Only in its second year, the Asia Horse Week – which takes place alongside the Longines Masters – has established itself as an annual platform for the equestrian industry to come together and share experience, exchange knowledge and engage with the key players of the horse world. This year, important members of the equestrian community attended the event that took place between 14 and 16 February at AsiaWorld Expo. We talked to Raphaël le Masne de Chermont, the Chairman of the Asia Horse Week during the three-day event to know more about the mission and vision of Asia Horse Week.
What are the programme highlights for this year’s Asia Horse Week?
This year’s programme has been built around four major pillars – horse welfare, education, sports and breeding. In this regard, the seminar organised by International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to raise awareness on anti-doping and the promoting on clean practice in equestrian sports was particularly eye-opening, I’d say. The other important highlight was the auction that we organised this time – for the first-time ever in Asia, the embryos from the best blood lines of horses were sold. It was obviously an incredible opportunity of investment in the equine industry.
How has the equestrian market grown in Asia over the years?
I can confidently say that the equestrian market is booming in Asia now. The Chinese market itself is growing by 50% per year, with about one million riders joining various clubs. Other countries, too, like Japan, India and Indonesia, are also developing their own strong racing industries.
What areas of horse welfare were highlighted in this year’s Asia Horse Week?
This year’s Asia Horse Week touched upon a diverse range of areas around equine welfare, like regular monitoring of horses’ health, good training and riding practices, the regulations and stipulations necessary for the protection of horses and riders, FEI’s various regulations and achievements so far, etc. I would particularly like to draw attention to the participation of Mr. Roly Owers, in this seminar, who as the chief executive of the World Horse Welfare charity, helped understand the global perspective on these issues.
How much awareness is there around horse welfare in Hong Kong?
I think welfare of horses is quite embedded in Hong Kong’s culture, as the city sees high-performance horse racing events throughout the year and the horse lovers here are well-aware of the very specific needs of racing horses, in particular.
But one may wonder about what happens to these horses after they retire. Well, in that context, I found the session conducted by Amanda Bond, Executive Manager of Equestrian Affairs at HKJC [founding partners of Asia Horse Week] to be very illuminating. She talked about giving retired racehorses meaningful second careers in the equestrian industry – something that really resonated with the horse lover in me.
Thank you.
Interview by: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay
Photos: EEM