“We are very happy to see that this event takes place here in Beijing, China,” says Nils Ismer who has contacts to China horse enthusiasts since many years and, of course, he visited the 1st China Arabian Horse show. “It is very important for the Arabian horse inside China. There are already a few Arabian horse enthusiasts over here and this show putting the first benchmark for Arabian horse shows in this huge country.”

The German breeder Nils Ismer, who explores the Chinese Equestrian market for eleven years, traveled to China together with another long-time breeder and colleague Karl-Heinz Stöckle, representing the European Breeders Trust. Both are thankful to Dynasty Arabians for taking all the effort organizing this amazing event in Beijing which gave a first overview of the Arabian horse scene. “This is why the European Breeders Trusts needs to be represented at such an important event,” adds Karl-Heinz Stöckle who sees a huge potential for the next twenty years. “This won’t be a short way to get into this market but we want to create a kind of relationship between the breeders in China and Europe to share ideas, education, and – of course – horses of good quality.”

The interest in this exciting new market is huge. Only around 300 Arabian horses are currently living in China, so it isn’t comparable with Europe, the USA nor the Middle Eastern market. No wonder, several breeders from Europe and the USA came to visit the 1st China Arabian Horse Show. Among them were Murray and Shirley Popplewell, What brings a couple from Canada, partly living in Scottsdale to China? The easy answer: “The Arabian horse,” says Murray Popplewell with a big smile. “We realized the impression of having this breed worldwide and China is a very good market for this. The Chinese people are very proud of what they have and what they own. The Arabian horse is exactly the same, it is a proud and elegant animal.” About the show, Murray says: “I am really impressed, it is hot, it is humid. Ran Eric Xu and his team did an amazing job to find sponsors and organize such an event. It is important to promote the Arabian horse in this country. And it is a good chance to visit our horses which we sold to a breeder over here,” Murray adds.

The probably most known handler at the show was Christina Schläpfer from Switzerland, where her parents established a well-known breeding program, Emaj Arabians, close to Zürich. Christina took the chance to show exclusively show horses for Knocke Arabians in China. But Christina had another mission, too. The German handler Frank Spönle asked Christina to take a kind of secret mission, traveling to Abu Dhabi preparing some horses. “In the end, Kelle Deeter and I were there to prepare Triple Crown winner Gallardo J. Because this wonderful stallion was a gift from Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince to the President of China and we were there through this special moment when the horse was handed over.”

Christina was also impressed by the showground of the 1st China Arabian Horse Show. “It is a perfect place for horses,” she comments. “Inside and outside arenas, pastures, the horses feel comfy here. I had no idea what to expect in China but the setting is just wonderful. And I am positively surprised to hear, around 40 horses were in scripted for the show while so many Arabian horse shows in Europe are struggling with the number of competitors.”

Many visitors took the chance to visit some touristic attractions after the show – and China has to offer a lot of things about culture and history, like the Great Wall or the Forbidden City.

From now on, the Arabian horse will play a vital role in China, too, and will become part of the long equestrian history of this country. Arabian Horse Global Network wish to thank Knocke Arabians as our event sponsor and also thank you to the organizers for partnering with Arabian Horse Results. It is an honour to cover this premiere!