"The Government cares about the future of the equestrian sector; this is made clear shown by its previous decision on developing infrastructure", The Ministry's Parliamentary State Secretary Gyula Budai said at the Equestrian Forum held in the László Papp Sports Arena in Budapest on Friday within the framework of the FEI Equestrian World Cup.
Mr. Budai emphasised that infrastructure development would include the renovation of the Equestrian Centre in Szilvásvárad by September 2014 and of the National Riding School in Budapest by 2015 at a cost of estimated 1.6 billion and 2 billion forints, respectively. With reference to the latter, the State Secretary announced that the project had been declared a priority state development project. He also announced that the supervision of the Mezőhegyes and Bábolna stables would be transferred from the Hungarian Development Bank to the Ministry of Rural Development.
Download
The Equestrian Forum was opened by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Sándor Lezsák. In his speech, he mentioned the fact that the technique kept alive by horseback archer Lajos Kassai and the spirit he represents had become Hungaricums, and this is a success for equestrian society as a whole.
The Deputy Speaker pointed out that the objectives determined by the Equestrian Programme had partly been realised, and the main area that requires further attention is the filed of equestrian education. With relation to this, President of the Hungarian Equestrian Sport Association Vilmos Lázár announced that the Association would soon be signing an agreement with the Ministry of Rural Development regarding the development of a new concept for teaching equestrian sports, in the hope of achieving greater success.
Minister of State for Social Relations Mónika Balatoni from the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice stressed the importance of equestrian therapy and the so-called "Forest Act". Thanks to the latter, the whole country may be crossed on horseback along a 1140 km continuous track, facilitating equestrian tourism, she added.
Download
With regard to the objectives set down in the Kincsem National Equestrian Programme, results have been achieved within every field of the equestrian sector, President of the Hungarian Equestrian Sport Association Vilmos Lázár said. The former nine-time world champion coach driver said that in his opinion the greatest achievement was that the prestige of equestrian sports and of the whole equestrian community has been successfully restored. He did, however, state that in certain areas, such as equestrian education, advances were not yet sufficient.
Mr. Lázár pointed out that in the West, the equestrian sector generated a profit with regard to both agriculture and tourism, and this is also the long-term goal in Hungary.
"In Hungary there are sonly sic horses for every one thousand citizens and this is far below the European average; in Holland, for instance, this number of twenty. The equestrian sector has a strong job-creating effect and there is an average of one workplace for every three horses. This means that if the level of Hungarian horse stocks were to reach the European average, twenty thousand new jobs could be created.", he said, adding that only some 20-25 percent of Hungarian horses are used for sports.
Reporting on achievement from various areas of the Equestrian Programme, Mr. Lázár emphasised the restructuring of the Association, the importance of educating trainers, and the fact that the number of competitions and registered competitors has increased in every area of equestrian sports; for instance, in his own field of coach driving it had doubled, he claimed.
He also spoke of the fact that the Association has successfully won 65 million forints in Government funding towards its sport development concept, which concentrates primarily on training talented young competitors and new professionals. He also felt it was important to mention the realisation of the legal conditions determined in the Equestrian Programme, adding that a legislative proposal is under development according to which 85% of the income generated by gambling on horse races would be reinvested in the equestrian sector, meaning it would receive regular and guaranteed resources.
Mr. Lázár also said that one of the most positive advances was that asset management of the National Riding School had been transferred to the Association in December 2011, because this provides security for the whole equestrian community.
The 12 medals won at this year's sports events, World and European Championships, are also among the significant advances realised through the Equestrian Programme, as are the founding of the Association's own magazine, Pegasus, and the success in sports diplomacy thanks to which the board of the international association (the FEI) now has a Hungarian member in the person of Károly Fugli.
(Ministry of Rural Development)
