Saving the Bohai horse
Updated : 2016-10-14
By Ju Chuanjiang (China Daily Africa)
Equine expert works to improve the qualities of the breed and make it more suitable for competitions
Fan Jiayi developed profound feelings for Bohai horse as a child, leading him to devote his life to saving the species from disappearing.
Hesheng horse ranch in Daxindian village, Shandong province, is China's sole base for preserving the breed, a mix between Mongolian horses and horses introduced from the former Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s.
A keeper with an adult Bohai horse and a foal at Hesheng horse ranch in Shandong province. Photos by Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily |
The tall, proportioned, powerful yet gentle horses are found mainly in the northeastern part of Shandong and on the south shore of Bohai Bay.
The breed was used to pull carts and as packhorses in wartime, but as mechanized agriculture grew more widespread, their numbers have fallen sharply from a peak of more than 80,000 in the 1980s.
Han Guocai, deputy director of China Agricultural University's Horse Research Center in Beijing, says the number reached a low of 200 in 2007, but today it has rebounded to about 1,000.
Fan's ranch alone has more than 200 adult Bohai horses, about half of them mares. He expects the herd to grow to about 500 in five years.
His determination to rescue them from extinction grew out of an accidental encounter. In March 2007, Fan saw that some horses, including several Bohais, were about to be killed at a slaughterhouse in Wudi county, Shandong. Among them was a powerful horse almost exactly like the one he had as a child.
Seeing the horse stirred an emotion buried inside, he recalls. "I'd played with horses since I was 7 years old. Sometimes, when I fell from a horse, it would stop and wait for me to climb on its back again," he says. "Horses can't speak, but they are friendly to people. Each time I see horse killed, it is as if a knife has been plunged into my heart.
"I thought, why don't I take these good horses to my hometown? Then I can protect this breed and bring a tourism attraction to my hometown."
Fan bought the horses and took them home. Later, he traveled throughout Shandong looking for Bohai horses and finally found more than 30 for his ranch.
Ma Ling, his wife, says that over the past nine years, Fan has spent more than 200 million yuan ($29.8 million; 26.7 million euros; 24.2 million) on the ranch. She says she even considered divorcing him as he devotes all his time to Bohai horses, not the family.
In his defense, Fan says: " I can't let the famous Bohai horses die out."
After years of development, his ranch now covers more than 30 hectares and has stables, indoor and outdoor training grounds, shower rooms and a horse breeding center.
He now plans to attempt to breed a Bohai warmblood within five to 10 years by crossbreeding the Chinese breed with German warmbloods. China currently has no warmblood breeds, he says.
Descended from hotbloods (known for their speed and endurance) and coldbloods (better suited to slow, heavy work), Bohai horses present many warmblood characteristics without falling into the category, Fan explains.
"Although Bohai horses are big and have good physical strength, they're ponderous, so pure Bohai horses are not suited to racing," he says.
He says his ranch could produce about 40 Bohai warmbloods a year and after six years of training they would be able to participate in domestic equestrian events.
"Currently, horse clubs import warmbloods for international competitions at a high price. In five to 10 years, we will have domestic warmblood horses that are suited to racing, substantially reducing the price of racehorses," he adds.
Fan says he realizes he needs to make money to support his dream of protecting the Bohai horse and cultivating a warmblood variety.
He has imported more than a dozen purebred horses from Germany, Spain and the Middle East and used Bohai horses as surrogate mothers to give birth to purebred warmbloods through embryo transfers. The ranch can breed 20 purebreds a year, some of which are sold.
Fan has also opened an equestrian school and indoor venues for tourists to watch equestrian performances and experience horseback riding. Thanks to cooperation with tourism agencies, visitors are helping his ranch to have an income.
Zhao Ruixue and Gu Jingwen contributed to this story.
juchuanjiang@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/14/2016 page20)