Arabian Knights - Polish horse breeders strive for new markets
On Tuesday, more than 350 breeders, buyers and horse fanciers gathered under the yellow big-top for the Polish Prestige - Janow '95 Sale, held at Poland's premier Arabian stud, the state-owned Janow Podlaski Stud Farm in eastern Poland. The Janow auction of 39 horses brought in slightly more than $374,000. The star of the auction was Pisanka, a gray mare from Janow Podlaski Stud Farm. French breeder Jean-Paul Meeuss paid $37,000 for the five-year-old. Overall sales were down from last year, although officials stressed that it was a good take from a sale of its size on the current depressed world market.
Golden Years
"The market is weak," said Izabela Zawadzka, "and it gets worse year by year." Zawadzka is chief horse breeding specialist for the Agricultural Property Agency of the State Treasury, the holding company for all state-owned agricultural enterprises, including Poland's four state-owned Arabian stud farms.
In the early 1980s - Zawadzka calls them "the Golden Years" - auction prices for Arabians at Polish Prestige and other Polish sales ranged from several hundred thousand dollars to $1 million.
"Now we're happy to get $200,000 for a really good horse," she says. The average price last year was about $17,000.
Poland's Arabian horse traders are competing in a luxury goods market that has followed the whims of its fanciers and their financiers, many of whom are based in the United States.
Until 1986, U.S. buyers could use their horses not just as status symbols but as tax shelters as well. Changes in U.S. tax laws in 1986, plus the general contraction of the once-opulent Yuppie lifestyle in the second half of the decade, shrunk the market for purebred horses.
At the same time, U.S. breeders began flooding the market with the progeny of Polish parents bought earlier in the decade. A vicious spiral of what one expert called "horse inflation," with more horses chasing less money, persists to this day.
"Now more than ever we need energetic promotion," Zawadzka says, "and the best advertisements are wins in races abroad, having our horses (and our people) be seen at events outside Poland. The competition is stiff, and horses don't sell themselves."
Protecting old blood
Animex is attempting to increase its revenue from auctions like Polish Prestige by promoting Polish horses in newer markets, such as the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and other South American countries.
Zawadzka is equally adamant about what won't help Poland's ailing Arabian market: privatization. "We don't want to risk the loss of old bloodlines," she says. "We've seen too many sorry cases where the owner of a stud dies, and his children aren't interested in the business, so they sell off the stock. Valuable bloodlines have vanished without a trace. It's happened in the U.S., we've even seen it happen in Poland."
Although the state supports private breeding, by leasing horses to private breeders, the government is determined to keep the most important studs in state hands.
Private breeders of Arabians in Poland are ill-equipped to safeguard these ancient lineages, some of which can be documented back to the end of the 18th century. The Polish Society of Arabian Horse Breeders has 22 members, who own an average of between two and three brood mares each (the size of a stud is determined by the number of brood mares it possesses).
"It's one thing to run one or two mares, but to run a big herd with several bloodlines and a serious breeding program requires huge amounts of land, expensive facilities, a large staff," Zawadzka says.
Andrzej Ou, president of the society, says most of his members are more like hobbyists (they prefer the term "enthusiasts") than businessmen. "Nobody lives off their horses," he says. In fact, he adds, at zl. 2,000 ($810) a year for upkeep alone, many privately-held Arabians are a net drain on their owners' balance sheets. Paybacks from stud fees and racing are slim.
Yearlings on right track
The one exception to this rule, for now at least, is Joanna Grootings, whose seven-mare Korfowe Arabians stud is the largest private Arabian stud in Poland. Although she says it's too early to speak of a profit, she has finally begun to cover her own costs, an important goal and a rare achievement for a Polish private breeder. "An Arabian can pay you back your whole investment, but you have to be patient," she says. Small breeders, she suggests, may even be able to put their size to their advantage.
"If you're an enthusiast and you don't have 100 or 200 horses like a huge state farm, then you can put a lot of love into it and you get good results." Grootings' love began to pay dividends this year with zl. 55,000 ($23,000) in prize money garnered from bettors when her horses took honors in three of the most important races on the Arabian calendar, winning the Janow and Kurozweki Stakes and taking second and third places in the Arabian Derby at Sluzewiec, the most important race of the year for four-year-olds. One of her stallions, Dekor, broke by 1.5 seconds a Sluzewiec track record for the 1600-meter set in 1946.
35 people actually participated in bidding this year at the Janow Podlaski. Most are private breeders, says horse expert Zawadzka, although many are "sympathizers."
"The Wattses come every year," she said, referring to Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts and his wife, Shirley. "They have a beautiful herd, mostly of Polish ancestry." Last year the Wattses set the record for the highest price paid: $100,000 for the mare Palba from Michalow Stud. Shirley Watts added three mares to the Watts' stud farm this year, paying $64,000.
Anna Turska, press officer for Animex, says the company continues to dominate Arabian horse trading. "The new firms are just getting started," Turska says. Animex takes a commission ranging from 2%-5% of each sale; less for private sales, more at auctions. Last year Animex brokered 16% of Poland's total horse exports, and virtually all exports of Arabians.
Animex recently issued new shares through an initial public offering. Horse dealing accounts for only a fraction of Animex's total revenue, which was zl. 560 million ($233 million) in 1994. The company's income last year from horse sales was zl.37.4 ($14 million), 6.5% of total revenue. That figure includes slaughter horses, which make up the vast majority of horses that pass through Animex's hands.
Golden Years
"The market is weak," said Izabela Zawadzka, "and it gets worse year by year." Zawadzka is chief horse breeding specialist for the Agricultural Property Agency of the State Treasury, the holding company for all state-owned agricultural enterprises, including Poland's four state-owned Arabian stud farms.
In the early 1980s - Zawadzka calls them "the Golden Years" - auction prices for Arabians at Polish Prestige and other Polish sales ranged from several hundred thousand dollars to $1 million.
"Now we're happy to get $200,000 for a really good horse," she says. The average price last year was about $17,000.
Poland's Arabian horse traders are competing in a luxury goods market that has followed the whims of its fanciers and their financiers, many of whom are based in the United States.
Until 1986, U.S. buyers could use their horses not just as status symbols but as tax shelters as well. Changes in U.S. tax laws in 1986, plus the general contraction of the once-opulent Yuppie lifestyle in the second half of the decade, shrunk the market for purebred horses.
At the same time, U.S. breeders began flooding the market with the progeny of Polish parents bought earlier in the decade. A vicious spiral of what one expert called "horse inflation," with more horses chasing less money, persists to this day.
"Now more than ever we need energetic promotion," Zawadzka says, "and the best advertisements are wins in races abroad, having our horses (and our people) be seen at events outside Poland. The competition is stiff, and horses don't sell themselves."
Protecting old blood
Animex is attempting to increase its revenue from auctions like Polish Prestige by promoting Polish horses in newer markets, such as the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and other South American countries.
Zawadzka is equally adamant about what won't help Poland's ailing Arabian market: privatization. "We don't want to risk the loss of old bloodlines," she says. "We've seen too many sorry cases where the owner of a stud dies, and his children aren't interested in the business, so they sell off the stock. Valuable bloodlines have vanished without a trace. It's happened in the U.S., we've even seen it happen in Poland."
Although the state supports private breeding, by leasing horses to private breeders, the government is determined to keep the most important studs in state hands.
Private breeders of Arabians in Poland are ill-equipped to safeguard these ancient lineages, some of which can be documented back to the end of the 18th century. The Polish Society of Arabian Horse Breeders has 22 members, who own an average of between two and three brood mares each (the size of a stud is determined by the number of brood mares it possesses).
"It's one thing to run one or two mares, but to run a big herd with several bloodlines and a serious breeding program requires huge amounts of land, expensive facilities, a large staff," Zawadzka says.
Andrzej Ou, president of the society, says most of his members are more like hobbyists (they prefer the term "enthusiasts") than businessmen. "Nobody lives off their horses," he says. In fact, he adds, at zl. 2,000 ($810) a year for upkeep alone, many privately-held Arabians are a net drain on their owners' balance sheets. Paybacks from stud fees and racing are slim.
Yearlings on right track
The one exception to this rule, for now at least, is Joanna Grootings, whose seven-mare Korfowe Arabians stud is the largest private Arabian stud in Poland. Although she says it's too early to speak of a profit, she has finally begun to cover her own costs, an important goal and a rare achievement for a Polish private breeder. "An Arabian can pay you back your whole investment, but you have to be patient," she says. Small breeders, she suggests, may even be able to put their size to their advantage.
"If you're an enthusiast and you don't have 100 or 200 horses like a huge state farm, then you can put a lot of love into it and you get good results." Grootings' love began to pay dividends this year with zl. 55,000 ($23,000) in prize money garnered from bettors when her horses took honors in three of the most important races on the Arabian calendar, winning the Janow and Kurozweki Stakes and taking second and third places in the Arabian Derby at Sluzewiec, the most important race of the year for four-year-olds. One of her stallions, Dekor, broke by 1.5 seconds a Sluzewiec track record for the 1600-meter set in 1946.
35 people actually participated in bidding this year at the Janow Podlaski. Most are private breeders, says horse expert Zawadzka, although many are "sympathizers."
"The Wattses come every year," she said, referring to Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts and his wife, Shirley. "They have a beautiful herd, mostly of Polish ancestry." Last year the Wattses set the record for the highest price paid: $100,000 for the mare Palba from Michalow Stud. Shirley Watts added three mares to the Watts' stud farm this year, paying $64,000.
Anna Turska, press officer for Animex, says the company continues to dominate Arabian horse trading. "The new firms are just getting started," Turska says. Animex takes a commission ranging from 2%-5% of each sale; less for private sales, more at auctions. Last year Animex brokered 16% of Poland's total horse exports, and virtually all exports of Arabians.
Animex recently issued new shares through an initial public offering. Horse dealing accounts for only a fraction of Animex's total revenue, which was zl. 560 million ($233 million) in 1994. The company's income last year from horse sales was zl.37.4 ($14 million), 6.5% of total revenue. That figure includes slaughter horses, which make up the vast majority of horses that pass through Animex's hands.
