GIDEON REISEL

Gideon Reisel needs no introduction to the Arabian horse international community. He is the Stud-book delegate and Vice-President of AVS, the Dutch Arabian Horse Association in The Netherlands. Besides, he is an ECAHO B Judge and Chairman of the ECAHO Registration Commission since 2016.
He answered some questions I made to him about his duties as Vice President of AVS, the Association's general activities, and their goals. But also the challenges the Association faces under current times. 1. What does AVS stand for? When was it founded? What's the project behind it?
 1. AVS stands for 'Arabische Volbloedpaarden Stamboek'. It simply translates to Purebred Arabian Horse Studbook.
 The AVS got founded as a separate entity in 1980. Before then, we used to be part of the APS (the Arabian Horse Studbook), a mix of purebred and part-bred Arabian Horses.
There is no complicated project behind it. Besides being a Studbook, with all its duties regarding registration, import, and export of purebred Arabian Horses and their products, we are also an Association with members, a show organization, and a promotional body.
 2. What are your duties as a Vice President of the Dutch Stud-book?
 2. As Vice President, you have the responsibilities of the President in his or her absence. Practically the roles within the board come divided into those who have the expertise in certain areas. I am organizing ECAHO shows, stallion licensing, and some other events for AVS since 2005. Since then, I have been in charge of lead in that part and being a Delegate to ECAHO meetings and conferences.
Having served the Studbook for ten years as a Studbook Registrar, my expertise is quite solid in that domain. Therefore, I am still the Vice-Registrar of the Studbook and, I keep tabs on an efficient office and the training of new registrars when they are elected. In this role, I also am a Delegate to the WAHO conferences. Given my experience in the automation field, I am the project manager for our Studbook software design, implementation, and maintenance.
 Finally, I lead the selection and training process of our National Judges.
 
 3. How many Executive members are there at AVS?
 3.We have five members in the Executive Committee.
 
 4. How many horses are in the Dutch Stud Book? How many foals have been registered in the Dutch Registry so far in the year 2021?
 4.If you count dead and alive, we have over 15.000 horses registered at AVS throughout the years. We believe there are around 5000 still alive today.
 On average, we register about 150 foals per year. It is a drastic reduction compared to years before, but both the financial crisis of one decade ago and the Corona epidemic have more than halved either our number or the number of foals.
 
 5. How does AVS motivate/promote private breeders? How many shows does it organize every year?
 5. First and foremost, AVS provides national breeders with professional service and the latest information available. Besides this, we try to organize breeders-days, where the variety of subjects are being discussed regarding breeding, judging, and keeping Arabian Horses. We have an attractive, well informative website, and we publish a quarterly full-color magazine that covers most local events and provides interesting articles. In recent years, we organize the Eurozone Cup, a unique concept based on an ECAHO European show to increase the chances for small breeders to win, and with high prize money to the class winners and free breedings to major stallions for the medal winners. The response and the participation are fantastic.

 As a Studbook, we organize the cited Eurozone Cup, a National C show, an Amateur show, and a National Championship Show. In addition to those, we support the Arabian Horse Weekend, a C National- and C International show weekend, the Traditional Tulip Cup Holland, a B international show season opener, and an Al Jassimya Amateur Challenge. Besides the shows, we have a Sports Commission that organizes sports clinics and sports competitions under the Federation.
 
 6. What benefits do Dutch breeders from joining the Association?
 6.We offer three memberships: Full, Sports and Donor.
 Donors are supporters of our breed or people who used to own an Arabian Horse. They receive our Quarterly Magazine and get informed of our events and progress
Sports Members can use all registry services and participate in all Studbook organized events excluding in-hand shows.
Full members can both use all registry services and have unrestricted access to all Studbook organized events.
 
 7. What consequences for the Dutch Studbook do you see from the profound political and social-healthcare transformations occurring in our world? 

 7. As mentioned earlier, we have seen a terrific decline in memberships and foals. Covid-19 restrictions have also determined many show cancellations that also infringed on the social contact we all crave so much. Part of the fun of working with Arabian Horses is the interactions with your fellow breeders, owners, and enthusiasts.

 8. What role does AVS play in these changes? What challenges does it face concerning the preservation and development of its bloodlines?
 8. Unfortunately, there is not a lot we can do. We try to facilitate as many events as we can within the restrictions we have to obey. In the preservation and bloodline development, we do not see any significant change or decline. The reduction is global. We got convinced that with time all will return to normal, so also this.
 
 9. Do you think that the high-level competition in national shows is an appropriate way to select horses?
 9. High-level competition in National shows is a relative term. Breeders must think for themselves and need to be well educated in their expertise to develop a strong eye for quality. AVS still offers premium licensing, which is quite different from the show evaluations. These breeders get a linear evaluation compiling 70 parts of the horse. To me, it appears the best evaluation of the breeding stock. 

 10. Are there any particular upcoming projects you and all the other AVS members are carrying on at present? Would you like to give us any clue?
 10.We are pursuing more into social media to promote the Arabian horse to the public. The Versatile Arabian. The Family horse. The Loyal companion. As only 5% of the Arabian Horses will do well in the show scene, we need to find a steady destination for the other 95%.
 We continue to make showing horses for small breeders appealing and worthwhile. We are promoting riding and other activities with Arabian Horses through ECAHO Sport classes, Al Jassimya Challenge, and our local Western and Classic riding commissions.

 11. What are your functions as a Chairman of EAHRIC? (ECAHO Registration Commission).
 11. Two of the most relevant responsibilities stated in the Constitution of ECAHO are: to work with Stud-book Authorities and WAHO to improve co-operation between countries in stud book matters and develop systems to facilitate identification of horses in ECAHO events.
 In essence, EAHRIC strives to assist and debate with WAHO to make ECAHO operations and its members as smooth as possible. Besides this, we try to make effective rules for our DC's to assist in identification matters on scene.
I like to inform all our members of new developments in EU policies (and now Brexit) affecting the transfer of horses from one country to another. 

 12. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
 12. I enjoy being a part of the policy-making process, and I love to organize. I sincerely hope to remain a part of the progress in professionalizing our national and international organizations, whether it be AVS, ECAHO, or WAHO. 
I know I can make a difference, and I will always strive to support that evolution.

 13. Would you like to leave a message to the readers of this interview?
 13. I am a bundle of knowledge. If you have any questions, e-mail me at:
 gideonreisel@gmail.com I am always happy to help!