General Krum Lekarski Horse Riding Club in Bozhurishte district hosted a World Cup hurdle race on June 16, Sunday. Bulgarian Angel Nyagolov won the trophy, followed by Rossen Raichev (Bulgaria) and Sencer Horasan (Turkey). The competition marked the 100^th anniversary of the Bulgarian Equestrian Federation established back in 1914 under the name Bulgarian Jockey Club. Radio Bulgaria talked to Chief Secretary of the federation Teodor Sheitanov.

How do you assess the performance of the Bulgarian athletes at the last competition?

“The results speak for themselves, since we managed to win the gold and the silver at a World Cup Grand Prix. I am extremely happy and would like to greet our heroes Angel Nyagolov and Rossen Raichev with the wonderful victory.”

This year the Bulgarian Equestrian Federation celebrates its 100^th anniversary. How horse racing will develop in Bulgaria from now on and what are the main goals set by the federation?

“The development of the horse racing is a very complicated term, but we are mainly focusing on the development of the children’s sports clubs. We are also working on several programs in this direction. One of them involves cooperation with foreign experts. Even at present we are holding training practices with Dutch expert Rien Van Der Shaft. We are expecting one of the best coaches worldwide - Nelson Pessoa who is the father of top athlete Rodrigo Pessoa. We have already launched a similar training program with the Spanish Horse Racing Federation in the Endurance discipline. With regard to the top sport programs, we are to participate in Olympic qualifiers in August 2015 in Aachen, Germany. I hope the issue regarding the Bulgarian citizenship of our Brazilian athletes will be solved by then. Currently they also do a wonderful job. Several days ago Paul Steward placed 5^th at a very strong race in Luxembourg. The Brazilian athletes bought two top horses themselves and they paid a lot of money for these animals. We are talking about a seven-digit amount in Euro. So, let us hope we will manage to qualify for the next Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.”

Various types of racing disciplines led to the gradual breeding of special horses, According to Stefan Vatkov who is among the biggest horse breeders of the 20^th century, horse breeding is the “symphony of all types of animal husbandry.”

What is the quality of the Bulgarian horses at present? Are there any stallions among them that won awards at horse races?

“There is a horse owned by Hristo Kirov who placed 3^rd at the German horse racing championship. This is the best national competition worldwide and we currently have several horses which race successfully in Germany. In Bulgaria the breeding under German programs takes place in the village of Riben where horses of the Hanover race are bred. Horses are also bred at the Izovi Sports Club in the village of Opitsvet where there are some licensed breeders of the Trakinen race. The Kaviuk stud farm in the town of Shumen (Northeastern Bulgaria) also breeds horses.”

The Bulgarian Equestrian Federation represented by General Vladimir Stoychev and Krum Lekarski was among the first ones that appeared at the Summer Olympics in Paris back in 1924. Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Equestrian Federation Teodor Sheitanov presents briefly the federation.

“The Bulgarian Equestrian Federation is the third federation established in Bulgaria and is a long-lived member of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities which was actually established after the Bulgarian one. The Bulgarian Equestrian Federation was launched back in 1914 and the International- in 1921, so we have very strong traditions in this sport. Here I can mention the victories of Generals Stoychev and Lekarski as well as the successful performance at the summer Olympic games in Stockholm, Moscow and Sydney”, concludes Teodor Sheitanov.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov