REPORT AT 2011 WAHO CONFERENCE:

Mr. Gideon Reisel, The Netherlands: Your Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, your Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, Special Advisor to the Emir and Patron of the 2011 WAHO Conference and the entire Organizing Committee. On behalf of the Arabian Horse Registry of the Netherlands I would like to express our appreciation and gratitude for the hospitality of the people of Qatar and the outstanding organization of the 2011 WAHO Conference. President of the board, members of the Executive Committee and all WAHO members, this is the delegate report of the Dutch registry. My name is Gideon Reisel and I am the registrar of the studbook and secretary to the Dutch Arabian Horse Association in the Netherlands.

In the year 2010 the Dutch registry registered 189 purebred Arabian foals. This is a decline of more than 22% relative to the year before that. So far we registered approximately 140 foals this year, so this same decline seems to continue into 2011. Although reasons are not clear, fact is that the combination of the price of coverings and care are not in balance with the average sales-prices of Arabian Horses. Unless the offspring is of exceptional quality, the invested cost usually supercedes the selling price. Due to that and in light of the global economic crisis, breeders are possibly more hesitant to produce in large numbers in answer to the declining demand.

The Dutch Arabian Horse Association organizes five shows yearly, one amateur event, three regional shows and one National Championship. Under Dutch organization two international ECAHO B shows are scheduled each year. The Association promotes dressage, jumping and eventing for riders and at the before-mentioned shows ridden classes are a part of the show programme. Western riding, endurance events and flat racing are being organized by external organizations respectively through the Dutch Arabian Western Riding Association, the National Federation for Endurance and the Dutch Arabian Racing Committee. Roughly 150 horses are actively participating in these different sporting events, which comes down to an estimate of about 5% of living registered horses between the age of 4 and 20 years old.

The Dutch Arabian Horse Association promotes the Arabian Horse in the Netherlands by keeping all events open to visitors free of charge, participation in major National Horse Fairs and demonstrations at other events. We award the WAHO trophy each year at the National Championship Show. This year the winner of the Dutch WAHO trophy is Poulain Kossack, by Nougatin out of Pengalia Kossack, this 2006 stallion is one of the best racehorses in Europe, winner of the Doha Cup in Hamburg, the Futurity Cup in Duindigt, the North European Derby, and the HRH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan Cup, and 2nd in the UAE President's Cup, so in 2001 we awarded him this prestigious prize. The Association and Registry have an elaborate website and we produce a full colour magazine six times a year for members, associated studbooks and registered enthusiasts. The magazine and the website contain an abundance of information about the history, the care and the welfare of the Arabian Horse.

The Dutch Arabian Horse Association has commenced mandatory testing on all newborn foals and breeding stallions for SCID and CA at the beginning of 2011. Foal testing is done at the same time as parentage verification which has brought down the cost to only 9 euros per test. Although always a topic of discussion we believe this way an objective inventory can be kept to how these mutations are influencing the Dutch breeding stock.

The Dutch Registry has stopped publishing a paper version of the studbook. Since the beginning of this year our entire studbook is online, free of charge, through our interactive website which includes all essential information including show results and pedigrees. The website is found under the address www.avsweb.org . This was the Dutch delegate report. Thank you for your attention.

REPORT FROM 2009 WAHO CONFERENCE:

My name is Gideon Reisel, I am the Dutch Secretary and Registrar, and this is the Delegate Report of the Dutch Registry. It is my pleasure to inform you that our most recent stud book, covering the years 2001-2006 has been sent out to all the Registering Authority Members and the WAHO office, and it is also incorporated into the world-renowned Arab DataSource of the United States Registry. Since the Dutch Registry is up-scaling its automation, it is our intention to publish our complete registration history online, on the internet, as soon as our software programmers have developed the correct module making the expensive paper working obsolete.

Our number of registered foals is now steady at around 200 foals a year, for the last 3 years. This is a decline from years before, but we think the quality of our stock is starting to outweigh the quantity. Our Registry has an active breeding population that consists of around 100 breeding stallions and 250 broodmares, and estimates the total number of living Arabian horses in The Netherlands close to 5,000. Imports stayed steady at 44 horses, while exports slightly rose from around 80 to 100. Recently we have noticed the trend of mostly Arabian geldings brought into the country for riding purposes, for which the owners see no benefit in officially importing into our Registry, although we prefer to import these horses and offer interesting benefits associated with registrations, we assume the costs of import and membership are the key discouraging factors. All our registrations are DNA-typed and parent verified. New laws mandate all horses to be microchipped and we use the ISO 11784 and 11785 complying systems. Although an alternative identification method through DNA is a secondary option for identification under Dutch law, it is not accepted in the rest of the world therefore exported horses are mandated to be microchipped by default. We issue EU compliant horse passports and provide our members with a Certificate of Registration for each registered horse. We support Artificial Insemination, fresh, frozen, imported and exported. Our breeding stallions are SCID tested and a new CA (cerebellar abiotrophy) test is under investigation for mandatory compliance. We have an Embryo Transfer approval and registration system in place which has been utilised on a small scale over the last 18 months.

We would like to remind the Conference of our concerns, made 2 years ago, addressing the increasing and excessive use of Embryo Transfer and we would like to recommend the formation of an Ethics Sub-Committee that should monitor this trend and provide the Executive Committee with possible guidelines and boundaries, which we believe would benefit the welfare of the Arabian horse which is ultimately the main responsibility of WAHO.

At present, The Netherlands hosts 1 Amateur, 3 Regional and 1 National Halter Show, under the rules of ECAHO, with added ridden classes, liberty classes and foal classes. The Netherlands hosts 1 International ECAHO B Show and an International Sport Horse Competition called Arabissimo. Our Society organizes clinics and competitions for ridden Arabians to encourage owners to advance to National Federation levels in dressage, eventing and showjumping. Dutch-bred Arabian horses are on the rise in National and International endurance competitions. For your information, the winner of the World Championship Endurance in 2008 in Malaysia was the Dutch-bred Nobby, by Prophecy EF out of the mare Nocturne by Nabucco. We also sponsor the Dutch Arabian Western Association, which has an active group of western riders. We also sponsor the Dutch Arabian Racing Committee with a yearly cash prize stake, where just over 100 registered Arabian racehorses run yearly in about 30 events. On an international level the stallion Robbie and champion racehorse Nougatin are both at stud in the Netherlands to widen the playing field for Dutch racing breeding. With all this, the percentage of actual sport horses is still less than 10% of all Dutch registered Arabians, although a high percentage of the rest will be ridden extensively for recreational use.

In 2007, we awarded the WAHO Trophy to multiple National and International Endurance winner, Salomo (Djinti). He is by Niznji out of Strelitzia by Nadejni. Djinti has successfully completed ten 100-milers and accumulated more than 2,000 kilometres in endurance competitions over a period of 7 years.

In 2008 the WAHO Trophy went to the stallion Anthal, by Komplekt out of Olympia Dennenoord by Sadat. Anthal is the First Premium foundation stallion of one of Holland’s bigger show and breeding farms, and he is besides an accomplished dressage horse and National and International show winner at halter and is an impressive breeding stallion producing excellent offspring for both show and performance. This was the Dutch Report, thank you for your attention.

REPORT FROM 2007 WAHO CONFERENCE:

The most recent published Stud Book, covering the period of 2001 up to and including 2006 was printed in September 2007.

Where 5 years ago we registered close to 300 foals in one year, this number has declined sharply to 237 foals in 2005 and 209 in 2006. Most of this decrease in numbers is due to the mandatory export of previously Dutch-registered broodmares to the country of birth of her foals, some just a few miles on the other side of the border. With the export of close to 90 broodmares, we lose an equal amount of registrations each year. The Registry has an active breeding population that consists of 100 to 120 breeding stallions and between 200 and 240 broodmares, and estimates the total amount of living Arabians at 4,500. While imports jumped form 42 horses in 2005 to 72 in 2006, exports decreased by about the same amount, from 114 in 2005, to 82 in 2006. Most of these numbers are distorted, again due to the mandatory registration of broodmares in the country in which they foal, leading to mandatory imports and exports.

All our registrations are DNA typed and parent verified, Dutch law mandates all horses to be microchipped with ISO 11784 or ISO 11785 compliant systems, or they can opt for an exemption through DNA identification. We do support Artificial Insemination, the use of fresh and frozen semen both imported and exported. Although we haven’t registered any foals born from Embryo transfer yet, we do not object to embryo transfer itself nor to multiple yearly foal registrations from one mare, however we do have questions whether a limited number should be set, if only for the protection of the mare since irrigation or flushing to retrieve embryos has proven in some cases to cause complications.

At present we host one Amateur, three Regional, and one National Halter show, under the rules of ECAHO, with added ridden classes, liberty competitions and foal classes. The Netherlands holds one International ECAHO ‘B’ Show and an International Sport Horse Competition called Arabissimo. Our horses are actively participating in both National and International endurance competitions, in federation Dressage, and just a handful are active in eventing or showjumping. We sponsor the Dutch Arabian Western Association, that has an active group of Western riders, and the Dutch Arabian Racing Committee. There are just over 100 registered Arabian horses running yearly in 30 race events. The percentage of actual sport horses will definitely be less than 10% of all registered Arabians, although a high percentage of the rest will be ridden extensively for recreational use.

In our regional and national shows we advertise locally to invite interested people to attend free of charge. At a few national events we participate with a stand and bring horses to be shown either at halter or under saddle. The effects of this public relations are not yet clearly noticeable but we keep on trying.