HORSE BREEDER ASSOCIATIONS MEET TO REACH COMMON GROUNDS ABOUT BREEDING PROGRAMS AND BREEDING STOCK CATALOGS

Initiative organized by the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Agriculture’s Service for Livestock Production

Yesterday afternoon, the Service for Livestock Production, an office of the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development met at the Gran Hipódromo Racetrack in Dos Hermanas Sevilla with the main national horse breeder associations with offices in Andalusia These included the Anglo-Arab AECCAá, the Hispano-Arab UEGHá and the Purebred Spanish Horse ANCCE Breeder Associations  The various Associations met for the 1^st Workshop to Interpret Purebred Equine Breeding Stock Catalogs  

The Workshop was inaugurated by Rafael Bazán, Director of the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Agriculture’s Service for Livestock Production  He emphasized the importance of organizing such meetings throughout the year to inform about and reach consensus for each of the breeds included within the framework of Breeding Programs  

Javier Conde, president of ANCCE, expressed his appreciation for the backing given to the Association and spoke of the dedication to and collaboration with the PRE Breeding Program since it was created 

Participants in the workshop included breeders, Association Presidents and technicians from each of the respective Stud Books, who were responsible for providing information and sharing basic as well as generic knowledge about the various Breeding Programs and Breeding Stock Catalogs   Pedro J Azor, Assistant Director of the PRE Stud Book and Technical Director of the PRE Breeding Program, intervened on behalf of ANCCE  Antonio Rodríguez de la Borbolla, Technical Director of the AECCAá Stud Book, Mª José Sánchez, from the MERAGEM Research Group and Javier Fernández, director of the Hispano-Arab UEGH’a Stud Book also provided presentations  They all coincided in the importance of the Breeding Stock Catalogs as a source of quality information and the means to guarantee and maintain a profitable breeding activity All of these speakers encouraged breeders to use these catalogs as a consultation tool and reference to advance in their breeding selection objectives  These objectives seek to have horses that are able to consolidate a number of given aptitudes  For example, in the case of the PRE, it is an aptitude for Dressage or conformation   

This tool should be incorporated into daily stud farm husbandry to contribute to improving breed genetics and increase the genetic progress of future generations  This is especially true in the current economic situation in which stud farm productivity and competiveness must improve to guarantee feasibility