Founded in 1932, in the city of Bagé, RS, Brazil, its headquarters are today in the city of Pelotas, RS, Brazil, and counts with more than 2,000 members, 7,000 breeders (they have animals but are not members), and more than 14,000 users (owners with the maximum of 2 animals). The Brazilian Association of Crioulo Horse Breeders has 224,000 registered animals, of which 164,000 are alive. It has a total of 20 employees and more than 20 technicians. It is an inevitable wild excitement. If in the remaining part of 2005 the Crioulo horses commercialization keeps pace with the fi rst quarter, this may be for the breed a year of enhancing evolution. Until March 12 the Crioulo horse billing already amounted to nearly R$ 6.5 million, a performance that highly surpassed the sum attained in March 2004, when billing did not reach R$ 2.9 million. Animated by such success, the Brazilian Association of Crioulo Horse Breeders (ABCCC) expects by year-end a growth of 40% in comparison to 2004, when the breed billed R$ 25 million. Should this result be obtained, the association does not renounce running down the Quarter Horse (Quarto-de-Milha) in the commercialization of horses in the country. “An estimate we have is calculating that the Quarter Horse billed around R$ 30 million last year. But the Crioulo has a much greater margin to grow.”, wagers Márcio Cachapuz, the ABCCC director of marketing. The excellent performance attained in the beginning of the year, according to him, is the result of two motivating things. The first one is the genetic quality of the animals that are offered. A good example is set by the sale of Butiá Luíza in the Cabanha Butiá auction by R$ 404 thousand, a price never registered before. The second thing is the result from the Reins contests, indicated by the controller as the driving force of the summer auctions. “The Reins contests have a more democratic appealing. It means that they increase the number of individuals that use the Crioulo, and the colts are appreciated much earlier”, Cachapuz puts it. For Marcelo Silva, from the Trajano Silva Remates (an auctioneer company), more important than enhancement of Reins competitions, was the differential represented by the Prova Querência Contest itself in the beginning of the year, when it distributed R$ 270 thousand to prize-winners. In addition, some auctions have added a very remarkable success for the breed.. “The year already started differently with the Rio Grande auction and later on with the bids of Butiá, which is a noticeable reference”, says Silva. As to Flávio Célia, auctioneer of Crioulo Remates, he believes that the reason for the market to be stirred up this year lies mostly on the growth of the Crioulo breed and the quality of animals available in the bids. “Revenue is exceptional, much higher than the ones of previous years. That is an evidence that there will always be good buyers for good animals”, he affi rms. Fábio Crespo, an auctioneer that works for Crioulo Remates and Premier Leilões, is of the opinion that breeders are meeting the market needs and offering the best animals, a contribution that helps increase the averages this year. “We expect to fi nish 2005 with a 20% to 30% growth in comparison to 2004”, according to his forecast. Success in the beginning of this year is also related to the new markets opened for the Crioulo and the decision of the cabanhas (stud farms) to offer the best of what they have in their breeding stock. This is the opinion of Rubens Elias Zogbi, the ABCCC vice-president and owner of the Cabanha Carapuça, a stud farm that maintains a considerable quantity of business transactions. “We are selling Crioulos to approximately all parts of Brazil. And breeders have found out that it is worthwhile to place for auctions the best of their stocks”, says Zogbi.
There is also a number of professionals and businesses indirectly involved in this market of Crioulo horses, particularly in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná.
• Food manufacturers
• Farriers
• Veterinarians
• Accessories / clothing
• Laboratories
• Trailer vehicles
• Awards
• Specialized transportations
• Medicaments
• Tools
• Infrastructure
It is the ABCCC’s (Brazilian Association of Crioulo Horse Breeders) paramount objective to expand the breed with the strategy employed to increase propagation of this breeding stock, providing utilization of the Crioulo horse all over Brazil and in the world.
ABCCC has foremost broken through the borders of the country’s Southern region and based upon nuclei of breeders in several Brazilian states, on the way to enter the North- American market, a fact expected to take place by June 2005 with the opening of its fi rst international nucleus in Florida.
Note: ES (state of Espírito Santo); DF (Federal District of Brasília); MT (state of Mato Grosso); MS (state of Mato Grosso do Sul); BA (state of Bahia).
Moreover, the Crioulo breed is being propagated into other international modalities already training on trial test periods.
