REPORT MADE AT 2009 WAHO CONFERENCE.

Brother Peter McIntosh: Our Society, like many other Arabian groups throughout the world, is taking a stand against cruelty to Arabian show horses and in a recent letter from our Chairman, Mrs. Coralie Gordon, addressed to all our members, she appealed as follows, “I ask your help in eradicating one of the greatest scourges our breed has faced in its long history – the cruelty many of our Arabian horses have to suffer in the name of winning in the halter showring”.

Many parts of our country have been in drought for the past five years and this is affecting the number of horses being bred. Added to this, we experienced an enormous setback in the horse industry in Australia during the 2007/2008 breeding season because of the outbreak in our country of the dreaded Equine Influenza (EI) in the states of Queensland and New South Wales in August 2007, at the beginning of our breeding season. Movement of mares to stud was generally not possible and hence the number of foals bred in 2008 was reduced. The resultant ongoing finances of the Society are of necessity being carefully monitored at the present time. Because of the Government-imposed restrictions in the movement of horses we were unable to stage any shows and our National Championships in 2008 were cancelled. All our principal Shows have been finding it difficult to attract entries after such a long break.

I am happy to include the various statistics as requested. The current Volumes No 26 & 27 of our stud book are to be published in 2009 covering the years from 2002 to 2008. Our stud book is also available online for no fee, and is updated daily. In 2007 there were 21 imports, in 2008 there were 12. As regards recorded exports, and I emphasize recorded, in 2007 there were 84 and in 2008 there were 58. Many purebred Arabians are being exported for endurance riding without being reported, in addition to these. The numbers decreased because of the impact of the Equine Influenza outbreak. We are using DNA solely, for parentage verification. Microchipping is not compulsory but microchip numbers are recorded if done. Many horses were microchipped during the Equine Influenza epidemic, and endurance horses are also being microchipped. Artificial Insemination, transported semen both imported and exported, Embryo Transfer, multiple foal registrations per mare per year by Embryo Transfer, are all allowed and being used by some breeders.

Showing, both halter and ridden, trail riding for pleasure, and endurance riding, are the most popular activities of our Arabian horses. The Society participated in the Equitana Asia Pacific in November 2008 in Melbourne, with horses participating in Breed displays and a promotional stand in the exhibition hall.

Our WAHO Trophy for 2008 was awarded to the endurance stallion Chip Chase Sadaqa, bred by Pam and John Roydhouse of Chip Chase Park, both of whom are present here at the Conference.

REPORT MADE AT 2007 WAHO CONFERENCE

2007 is a most significant year for Australia as our Society is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the foundation of our Arabian Horse Society which was established in 1957. Prior to 1957 our horses were registered with the British Arab Horse Society or in a section of the Australian Stud Book for thoroughbred or racing stock.

The Arabian horse has a much longer history in our country and this year our Society, as a result of the research of the late Peter Clarke, is embarking on the publication of the history of our first Arabian Stud, which was the Quambi Stud established by Sir James Penn Boucaut in South Australia towards the end of the nineteenth century. This stud was commenced with horses purchased from the famous Crabbet Stud, and he registered his Purebred stock in the British General Stud Book. His are our first recorded mare families. And they are still growing with the passing years. Interestingly, the original aim of Sir James was to import and breed pure to be used to improve the light horse breeds of our country and hence commenced the tradition of breeding outstanding Derivative Arabian horses which now form a considerable part of our Australian Registry. We feel that our Derivative Registry is quite unique as besides Part Arabians and Anglo Arabians we have a registry for Arabian Ponies, Arabian Warmbloods, Arabian Riding Ponies, Quarabs and more recently Arabian Stockhorses.

Our publication ‘The Arabian Horse in Australia and New Zealand, Volume VI’, which was released in 2006, chronicles the breed’s history in Australia from the earliest days of European settlement to the present, with emphasis being on the period since the mid 1950’s.

Showing is a popular activity in Australia, both in-hand classes and a great variety of ridden classes as well, at approximately 75 shows per year. This year in March we also celebrated the Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary) of our National Arabian Championship Show and this was marked with appropriate silver sashes as well as the usual trophies. We have also commenced this year a system of Awards for those who have rendered outstanding service to the Society in the promotion of the Arabian horse.

We are pleased to report the growing popularity of Endurance riding and hardly a weekend passes without a well attended ride in some part of the country, with well over 100 rides each year. The aim is preparation for the Tom Quilty which is the Premier event in Endurance in Australia. The breeding of endurance horses is becoming most popular in our Studs and in 2008 we are planning to stage our first 26-mile Marathon race along the lines of the UK model. There is also a renewed interest in racing.

The current Stud Book is Volume 25 published in 2001 and Volume 26 due to be published this year. A CD-Rom is also available and our online Stud Book can be viewed at our website, www.ahsa.asn.au The number of Purebred foals registered in 2005 was 530 with a small increase to 585 in 2006 while imports and exports have continued to increase, and interestingly we have been exporting quite a number of show horses in the past year, whereas the main focus of exports in recent times has been our endurance horses. We are using DNA for mandatory parent verification of foals. Microchipping is not compulsory but is recorded if done. Artificial insemination, Transported Semen imported or exported, Embryo transfer and multiple foal registrations per mare per year by embryo transfer are all allowed.

Our Registry and our Head Office has recently updated our Computer software and we now have a very efficient turn around in our documentation. The use of our online Stud Book is increasing with the Website being updated on a daily basis and our website becoming quite popular now with our members.