Tips galore for jockeys on weight control
rome — It was an important and highly educative day in the HH Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival’s first of the threeday World Arabian Horse Racing Conference (WAHRC).
While Thursday’s opening session on Breeding of Purebred Arabians zeroed in on ‘compatibility’ as the key word in finding a match between mares and stallions; the afternoon trainers and owners agreed that there was no single framework to success in racing and training. Later in the evening, the third session was on the crucial subject of Weight Loss Control for jockeys and the Festival –sponsored research by the Liverpool John Moores University unveiled an industry-specific nutritional education package for jockeys.
Popular racing commentator Derek Thompson handled the session on Breeding with the panelists comprising Stefano Daneri (Italy/ UAE), Catherine Dunnett (UK), Dr. Andrew Daglish (Scotland/UAE),
Ilka Gansera-Leveque (UK), Kathy Smoke (US), Analisa Landuci (Italy), Csaba Pribenszky (Hungary) and Ezzeldine Sedrati (Morocco).
Dr. Daglish stressed on the need for a good mare in Arabian breeding while Dr. Daneri said it was important to study what the stallion has produced before choosing one and see if those qualities work for the particular mare.
Ilka Gansera-Leveque said it was all about compatibility when choosing stallions for mares while Kathy Smoke said a lot of homework has to be done and one has to look for those that were genetically strong.
Landuci said one had to be patient enough as foals take a long time before becoming a winner while Dunnet stressed on the nutritional factor which was not a staple one as Arabian horses have different metabolism rates.
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