Minutes of the International Meeting

Nazareth – 8th of July 2006

An international gathering was held on Saturday the Eight of July 2006, at the occasion of the third Flemish Championships. At 2 PM the guests were welcomed in four languages: Herman De Gezelle – chairman of the Flemish Breeders of the Belgian Draft Horse - gave the kick-off in Dutch, Maurice Dedobbeleer – chairman of the Royal Society of the Belgian Draft Horse - pursued in French, John Vandewalle took care of the English part and Harry Hesius concluded in German.
The introduction revealed that similar meetings already took place in the past. In 1949 e.g. the assembly focused on the declining number of draft horses: 430,000 in Belgium at that time, scarcely 8,000 (including Ardennes horses) nowadays.

Maurice Dedobbeleer and Herman De Gezelle   (photos: A. Maes)

The next speaker was Mr Claeys, mayor of Nazareth, who was delighted to host the Belgian stud book and the foreign delegations in his town.

Dr Toon Van Couter then discoursed on the history of our draft horse guided along by the four seasons. In his view the era 1885-1910 became spring with the foundation of the stud book as outstanding milestone. A renowned name in these days was Jules Hazard of "Le Fosteau" who was the first to implement a breeding programme by judiciously combining blood lines.
According to Dr Van Couter, summer reigned from 1910 till 1935, with horses like Albion d'Or, Avenir de Herse and Espoir de Quaregnon, whose names are engraved in the contemporaries’ memories. Other remarkable facts in this period were the evolution of the type and the growing foreign interest leading to an explosion of the export figures. The Simoens brothers were mentioned in this context as pivot in exporting horses towards France and Denmark (to name just a couple of countries).
Autumn took over in 1935-1960 with the appearance of the tractor and other agricultural machines, causing a huge downfall in the registration of foals.
1960 to 1985 saw the sway of winter with the ongoing decrease of the export numbers, raising the question whether our draft horse was doomed to extinction. A new spring is however announced by the years 1985-2010: a period sparkling with new initiatives, this meeting being an excellent example of that trend.

We now reach the ultimate purpose of this afternoon: the review of the race’s standards. The Belgian standard was presented in four languages giving the foreign delegations the opportunity to outline possible differences. Many a fancy presentation provided the outlet for animated exchanges.
Below a summary of the represented stud books and their respective spokesperson:

1. RSBD & FBBD :   H. Hesius (Dutch/German), M. Dedobbeleer (French) and J. Vandewalle (English)
2. Koninklijke Vereniging het Trekpaard en de Haflinger (Netherlands) :
       Mr. Gerard Kruders
3. Dansk Belgisk Hesteavl (Denmark) door :
       Mr. Niels Poulsen
4. Belgian Brabant Draftharse (United States of America) :
       Mrs. Karen Gruner
5. Le Trait du Nord (France) :
       Hubert Toppart
6. Les Auxois (France) :
       Mr. Michel Griffart
7. Reinische Deutsche Kaltblut (Germany) :
       Mr. Rolf Beckershoff
8. Le Trait Ardennais (Belgium) :
       Mr. Michel Bulteau
9. Lëtzebuerger Ardenner Studbook (Luxemburg) :
       Mr. Szhaas
10. Ardennerhästen (Sweden) :
        Mr. Holger Karlsson

photos: A. Maes

The Belgian committee was tremendously pleased with the presence of no less than nine foreign delegations. Some made the trip alone but the majority came by twos or threes.

The review of the standards was followed by a tribute to members who rendered valuable services in the breeding of draft horses, in the past as well as in the present. The nominees are listed below by (Flemish) province:
- East Flanders: Alfons Maes and Mr. Mannes
- Limburg: Firmin Libens
- West Flanders: Jerome Raman and Albert De Baene
- Antwerp: Karel Van Dingenen and Jos Verhoeven
- Flemish Brabant: Louis Desmet and Eugene Moreels

The afternoon was nearing its end when the meeting was concluded with the projection of a marvellous videotape, recorded by Joke De Coopman and Veronique Soetaert and dedicated to the (leisure related) use of our draft horses.

Having ‘cooled’ themselves with refreshments, the guests finally had the opportunity to hunt down complementary information and to visit the stands of the leisure-associations. The committee wishes to express its warmest feelings of gratitude to all involved: our foreign visitors visibly appreciated the pictures, slideshows and videos.

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