REPORT MADE AT 2009 WAHO CONFERENCE:

I am Ilse Ackermann, the official Finnish representative. In Finland, breeding Arabians is a small-scale activity: there are only a few larger breeders in the country. Annually, about 10 to 20 foals are born, with about 20 stallions available for breeding. Some foreign stallions have also been leased to Finland, and Artificial Insemination has also been used in Finnish Arabian horse breeding. Finnish-bred stallions have been used for breeding on a larger scale only recently, as there hasn’t been much supply available in the past.

In 2007, 17 Arabians were imported to Finland, with 14 Arabians exported. Currently, there are about 570 purebred Arabians in Finland.

The official Registry, as required by the law, in Finland is Suomen Hippos. Hippos and the Finnish Arab Horse Society Registrar, Tuija Sipilä, cooperate together with the registrations, as Hippos needs the help of FAHS for publishing the Finnish Arabian stud book, among other things. Hippos also have certain pedigree requirements for their own stud book and FAHS do their best to influence this state of affairs so that the views of WAHO could be followed as closely as possible. Participation in the Hippos Stud Book is voluntary. FAHS registers and enters all purebred Arabians into its stud book as required by WAHO.

The purebred Arabian in Finland is first and foremost a riding horse, some Arabians are also even trained for team driving. Arabians only used for breeding or showing are rare. Thus, FAHS encourages the owners of Arabians to compete with their horses by arranging our annual Purebred Arabian Cup and All-Round Arabian Cup competitions. In the Purebred Arabian Cup points are collected from designated competitions, with equestrianism, show jumping and dressage as disciplines. The All-Round Arabian Cup rewards frequent competing in all disciplines for horses. Points are awarded based on the level of the competition and the placing in the competition. FAHS have also arranged Western and English Pleasure classes in the shows. In addition to this, FAHS rewards the purebred Arabian with the largest number of approved kilometres in endurance, and FAHS have also awarded special awards for purebred Arabians with good results in Western.

The winner of the WAHO Trophy chosen by FAHS in 2008 is the Arabian stallion Dali, with excellent results in endurance. Dali has previously also competed in equestrianism and show jumping, but currently he is trained only for endurance under his rider, Joona Mickelsson. The pair has achieved a number of results in International endurance riding competitions and they are currently on place 22 in the FEI ranking list for endurance.

FAHS have also annually arranged one show with ECAHO classification and also run workshops on show training and handling. The 2008 show was an International ECAHO C show and it was held in Lahti in northern Finland. 40 horses were entered in the show with international participants from Sweden. Additionally, small shows with classes for purebred Arabians are also arranged in Finland. Arabians can also be entered into shows arranged by Suomen Hippos, provided the registration requirements of Hippos are met.

The latest stud book published by FAHS is Volume 4. Volume 5 will be published somewhat late in 2009, this volume will include horses registered in 2002-2007. That concludes the report from Finland, thank you very much for your attention.

REPORT MADE AT 2007 WAHO CONFERENCE:

The Finnish Arabian Horse Society is responsible for compiling the Stud Books and annual supplements. The official Registry is with Suomen Hippos. Currently the registrations are computerized and, due to the low number of horses, the registers are up to date.

There are 477 registered Arabians in Finland. Most of the Arabian horses are owned by individual persons for recreational purposes. We use Arabian horses in dressage, showjumping, and many riding events including eventing and of course endurance. Our Arabian horses are also use for pleasure riding through snow, ice, forests and beautiful summer nature.

In 2006 a total of 17 foals were registered, we had no exports that year but 9 purebred Arabians were imported. We use both blood-typing and DNA typing. Micro-chipping is voluntary. The use of Artificial Insemination and Embryo transfer are both allowed. The Finnish Arab Horse Society holds one major show every year with about 50 entries in each show. Arabian horses have had success in both endurance and eventing in Finland. Endurance seems to be an increasing popular sport in Finland with approximately 20 rides each year. There are no Arabian races in Finland.

Our main lines of purebred Arabian horses are from Poland, Russia and Egypt. Last year we had a general repetition of the first National Championships with 3 judges from abroad, this event is going to take place again this year. The interest in the Arabian horse in Finland is more vivid today, and we are very happy to have Estonia with us as a new Applying Member of WAHO, as this is our close neighbour.