Saudi Arabia tightens rules to preserve Arabian horses
SR500,000 fine against unlicensed auctions, organisational violations
Cairo: Saudi authorities have imposed fines of up to SR500,000 for holding auctions for Arabian horses without a licence as part of draft regulations aimed to preserve the animal’s fine breeds.
Illegal online auctions for Arabian horses are punishable by SR100,000, according to a penalty table drafted by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.
An organiser of an Arabian horse competition violating stipulations in a related contract faces a maximum fine of SR500,000 while failure to provide appropriate services during the event is fined by SR300,000, Okaz newspaper reported.
The ministry oversees the King Abdulaziz Arabian Horse Centre, a facility named after Saudi Arabia’s founder.
Established in 1961 in agricultural Dirab about 35 kilometres from the south west of Riyadh on an area of about 1 million square metres, the centre is the homeland of original Arabian horses.
The facility is designated for preserving the heritage of the Arabian horses, as it still has a herd of pure desert bred Arabian horses that descended from the herd of Saudi Arabia’s founder.
It is also a home to groups of original Arabian horses of other breeds aimed to improve breeding, as well as to preserve the old Saudi desert bred Arabian horses, which go back to the well-known breeds in the Arabian Peninsula.
The centre, moreover, represents the kingdom at world Arabian horse organisations, and applies international rules related to the welfare, registration and movement of the horses.