Leading specialists, scientists and dignitaries from around the world with ties to international sport horse breeding will gather in Brussels on Thursday 1 through Sunday 4 December.
On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Belgian Warmblood Horse Studbook (BWP) will be the organizer and proud host of the annual convention of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH). Aside from the general meeting of this worldwide federation, many seminars and an academic session are scheduled.
Since the beginning of this year, several BWP events of the biggest Belgian studbook have already taken place, but this gathering in early December will be without a doubt the highlight.
A festive academic session at the auditorium of the KBC head office in Leuven, which will be attended by many prominent personalities from the world of politics, equestrianism and international breeding, will start things off on Thursday, 1 December. The topics will include the economical, cultural and sporting importance of the equestrian sector in Belgium and the awarding of the honorary WBFSH membership to driving forces Joep Bartels and – posthumously- Eric Wauters. The evening will hopefully close with awarding the celebrated BWP the title of “Royal Society” but some final arrangements have yet to be made.
On Friday, 2 December, the representatives of all the important registers will meet for the first time during the first closed meetings of the WBFSH.
Saturday, 3 December, will be especially interesting. Many workshops and presentations will cover purely breeding-technical subjects, as well as the use of thoroughbreds in warmblood breeding, and current themes that are globally the subject of broad public discussions. Especially the sessions on the current scientific and ethical state of affairs pertaining to the cloning of horses (a reality!) and the use/abuse of DNA research in horse breeding may receive much attention. Also important and worth mentioning is that these workshops on Saturday are open to all those that are interested, provided they register in advance and make a modest contribution.
Saturday evening the international WBFSH participants will be introduced to stud stations, horse traders and some current parade horses from the BWP studbook and international top-class sport during a closed presentation at the Haras de Wisbecq.
The formal WBFSH annual meeting closes the event on Sunday, 4 December, with items such as (re-)elections for various positions, financial reports, activity reports etc.
For further information, please contact:
Rudi Eerdekens
Secretary general BWP
Telephone: + 32 475 37 41 54
E-mail: rudi.eerdekens@bwp.be