REPORT MADE AT 2009 WAHO CONFERENCE:

My name is Didier Thiévent, I am the Registrar and the Delegate of the Swiss Arab Horse Society for this Conference. And this is our report.

Our Society has about 500 members, we have a computerized Database for registered Arabians and we actually have 2,504 living horses registered in our country. Volume 9 of our stud books is in preparation, covering the years 2004 to 2007. I hope it will be published towards the end of the summer. Approximately 200 mares and 30 stallions are used for breeding.

We registered 70 foals in 2007 and 77 foals in 2008. The foal registrations dropped by 45% during the past 15 years, comparing to the year 1992 when the maximum number of foals we ever registered in our Society totalled 135. This reflects the difficult market situation in Switzerland, especially in the last 10 years resulting from the upcoming breeds of western horses and other special breeds for recreational use. Certainly also the way that the halter show scene seems to be becoming even more and more crazy may be having a greater negative impact in putting people off breeding Arabians in our country. But the Swiss Arab Horse Society is actually reinforcing her efforts to promote the ridden Arab horse in the market.

We have been using DNA-typing since 1993 for all breeding horses and the foals are parent verified at registration. Since 2001 we ask for all breeding horses to be SCID tested. We have no restrictions on SCID carriers but all foals are SCID-tested unless both parents are already tested SCID-clear. Till today our foals are not microchipped at registration. A new federal law will probably force us to do this in the near future. As we have a small Purebred Arab horse population, we only had 16 imports in 2007, and 10 exports, most of them from and to European countries.

Our mares are mostly covered by natural service, but Artificial Insemination via fresh, chilled, or frozen semen, both domestic and imported, is allowed. We allow post-mortem use of frozen semen with no time limit. We allow the export of semen. Embryo Transfer is permitted only if the receiving mare is a purebred Arabian and must be granted by the Executive Committee of the Society. In the year 2008 only one stud was interested in Embryo Transfer but no foal was actually produced by Embryo Transfer. Till today multiple foal registration by Embryo Transfer is permitted, but will probably change at this year’s general meeting and in the future only one foal per calendar year will be registered.

We issue a Registration Certificate and since 1996 also a Passport. Our passport is recognized by the F.E.I, but must be confirmed by the Swiss Equestrian Federation before. Until today we do not issue UELN numbers.

Since 2006 we developed an Elite Broodmare and Stallion scheme, not only to acknowledge and honour Arabian mares and stallions of particular significance but also to provide as much information as possible for the breeders and to help them with their breeding decisions. Since 2007 we have a stallion categorization on a voluntary basis. The categorization of the breeding stallions serves as an information instrument, which gives our breeders transparent and comparable information to help them with their breeding decisions. The stallions are judged for the criteria, conformation and movement, health, performance under saddle and the quality of the offspring. The stallions are categorized in each criteria with A, B or C, A stands for outstanding, B for good and C for insufficient. Until today 30 stallions have participated.

For 16 years now our society has organized an annual National Stock Show for Purebred Arabian horses. At this show we try to judge the horses in a more detailed and breeding oriented way than at the ‘normal shows’. The horses are not only shown at hand but also free and we use 11 criteria. The judges make comments on the evaluation sheet for the different criteria with particularly high or low scores. So the owner of the horse has much better information about the qualities of his horse. Also, every 3 or 4 years we also organize a National Championship under ECAHO rules.

Arabian races are held normally 4 times a year and there are 12 Endurance Events per year with about 30 registered purebred Arabians participating at medium and high level. The Swiss Team finished in third and fourth place in the Junior European Championships in 2007 and 2008. We have had a performance test in endurance and in flat racing for many years, but unfortunately only a few horses have taken part so far. The principal activities for purebred Arabians in Switzerland are breeding, endurance riding, dressage, show jumping and cross-country, western riding, racing, driving, showing and of course, pleasure riding. We also have a yearly ranking for registered Arabians in these categories and the best horses under saddle are honoured with rosettes and prize money. This is to motivate our breeders and owners to show their Arabians under saddle in public. At a few national horse events we participate with a trade-stand and bring horses to be shown either at halter or under saddle. The effects of these public relations are not yet clearly noticeable but we keep on trying.

Since our society promotes an all-round Arabian horse, the WAHO Trophy has been awarded in 2006 to the 20 year old stallion Jeridan out of Egyptian and English bloodlines, and in 2007 to the also 20 year old Amal Ibn El Sharai out of Spanish, Egyptian and English bloodlines, both for their exceptional achievements in dressage, show jumping and cross-country. In 2008 the WAHO Trophy was given to the 2 year old filly Eysha El Azrak out of Polish and Egyptian bloodlines based on her exceptional results in shows. All in all we can state that, despite the actually lower number of registered foals per year, we have a stable population of Purebred Arabians in Switzerland. The enthusiasm for the beauty and the gentle nature of the Arab horse is still large and the society will do all it can to promote our breed to the public. For that reason also the WAHO Trophy is very highly esteemed. Thank you to all the people who made this award possible.

PREVIOUS REPORTS:

The Current stud book is Volume 8, covering the period 2000-2003. The Swiss Arab Society has about 550 members and there are approximately 2000 horses registered. There are generally an average of 100 breeding mares and 30 breeding stallions. In 2006, the number of foals registered was 87. In 2006 there were 11 exports and 10 imports. We have used DNA for a number of years, and since 1993 we have required parent verification, previously by blood-types. Artificial Insemination is allowed, also transported semen. We only allow Embryo Transfer with special permission. We have issued and used passports since 1996. Artificial insemination and transported semen are allowed, also embryo transfer.

There are several ridden programmes supported by the Society, there is a dressage trophy, a western trophy and a long distance trophy. Riding in Switzerland is a bigger market than showing. There is one Arabian show per year, there are also 5 race meetings and 10 endurance rides.