JODHPUR: Six Marwari horses have been exported from Jodhpur to Bangladesh where they will be used for carrying the cart of Bangladesh's President, an official of the All India Marwari Horse Society said.
This is for the first time that this indigenous breed of horse from the desert has been exported.
Jangjeet Singh Nathawat, Secretary of the All India Marwari Horse Society and Marwari Horse Stud Book Registration Society (MHSRS) of India said that all these six horses reached Bangladesh on September 29.
"These horses have been ordered by Bangladesh police for the horse carriage of the President of Bangladesh," Nathawat said.
All six horses belong to Marwar Stud of Bal Samand Lake Palace, governed by the Umaid Bhawan Palace of Jodhpur, and have been registered as a 'Marwari horse' with the MHSRS.
We kept striving to export Marwari Horses and succeeded in getting permission.
The export would be on a case-to-case basis, said Nathawat, terming the development an outcome of constant efforts of the erstwhile ruler of Jodhpur and the patron of the society, Gaj Singh.
As a result of these endeavours, the animal husbandry department of the central government gave a no-objection certificate for the export of these horses, with an export licence provided by the Director General of Foreign Trade.
Marwari horses are one of the finest breeds of horses and are considered the most elegant and enduring breed of all.
"It is a matter of great pride for us that the Bangladesh government has imported our horse for the state carriage of the President," Nathawat said, adding that similar demands of Marwari horses have been pouring in from the US, European, and Arabian countries.
Over the past decade, the society in Jodhpur has been trying not only the promotion and conservation this breed of horse but has also been striving for their exports considering their love among foreign horse lovers and equestrians.
Gajendra Pal Singh Posana, the joint secretary of the society said that there have been five meetings in the past 12-13 years to convince the ministry to allow the export of this breed.
"There had been a demand of 40-50 such horses from Bangladesh but due to delay in sanction we could send only six horses after the last meeting with the minister Purushottam Rupala," Posana said.
He said that the Bangladesh Army was also in discussion with the society for the purchase of 20 Marwari horses, but due to a delay in permission, obtained 17 Arabian horses from the Qatar government.
Marwari horses are known for their elegance, beauty, gait and other features, which many have said to be incomparable with any other horse breed on the earth.
In 2009, Spanish businessman Mario Calcagno fell in love with the breed and tried hard to take them to Spain but failed.
Undeterred by his failure to export, he bought two colts and four mares of this breed to be kept in the custody of the society at Balsamand Lake Palace in Jodhpur.
Nathawat said that earlier there was no pedigree mapping for the Marwari horse breed, a lack which was filled by the opening of a stud book in 2006, under the helm of MSRS for mapping the breed's pedigree.
The move not only helped people have a list of purebred Marwari horses but also spread the word among foreign horse lovers who contributed to their conservation, Nathawat said.
Mapping the breed history will pave way for more export for the Marwari breed as the inquiries have been pouring in from Germany, the US, UAE and other countries, he claimed.
"European countries have some protocols regarding some equine diseases.
But we are studying those protocols and are trying to resolve them so that those who want to import the horses of this breed could have them", Nathawat said.
The society, which has the authority to provide passports for export, has till now registered over 3,000 pure-breed Marwari horses since the process of registration began.
Posana said that these collective efforts have paid off both in terms of a spurt in the number of the horse and their price in the market.
The efforts are now being made by the society to urge the government to speed up the process of their export, he added.