Dubai: The thriving UAE Purebred Arabian breeding industry came in for praise on the opening day of the 2014 World Arabian Horse Racing Conference, which is supported by the HH Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Horse Flat Racing Festival.

Faisal Al Rahmani, the founder of Emirates Bloodstock, told delegates attending the three-day event at the St James Theatre in London that the industry has “progressed so much that over 500 foals are born in the UAE in a year”.

Al Rahmani, whose company serves the equine industry in the UAE and Middle East through auction sales, was speaking during the opening day’s programme that featured topics on breeding, racing and training, vetting and nutrition. He is also the head of Al Ain Racecourse, one of five UAE racecourses that host race meets during the season.

Another discussion saw a proposal to attract the younger generation to Purebred Arabian racing, with France and Oman already having taken steps in this direction.

Also on the agenda were the challenges facing the creation and adoption of an international agreement to harmonise rules, including those on the transport of horses and an acceptable pattern race format.

Noted UK broadcaster Derek Thompson moderated the opening session on breeding, with the speakers being Shaikh Hamad Al Hamad (UAE), Bill Smith, Rene Koch (France), Linda Otermans (Netherlands), Mamdouh Al Baraqi (Saudi Arabia), Salim Al Quraini (Oman), Jean Pierre Deroubaix (France), Richard Lancaster and Michelle Morgan (US).

The afternoon session on ‘Racing and Training’ was moderated by Pat Buckley, with Faisal Al Rahmani (UAE), Jean Pierre Totain (FR), Yves Plantin (FR), Yasir Mabrouk (Sudan/UAE), Karin van den Bos ((Netherlands), Ernst Oertel (South Africa/UAE), Mohammad Al Hashemi (Oman) and Susanna Santesson (Germany) as the principal speakers.

The UAE’s champion trainer Oertel said horses need to be treated as individuals. “Training Purebred Arabian horses is a bit more challenging than Thoroughbreds, but in both cases every horse is different, so you can’t apply any common formula while training them,” he said.

The session on ‘Vetting, Nutrition and Legal aspects’ was moderated by Philip Brenan (UK) and saw a lively exchange of views between Mohammad Al Machmoum (Morocco), Alberic Thiery (FR), Ahmad Al Badi (UAE), Jerard Habibian (Lebanon), Izeta Sulemanjin (Croatia), Graham Walcroft (UK) and Kathy Smoke (US).

Most of the topics that came up for discussion will be raised in the workshop on the final day of the three-day conference, which has more than 350 delegates in attendance.