Hovhannes Amalyan: ‘Selection of Sport Horse Breeds Just Started to Revive’
Krasnodar, 28 November – Yug Times. Our today's interviewee is Hovhannes Amalyan, Master of Sport in show jumping.
Q.: Are there any special breeds that are good for show jumping?
A.: Many such breeds have been developed during the history of show jumping. The list includes many German breeds: Westphalian, Holstein, Hanoverian; also Selle Français, Dutch Warmbloods, and Belgian breeds. These are the breeds of the world leading selection and it is impossible to say which of them are the best. They are specially raised for show jumping and they demonstrate best results in this sport. In Holland, Belgium, Germany and France the selection of horses for show jumping has been developing for a very long time and is obviously more fruitful than in other countries. In the Soviet Union, there was very good selection of sport and race horses. But in the 1990s horse breeding farms fell into disrepair, were ruined, and today we need to revive everything. In Europe, this process has been going on continuously since ancient times.
Q.: Has the process of revival started yet?
A.: It has merely begun. For example, we have started to develop a horse breeding centre in Labinsk specially for show jumping, and their horses are first of all distributed to sports schools and branches of the Krasnodar region. The work has been going on for only a few years, and we are all waiting for good horses. Stud farms are appearing all over Russia, and though they are small compared to European farms, it is nice that enthusiasts started to get involved in this business. I would like to point out that Labinsk Stud Farm is the only state-owned stud farm in Russia. In order to feel the result for the industry, of course, it is necessary to work longer.
Q.: Is there a community of keen sponsors around show jumping?
A.: There are a few, but we need a lot more of them. In European countries, the success of show jumping is so great because a lot of money is invested. In our country a sponsor is usually a person who fell in love with horses under some circumstances, has some money and invests in this sphere out of personal interest. But for show jumping to develop on the world level, the sponsors should be the level of football or ice hockey. You lnow that these sports are run by large corporations, which have great financial resources. One can only dream of such scale in show jumping.