ARAB THOROUGHBRED BREEDING IN SLOVAKIA

National Stud Farm "Topoľčianky", š.p. was authorized on 10 December 1997 by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic pursuant to the provisions of § 4 of the Act of the Slovak National Council no. 110/1972 Coll. as amended by Act SNR no. 256/1991 Coll. "On the breeding of livestock" by leading a studbook of purebred Arabian horses under authorization number 48/1997.

Since that year, the National Stud Farm, as the guarantor of the mentioned horse breed in Slovakia and its representative to foreign countries, performs all the functions that result from its position, both within the Slovak Republic and abroad, through its membership in the international organization WAHO. He registers Arabian thoroughbred horses and also represents Slovak private breeders in this organization, for which he pays an annual membership fee, which is set by WAHO based on the number of born and duly registered Arabian thoroughbred foals born in Slovakia.

In cooperation with international member countries and WAHO rules, it issues export certificates and registers all duly reported imported Arabian thoroughbred horses imported into Slovak Republic. In accordance with the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/262, Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and in cooperation with the Decree of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Slovak Republic on identification and registration of equidae, identifies, registers horses and issues passports and certificates of origin for all Arabian horses born in Slovakia. At the same time, the National Stud Farm maintains a database of Arabian thoroughbred horses, which is widely available to breeders and published online on the official website of the National Stud Farm "Topoľčianky", š.p. www.nztopolcianky.sk

In the breeding of Arabian thoroughbreds in Slovakia, we have seen an increase in the interest of breeders in this breed in recent years, as evidenced by the fact that 16 Arabian thoroughbred breeding stallions were licensed this year, and only 10 Shagya-arab stallions in land breeding. Twelve Arabian thoroughbred stallions were imported to Slovakia from various countries such as Syria, Italy, Poland, Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Four stallions come from Slovak breeding. Overall, the number of imported Arabian thoroughbred horses also increased. In the last 5 years, 104 Arabian horses were imported, while only 37 horses were exported from Slovakia.

As of 31 December 2020, the National Stud Farm registered 219 breeders and 569 Arabian thoroughbred horses in its database. The number of born and properly registered Arabian thoroughbred foals is also growing every year. This increase is a pleasing fact for the development of this breed.

Organized breeding of Arabian thoroughbreds in Slovakia began with the import of Arabian stallions and mares to the National Stud Farm in 1973 from the Egyptian stud farm El Zahra and later, after 1989 it successfully spread to the private sector.

The basis of breeding in Slovakia were imported original Egyptian stallions and mares. Due to imports and diverse variability of origins, the original Egyptian origin of horses is currently a rarity and a sought-after item. At present, the owners focus more on fashion trends, such as the colour of blackbirds, but there are breeders who know how to appreciate the homogeneity of origin and the genetic contribution of original Egyptian horses.

For the second year in a row, the National Stud Farm has also offered an exceptional Arabian stallion of Egyptian origin, the UZAAR stallion.

UZAAR (Tobrok IV) is a 6-year-old stallion, born from insemination after the legendary stallion Tobrok. The stallion TOBROK (Anter - Tanta, 1966) from the line Gamil El Kebir, left 140 offspring in the stud farm. After him, there were several stallions and breeding Shagya-arabian mares, which became the elite of the breeding core. His son Hamadan (Tobrok - Felfela, 1980) became the father of excellent breeding mares awarded at international championships, but also the father of the breeding stallion Unikát (Hamadan - El Hamza, 1989), which acted in the breeding of stud farms.

The stallion's dam is the mare Unia after Al Sachra Kytho (from the line El Deree, 1920) from the Ukrainian mother (after Hamadan).

The pedigree of this stallion is crossed by the stallion Hamadan (1980) through the stallion Tobrok, the bearer of constitutional hardness and endurance. It is these origins that are valued today mainly by breeders focusing on the production of horses for endurance riding.

The UZAAR stallion passed the performance tests at the National Stud Farm in 2018, in the Elite class. He was highly rated for type and exterior and received a mark of 8.55 points. In 2020 he was included in the breeding program of the National Stud Farm under the tribal designation TOBROK IV. The stallion has excellent fertility and this year there will be 11 shagya-arab foals born after him.

The Uzaar stallion, based on its origin and exterior, won the WAHO TROPHY award last year for the best Arabian thoroughbred breeding stallion in Slovakia.

In this breeding season, the stallion will act in the Insemination and Reproduction Centre of the National Stud Farm Krásny Majer and its insemination doses are available to breeders of Arabian thoroughbreds, but also Shagya-arab mares.