In mid-August, a shipment of 14 Hungarian-bred racehorses was shipped to China directly from Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport on board a plane owned by cargo airline Cargolux, commissioned by HELLMANN WWL Ltd.
Exports of Hungarian horses to China began last year following over six years of negotiations and one sear of preparations on the part of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the first shipment of 9 Hungarian breeding and race horses set off for China in February 2016 from Frankfurt Airport.
The successful export of live animals to China is an outstanding success for Hungary’s horse sector, and is also an acknowledgement of both the high quality of Hungarian horse breeding and the animal health service. There is high interest in China with regard to Hungarian horses, and accordingly higher consumer demand is expected following the first successful shipments.
Horse-riding and equestrian sports are also becoming increasingly popular in China, which over 300 equestrian clubs currently operating there, in addition to which the number of private horse owners is also continuously increasing. Demand for horses for breeding and sports activities had been continuously increasing in recent years in the world’s most highly populated country, and over half a million people in China now ride horses on a regular basis.
Permission to export horses for breeding and sports purposes could provide a new boost for the Hungarian horse sector. Not only could it bring an upturn with relation to the trade in live animals, but it will also lead to new opportunities in every sector of equestrian culture, allowing breeders, trainers, enterprises that manufacture saddles and harnesses, and feed producers to all find new markets in China.