was to leave the books open. At the Warsaw Conference, the topic again led to much discussion, with contributions from many voting delegates and from several of the observers. Sincere and cogent arguments were made by those with views on both sides of the issue at hand. The final vote passed the motion to close the world’s Arabian stud books, with 26 voting yes, 14 voting no and 4 abstentions. This means that, from 31st October 2004, the only Pure Bred Arabian horses which members may register are those which trace to horses already registered in a WAHO recognized stud book.
After a coffee break, the rest of the morning was taken up with Guest Speakers. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching a specially made and very beautiful film, "The Purebred Arabian horses of Poland," which was introduced by Mrs. Anna Stojanowska, Head Specialist on Horse Breeding at the Agricultural Property Agency. With historic footage as well as modern images, the film elegantly encapsulated the story of the Arabian horse in Poland and was the perfect introduction for first-time visitors to Poland. Our generous hosts presented every participant with a DVD of this film which was truly a marvellous memento to take home, as it is the kind of film one can enjoy watching many times over.
This was followed by a fascinating illustrated lecture by Mr. Krzysztof Zaleski, Curator of the Collection of Polish Drawings at the National Museum of Warsaw. He took as his topic "The Arabian Horse in Polish Art". He introduced the audience to a wealth of rich images, with colour slides showing paintings and watercolours by famous artists such as Juliusz Kossack and many others equally talented but less well known outside Poland. The highlight for many people was the presence, in the Conference Hall, of four original works, one a relatively modern oil painting by Mr. Novak-Zemplinski of Skowronek, and three original watercolours by Juliusz Kossack of the foundation desert-bred horses Mlecha, Sahara and Koheilan.
The conference then adjourned until the following morning, as participants enjoyed yet another delicious buffet lunch before a very special afternoon event which everyone was greatly anticipating. A full report on the Arabian Horse Parade appears at the end of this article on the Conference.
2004 WAHO CONFERENCE, FINAL DAY| The final full day of the 2004 WAHO Conference started in the morning with what was later agreed to be one of the best ever lectures at a WAHO General Assembly. Our distinguished Guest Speaker was Professor Matthew Binns, Head of Genetics at the Animal Health Trust, UK, and his subject was "Developments in Horse Genetics Related to Inherited Characteristics and Diseases." Talking with humour and in clear, easy to understand terminology, this was not only extremely informative, bringing us up to date on the latest research and findings from the world of equine science, but also very entertaining. An interesting question and answer session followed, with contributions from many participants. |  Dr Matthew Binns |
After coffee, the meeting reconvened with interesting and detailed reports from those Registering Authority Member countries which still retain some form of stallion licensing or grading. This was intended to inform all present on the different practices in different parts of the world. However, the Executive Committee made it clear that they continue to uphold the longstanding WAHO policy against stallion licensing which they consider discriminatory. They clarified the WAHO rule that all foals born of correctly registered Arabian sires and dams must be eligible for registration. Xavier Guibert also gave a very interesting talk to the meeting on the latest EU rules and projects, not only about stallion licensing but also about the Universal Equine Life Number system.
The Delegates also voted unanimously that they did not condone cloning, and that cloned Arabian horses would not be eligible for registration.
During the final afternoon session, the Executive Committee took time to inform the meeting about their plans for the future. Suitable premises for a WAHO Headquarters building are still being sought, although further funding will be needed to make this project a reality. It was announced that a new WAHO Trophy will be given to every Member country, which it is hoped will do a great deal to bring the Arabian horse to the attention of the general public in a positive light. This fine bronze bas-relief sculpture of the WAHO logo has been specially commissioned, and WAHO has requested that it be awarded annually to one Arabian horse of each Member Country’s choice. WAHO has informed Member Countries that they should choose the annual recipient to reward excellence in all spheres of performance, as well as to reflect achievements in open competition against other breeds and maybe also to encourage young riders. This is to be a perpetual challenge trophy, and each winner will also get a special certificate as a permanent reminder of their achievement. Each country was asked to report back to WAHO with photographs and written details on their winners, to include in future WAHO newsletters.
Also during this session WAHO’s Vice- President Peter Pond went through some of WAHO’s main rules, and detailed which are mandatory and which are guidelines. The main cornerstone of WAHO remains our Definition, voted as mandatory by the General Assembly in Bahrain, in 1998. The plans for the next two years were also discussed, basically these are to continue efforts to promote the knowledge of the Arabian horse through education on the history and heritage of the breed. Further details were given about plans to complete the WAHO World Pedigree Database project. The long term aim of this Database is to have every Arabian horse recorded, the data being provided by the Member Registries themselves. Only contributing Registries can alter or amend their own data. When the system is developed in the future to give public access via the internet, this is intended to be a free service for Members. A fee would be charged to members of the public wishing to access the pedigree data, and the country in which the horse in question was first registered will receive a percentage of that fee thus generating some income for both WAHO and the Registering Authority Members who own the data in their stud books.
Then, an announcement was made by Basil Jadaan of Syria, who is also member of the Executive Committee, that the next WAHO Conference will be held in Damascus, Syria, from 10-15 September 2006. His presentation began with a light-hearted moment. The Syrian delegation presented WAHO President Hans-J. Nagel with a traditional black and gold robe and named him "Sheikh of WAHO". As part of this presentation, our Syrian hosts for 2006 distributed lovely hand-made bags containing colourful literature on the country, its ancient sites and beautiful horses, together with an initial brochure outlining the programme of the next Conference.
Another treat was in store, when a 10-minute excerpt from a film in the making on the history of Syrian Arabian horses was shown. This film, by WAHO Individual Associate Member Gerhard Skorianz, is to be called Children of the Wind, and the powerful and moving material on the heritage of the Arabian horse shown in the short presentation convinced many present that the 2006 WAHO Conference would have to be a definite date for their diaries.
The 2004 WAHO Conference then concluded with each Member of the new Stud Book Advisory Sub-Committee thanking our Polish hosts, and in particular the Polish Agricultural Property Agency, the Jockey Club of Poland and the Ministry of Agriculture, on behalf of their regions.
The final evening of every WAHO Conference traditionally consists of a Gala Dinner Dance and this year was no exception. This was held, very conveniently, in the glittering ballroom of The Marriott Hotel, where the conference had been held. All the participants take the opportunity to dress in their finest formal attire and enjoy the party. We were treated to a colourful floor-show of traditional and elegant Polish dancing, with some extra joviality in the form of a whip-cracking competition. There were farewell speeches from our Polish hosts, and a very moving speech from Dr. Hans-J. Nagel, in which a very special toast was raised to the Immediate Past President and President Emeritus of WAHO, the ‘father’ of WAHO, Jay Stream.
ARABIAN HORSE PARADE, WEDNESDAY 11TH AUGUST:
INTERNATIONAL ARABIAN RACE DAY, FRIDAY AUGUST 13th:
The day after the Conference ended, all participants were cordially invited to go racing. Friday morning found everyone leaving their hotels, some very early to participate in another sightseeing tour of Warsaw and the Royal Palace at Wilanow. Others elected to leave a little later and go direct to the Warsaw-Sluzewiec Racetrack for the International Arabian Race Day, hosted by Mr. Jerzy Budny, President of the Polish Jockey Club. |
Despite the somewhat inclement weather, with intermittent heavy rain, everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching a full card of Arabian races, including three important international races - the Bialka Stakes (for 3 year olds, distance 2000 m), the Sabellina Stakes (for fillies aged 4 and over, 2000 m) and the Europa Cup (for 4 year olds and over, 2600 m). |
| The Bialka Stakes was won by a very attractive and athletic German-bred filly of Polish pedigree, Wienerva (Santhos - Wierna Rzeka) with three sons of the Polish Derby winner Pamir all bred by Bialka Stud taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. They were Perkal (out of Perforacja), Alpar (out of Albia) and Wodospad (out of Wola). | |
The Sabellina Stakes produced yet another winner from the same famous Janow "S" family which produced Sabellina herself. The latest addition to this illustrious family of winners was Salsa, by Wojslaw out of triple-crown winner Sarmacja. Actually the first past the post was Eqvida (Wojslaw-Eqviria), also from Janow, but placings were reversed after an objection by the 2nd to the winner, thus giving Janow Podlaski Stud both 1st and 2nd places in this illustrious race.
The Europa Cup was truly international, bringing together 16 of the best Arabians of their generation in Europe, with runners from Sweden, Germany, Britain, Austria, Holland and Russia, as well as from Poland. The field included many major race winners such as the Russian colts Vikont (Kartel/Vilma) and Seliger (Balaton/Greshnica) and several Swedish runners including the full brothers El Wodkine and El Waldo (Eldorado/Welona) and the 2003 Europa Cup winner, Millennium (Almir/Tatarka) with his half brother Hespeshal (Izentespeshal/Tatarka). In the event, the race was won in emphatic style by the 5 year old Polish-bred Gorec, avenging his 2003 defeat by Millennium in this same race. The full brothers from Sweden, El Wodkine and El Waldo, finished in 2nd and 3rd. Gorec, himself a Polish Derby winner, is by Polish Derby winner Druid out of the race-winning Russian mare Gordaia. Bred and trained by Anna Nieora-Tchkauseli, Gorec’s win was a triumph for the increasing number of private breeders in Poland.
After the races, the participants of the 2004 WAHO Conference gathered themselves and their luggage into a variety of buses which went off in several directions, some returning to Warsaw Hotels as people prepared to fly home, others setting off into the Polish countryside on their way to Janow Podlaski for the Arabian Horse Days festival, the first of the Post Conference Tours. Fortunately eventually everyone reached their intended destination with the right luggage, despite a few delays along the way.
The excellent selection of optional Post Conference Tours that had been arranged by our hosts not only included the Arabian Horse Days at Janow Podlaski comprising the 2004 Polish National Championships Show and annual Pride of Poland Auction, but also included optional visits to Bialka and Michalow State Studs. Tours were also offered to the historic and beautiful cities of Krakow and Gdansk, and many people took the opportunity to extend their visit to Poland to enjoy these specially arranged trips. Complete details of the results of the Show and the Auction will not be included here, as they have been written up fully in many magazines and are also available at the websites of the State Studs, for example: www.janow.arabians.pl/en or www.michalow.arabians.pl/en
WITH THANKS:
WAHO would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people for their generosity and kindness in hosting or arranging the 2004 WAHO Conference in Poland. Together they ensured that this Conference was one of the most memorable and special WAHO Conferences ever held.