Member Report from Czech Republic
REPORT FROM THE 2022 CONFERENCE
My name is Jaroslav Lacina and I am the President of ACHPAK CR – the Czech Association for Purebred Arabian Horses. Before I start my report, I would like to kindly thank to the Royal family of Jordan, specifically to HM the King of Jordan and to HRH Princess Alia Al Hussein, the Jordanian Equestrian Federation and to all people of Jordan for giving us the opportunity to have this conference here in Amman. Thanks to that, we have a chance to meet impressive history, long lasting traditions, overwhelming hospitality and unlimited dedication to Arabian horses, for which Jordan is known worldwide. A big thank you for accommodating our Arabian horse family during these days!
Now back to my report – our organization was established in 1993, after the division of Czechoslovakia into two independent countries. Since the year of acceptance, our organization is continually improving and today we have almost 200 members and over 400 registered living purebred Arabian horses with registration of approximately 15-20 foals every year. We are one of the smaller associations, however, we are trying to follow newest technologies in the horse breeding. All our horses are ISO microchipped, we allow all sorts of artificial breeding methods and also all our newly born foals and all breeding stallions have to be tested for four genetic diseases (SCID, LFS, CA, OAAM). From this year we have actually adjusted our rules where the newly born foals, whose parents are tested clear to all genetic diseases, do not need to be tested anymore.
Our members have also become quite active with importing and exporting, which is proved by the yearly statistics, where we have in 2020 exported 4 horses and imported 16, in 2021 there were 5 horses exported and 11 imported. Our last published Stud book is Volume VI, covering years 2014-2017 and we are now working on another edition of Volume VII covering years 2018-2021. Our Stud book is not online yet, but we plan to make it available in the near future. But it is available as the pdf file on request. Every year our members also vote for the WAHO Trophy winner and the last awarded horse was a mare Ajradah AQ. She has excellent results in the endurance competitions and this year she gave a birth to her first foal. To improve the knowledge of our breeders, ACHPAK CR regularly organizes seminars about the history and bloodlines of Arabian horses, the constitution of the horse and its training for different disciplines such as pleasure riding, trail or for Arabian horse shows. Our association is also the organizer of the yearly National Championship and the international Arabian horse show Prague Intercup. Both shows are ECAHO affiliated and are quite popular amongst the horse breeders. In 2020 we have been also organizing ECAHO European Championship in Prague. Another popular activity with Arabian horses are the endurance competitions, where we are yearly awarding the best 5 professional and 5 amateur horses with prize money premiums.
Despite the difficulties, which were brought on by Covid-19 restrictions, our breeders have stayed quite active, and were using all opportunities to participate in different competitions with their horses. This success is also owed to the financial support of our government, specifically the Ministry of Agricultural which has a very good and fair system of donations. We are hoping for their continued support, in order to give our breeders a chance to succeed on the national and also international level.
Before I close my report, I would also like to thank to WAHO office for their care and help with our daily administration business. Thank you very much for your attention…
2019 REPORT:
The Purebred Arabian Horsebreeders Association of the Czech Republic (ACHPAK) has provided the following information. In 2017, 10 foals were registered. 6 horses were imported and 6 horses were exported. There were 2 shows and approximately 25 to 30 endurance competitions. In 2018, 13 foals were registered. 4 horses were exported and 11 horses were imported. The number of shows and endurance events remained the same. Another popular activity in the Czech Republic is show jumping.
REPORT FROM 2017 WAHO CONFERENCE:
Jaroslav Lacina, Czech Republic: Your Highnesses, your Excellencies, dear Mr. President, dear Mr. Vice-President, dear Delegates, dear Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Jaroslav Lacina and I am the President of ACHPAK CR, the Czech Association for Purebred Arabian horses. Our Organisation was established in 1993 after the division of Czechoslovakia into two independent countries. In 1998 the Czech Republic was accepted as a full member of WAHO, right here in Bahrain, and that is why this country is so special to us. After 19 years I again have the chance and the pleasure to thank the people of Bahrain and especially to His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa and to His Highness Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, son of the Crown Prince, for hosting such a wonderful Conference and the chance to experience this Pearl of the Gulf, with its horse treasures once more.
Since the year of acceptance, our Organisation has improved and today we have close to 200 members and nearly 400 living Purebred Arabian horses, with the registration of approximately 15 to 20 foals every year. We are one of those smaller Associations, however we are trying to follow the newest technologies in the horse breeding. All our horses are ISO microchipped. We allow all sorts of artificial breeding methods, and also all of our newly born foals and all breeding stallions have to be tested for genetic diseases. Our members also became quite active with importations and exportations, which is proved by yearly statistics. In 2015 we exported 3 horses and 14 were imported. In 2016 there were 5 horses exported to Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and 9 imported from Poland, France, Slovakia, Kuwait, Ireland and Germany.
Our last published stud book is Volume 4 covering the period 2006 to 2009. We actually planned to introduce our newest volume 5, covering years 2010 to 2013, during this Conference. However, due to some technical issues we will do it during the following weeks. Our stud book is not online yet but we plan to do that soon as well. Our members also vote every year about the WAHO trophy winner, and the last awarded horse was stallion Tuzemec, who was imported from Norway and his excellent results in endurance competitions brought him to this award. Due to our small number of horses, our members are also allowed to nominate imported horses which are registered in our stud book for more than three years and are good representatives of the breed.
During the last year our Association organised a seminar for our breeders with Emma Maxwell, about the history and bloodlines of Arabian horses. During this year we are planning to introduce a seminar to our members about the constitution, type and proper movement of Arabian horses, and another one on using different breeding methods and problems with the deliveries of foals.
Our Association is also the organiser of the National Championship and the International Prague Intercup show. Both shows are affiliated to ECAHO and are pretty popular amongst horse breeders. Another popular activity with Arabian horses are endurance competitions, where we are yearly awarding the best five professional and the best five amateur horses with prize money premiums.
Despite all of that, it is still very difficult to motivate breeders to breed more, or to do more activities with their horses. In cooperation with our Ministry of Agriculture, we are even giving to our members the possibility to participate in performance tests where the breeders could achieve financial support for several months of their training. Unfortunately, until now not a single horse took a chance to pass it. However, we know that the purebred Arabian horse is a special breed and we are willing to keep our support on the national and on the international level for many years to come. This is why we would like to thank WAHO for its care and its effort to do the same. Thank you very much for your attention.
REPORT FROM 2014 WAHO CONFERENCE:
Mr. Jaroslav Lacina, Czech Republic: Mr. President, members of the Executive Committee, members of the Organizing Committee, distinguished Delegates, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jaroslav Lacina and I represent the Czech Association for Purebred Arabian Horses. Before I will start with my report, I would like to thank the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club very much for inviting us again to Doha, and for giving us the chance once more to taste a piece of their culture, absolutely wonderful hospitality, and great experience in Arabian horse breeding. Thank you so much.
Back to our report. Our Czech Association has been established in 1993 and it is quite a small organization, however with a really good progress. We have regularly increased the number of registered horses each year, and nowadays we have about 450 living purebred Arabian horses registered in our country. Also the number of our members constantly grows and we now have more than 70 members plus over 90 non-members. Approximately 130 broodmares and about 40 stallions are accepted as breeding stock and they produce around 20 foals each year. Despite increasing the number of breeding horses, the number of foals produced every year still remains the same.
Our Association also increased, during the last years, the numbers of imported and exported horses. We think that this trend is due to the falling price of the horses, because the majority of imported horses were youngstock, which can later be used for breeding. It is important for us to mention that all Arabian horses in our country are DNA typed and all foals have to be parent verified up to the end of the year in which they are born. Also, all horses are micro-chipped, this method of identification has been used since 1993. From 1st January 2012 we started with mandatory genetic testing for all newly born foals, and from the beginning of this year we require genetic disorder tests for all of our breeding stallions. As a support to our members, our Association pays half the cost of these tests. Thanks to the contract with the only one laboratory we use, all the test results come directly into our office, and they are then forwarded later to the individual owners. The results are not published in any other form.
The last edition of our Czech studbook is volume 4, covering the years from 2005 to 2009, this volume was printed just 3 years ago and includes also Volumes 2 and 3 of the studbook. We are now working on Volume 5, which will cover the years 2010 to 2013. Each edition of our studbook also includes details of our past WAHO Trophy winners from relevant years. Anyone who is interested in our studbook can get it in printed format or on a CD medium.
In recent years the Arabian has become more popular as a riding horse in our country, mainly in endurance riding competitions. This has also been supported by our Endurance Cup where 5 of the best horses in the amateur section and 5 in the professional section receive a small financial contribution from our side.
Our Association organizes two Arabian horse shows each year under ECAHO rules, one National Show and one International Show. Both are organized on the same weekend, in Prague. This Show weekend has been a real success from the beginning and attracts a lot of national and foreign breeders to compete. It is also a very good promotion for Arabian horses in our country, as we regularly have coverage from our national television with reports always shown on the main news. We hope that with all these activities we will keep the growing interest in Arabian horses in our country and also worldwide. Thank you very much for your attention
REPORT FROM 2011 WAHO CONFERENCE:
Mr. President, members of the Executive Committee, members of the Organizing Committee, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jaroslav Lacina and I represent today the Czech Association for Purebred Arabian Horses, as its President. Please let me note first of all thanks a lot to the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club for organizing this Conference and for the chance to taste a piece of their culture and hospitality.
Our Czech Association was established in 1993 and is quite a small organization, however with some very good progress. We registered up until now about 285 living purebred Arabians, there is a constantly growing interest among the breeders in the breeding of Arabian horses. We now have more than 50 members and nearly 80 non-members. There are approximately 108 broodmares and 30 stallions are used for breeding and they produce about 20 foals each year. Our Association finished now, with the great help of Kina Murray, our second volume of our studbook. This edition covers the years 1998 to 2009 and includes also our WAHO Trophy winners from 2005 to 2009. The studbook, on a CD medium, will be distributed to all of you tomorrow. All horses in the Czech Republic are DNA-typed and all foals have to be parent verified up to the end of the year they are born. We are also DNA typing all imported horses. In 2010 we imported a total of 11 horses, mainly from Germany, Slovakia, Poland and the USA. 3 horses were exported. Our Organization is microchipping horses since 1993, so we have all horses microchipped. For reproduction we allow both artificial insemination and transported semen, but these methods are not used too often with us. Embryo transfer is also possible to use, since 2008, but we allow to register just 1 foal a year. SCID and CA testing will be mandatory from 2012 for all breeding stallions and from 2013 we would like to start with testing all newborn foals.
The Arabian horse is becoming more and more popular as a riding horse in our country, there are no official competitions open only for Arabian horses, so they have to compete with other breeds but they are doing really well. We declare our last 2010 WAHO Trophy winner, Nadzih, who combines very good riding performance and also good show results. Our Organization supports other kinds of uses of Arabian horses too, we are organizing one official National Championship Show a year, and since last year we also organize the International Show, Prague Inter-Cup, under ECAHO rules. This Show is from the beginning a real success and attracts a lot of foreign breeders to compete. A few years ago we started to support endurance riding too, with the ACHPAK Endurance Cup. This competition is divided into two sections, amateur and professional, and has got also its own funds. We hope that with all these activities, we will keep the growing interest in the Arabian horse in our country, and also world-wide. Thank you very much for your attention.
REPORT FROM 2009 WAHO CONFERENCE:
My name is Jaroslav Lacina and I represent the Arabian Horse Breeders from the Czech Republic. Since 1996 I have been the Executive Secretary, and last year I became the President of the Czech Association of Purebred Arabian Horses. Our new Executive Secretary is Mrs. Radka Vacirova, but she is not present.
Our Organization has now registered 255 purebred Arabian horses, with a constantly growing interest among the breeders. We now have more than 50 members of our Association and nearly 70 non-members. Approximately 70 broodmares and 20 stallions are used for breeding, and they produce about 20 purebred Arabian foals each year. In 2008 only 15 foals were born, but 25 mares were covered which gives us good promise for this year. Until now we have only printed the first volume of our stud book, covering the years 1995-1997 but we are now finishing the second and third volumes which will be finally distributed this summer. Together with our stud book we are also working on a database for our purebred Arabian horses, which is nearly finished now, but we are also making this compatible with the Czech National Database, where all saddle horses are included.
All horses in the Czech Republic are DNA typed and all foals have to be parent verified by the end of the year in which they were born. We also DNA type all imported horses. Last year, we imported a total of 18 horses, mainly from Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Norway and USA, which is an increase of about 120% on the previous year. 6 horses were exported, to Slovakia, Germany, France and The Netherlands. Since 1993 we have been microchipping all horses, using ISO standard microchips, and all horses have to be microchipped prior to their registration. For reproduction, we allow the use of Artificial Insemination and transported semen, but these methods are not used too often with us. Embryo Transfer is also permitted, since last year, but we allow just one foal per mare per year by this method.
The Arabian horse is becoming more and more popular as a riding horse in the Czech Republic. There are no official competitions open only for Arabian horses so they have to compete with other breeds, but they are doing very well. The 2007 WAHO Trophy was awarded to the mare Samira, she was born in 1979 so this Sunday, 8th February, she will be celebrating her 30th birthday. She was also the first privately owned purebred Arabian horse in our new history, after so many years under Communist leadership.
Our Organization supports also the other kinds of use for the purebred Arabian horse in our country. We organize one official National Championship per year, during which we also organize a show jumping competition. For 2010, we plan to organize our first International Show, in Prague. Four years ago we started to support endurance riding, and we offer the ACHPAK Endurance Cup which is divided into two sections, amateur and professional. This is becoming very popular now. For promotion of Arabian horses, every year we prepare a special presentation during two large autumn Horse Fairs, one is in Pardubice. We hope we will continue to see a growing interest in the purebred Arabian horse in our country and also worldwide. Thank you very much for your attention.
REPORT FROM 2007 WAHO CONFERENCE:
The Purebred Arabian Horsebreeders Association of the Czech Republic (ACHPAK) was founded in 1993, in 1998 the Association published the first volume of their stud book, and in the same year the Czech Republic was accepted by WAHO as a full Registering Authority Member.
Our organization has now registered 230 living purebred Arabian horses, there is constantly growing interest among the breeders in breeding Arabian horses. We have now 40 members and 60 non-members. Approximately 65 broodmares and 20 stallions are used for breeding, and they produce about 20 foals each year. In 2006, we had only 12 foals, which is a decrease, but we think the reason for this was that breeders started to work more with their horses and they made the interest more for riding. Until now, we have printed the first Volume of our stud book, covering the years 1995-1997. Now we are finishing both the second and the third Volumes, which will be distributed in the autumn of this year. Together with our stud books, we are also working on the database of our purebred Arabian horses, which will be finished at the same time. All horses in the Czech Republic are DNA typed and all foals have to be parent verified by the end of the year they are born. We are also DNA typing all imported horses. In 2006 we imported a total of 5 horses, from Slovakia, Hungary, Germany and USA. The same number of horses was exported, to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. We are microchipping all horses using ISO code microchips, and all horses have to be microchipped prior to registration.
For reproduction, we accept Artificial Insemination and transported semen, but these methods are not used too often yet. Embryo transfer is not permitted. SCID testing is not required for breeding, but it is recommended.
The Arabian is becoming more and more popular as a riding horse in the Czech Republic. There are no official competitions open only for Arabian horses, so they have to compete with other breeds, but they are not lost in this situation. A very good demonstration of their quality is the qualification of one of our stallions for 3-star eventing competitions.
Our organization supports all kinds of work with Arabian horses in Czechia. We are organizing one official show a year, during which we always organize a showjumping competition. Two years ago we started to support endurance riding, which is very common now, there are about 30 endurance rides each year. So we open financial competition called the Achpak Endurance Cup, which is divided into 2 sections, the Amateur and Professional, where competitors are collecting points from each ride during the season. For promotion of purebred Arabian horse we plan to start organizing in the near future some kind of Friendship Rides, but this idea is really just at the start. We would also like to organize this year some seminars about the history of Arabian horses, with foreign lecturers, and for the autumn we are planning to make an exhibition of Arabian horses during the big Horse Fair at the Pardubice Racecourse. We hope we will keep the growing interest in purebred Arabian horses in our country, also in the future.
