Third Elite Horse Auction Announced

The big sale has been summoned for January 2012 at the Havana Equestrian Club –a stronghold of the island nation’s equestrian development run by the National Enterprise for Flora and Wildlife Protection (NEFWP).

With that view in mind, a few years ago the NEFWP cut a deal with Dutch company VDL Stud –specialized in the breeding of Dutch royal thoroughbreds which have leading qualities for horsemanship and equestrian sports. The first animals from that race entered the country in 2005 and that marked the beginning of a strategy to adapt the stallions to tropical weather conditions with the participation of ALCONA S.A., the leading marketing company in the Caribbean dealing with horse sales. A part of that strategy is the elite auction of show jumping horses which has been held at the Equestrian Club since 2010 and whose third edition has been slated for Jan. 28, 2012. In the wake of this year’s auction, Excelencias talked with Franklin Domenech, an NEFWP consultant for horse development and the top organizer of the auction from top to toe. “We sell wild horses of barely two years of age and saddled horses of four years or older. The training is conducted at the Equestrian Club for approximately a year and a half, and then they are selected based on their physical conditions and sport results.” Located within the Lenin Park, since 1971 this place has been home to the National Horseback Riding School and is equipped with whatever it takes for the practice of equestrian sports: warm-up racetracks, show jumping and training facilities and three additional training areas. “Here we can find the very best horses and the finest riders of the country,” Mr. Domenech says as he explains that good outcomes in the formation and training of athletes have been reaped since 2003. “In recent years we’ve put some good numbers on the board in international competitions in the region, even in the tournament organized by the El Cortijo Equestrian School in Guatemala, which is one of the toughest competitions of its kind in the Americas.” In addition to sports, the Club sells animals, organizes horseback riding lessons and international courses, and designs horseback rides and breeding services for horse owners who want to lodge their animals in that facility. That service includes veterinarian coverage, stables, food and training. The Equestrian Club is open seven days a week from 7:00 am. Besides the sport facilities, the club has a small motel, a restaurant and bar, a barbecue area and a genuine Cuban ranch that serves the most delicious and traditional Cuban cuisine money can buy.

Finca Rancho Azucarero The only one of its kind in the Caribbean, this is a basic support for the development of Cuba’s horsemanship, led by the Equestrian Club. The facility is located in Artemisa and is outfitted with 142 stables and an outstanding staff in a number of trades and professions linked to the breeding, care and training of both Dutch royal thoroughbreds and English purebloods.

Cuban roosters are genuine

Cuba’s rooster season kicks off on October 10 with the Chicken Celebration and stretches out through June. In this span of time the Rooster National and International Fairs are held in which the animals’ qualities are put to the test and the finest species are picked.

Since the times of the colonial rule and the independence struggle, roosters have been symbols of elegance and the Cuban spirit in the history of the Caribbean island, an inspiration for artists and sculptors, writers and poets, who have reflected their charms for centuries. It’s not just about any bird or fowl. The rooster or Cuban gamecock is an iconography of courage, a characteristic that has turned its breeding and the training for cockfights into traditions for many generations. Breeders and trainers have no doubts about that, like the ones at the Alcona farm, just a few miles outside Havana down the Managua road. This place is home to the largest breeding ground of Cuban gamecocks on the island nation, attached to the National Flora & Wildlife Enterprise. These animals are prepared and trained for cockfighting. Once they are ready, they are fit for export through ALCONA S.A., a company entitled with all exclusive marketing rights on these species. As the headquarters of the National Association of Gamecock Breeders, the Alcona farm is the venue of choice in March of every year of the Rooster National and International Fairs, an event in which the finest species all across the island, in the face of the interest and the demands coming from markets overseas, such as Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Spain, are chosen. The rooster season kicks off on October 10 with the Chicken Celebration and stretches out through June, a time in which all cockfights stop to let the gamecocks fledge or grow feathers and endure a few ailments related to their development. Rafael Moya, a rooster breeder with over 25 years of experience in the business and who followed in his father’s footsteps, says Cuban gamecocks are marked by tremendous moxie and lovely colors. They are skillful and courageous fighters widely recognized in quite a number of countries around the world. Based on their hue tones, they are labeled as indios, giros, canelos, cenizos and tintos, the colors that identify the Cuban species. For the sake of their development and improvement, the Alcona farm is outfitted with a Genetic Rooster Breeding Center where all documents on the offspring are filed for years in a bid to guarantee the pedigree of Cuban gamecocks through the selection of their parents. This facility is open to the public seven days a week, is equipped with a cockfight ring for matchups and with recreational sites for the development of the Rooster Fairs. Moreover, there’s a typical Ranch that serves Cuban cuisine, horseback rides and hikes around the facility.

FLORA Y FAUNA Calle 42 esq. 7ma, No. 514 Miramar, Playa La Habana, Cuba Tel.: (53 7) 203 1433 al 36

ALCONA Ave. Independencia No. 116 esq. Santa Catalina, Cerro La Habana, Cuba Tel.: (537) 640 4639 export@alconasa.cu negocio@dirffauna.cu