Cuba Moves Into New Luxury Niche, Breeding Show Horses for Latin America Elites Anne-Marie Garcia - The Associated Press
go to original February 18, 2015

A worker sprays a horse with water after a training session at the state-run Azucarero horse ranch in Artemisa, Cuba. (AP/Ramon Espinosa)

HAVANA - Already renowned for fine rum and fancy cigars, Cuba is carving out a new luxury niche that is attracting Latin American elites to the communist-run island: elite jumping horses.

By importing colts and fillies from the Netherlands, Cuban trainers are creating prized competitors capable of fetching more than $40,000 from buyers at private auctions, with much of the proceeds going back to the government-led equine enterprise.

At an auction last month at the National Equestrian Club, well-heeled horse collectors gathered in the tropical air to sip wine and raise their bidding paddles, hoping to find a champion among the Dutch Warmbloods paraded before them.

By evening's end, 31 horses sold for a total of about $435,000 to buyers from Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, the Netherlands and Mexico.

"The great advantage is that they are already in the Americas," said Cecilia Pedraza, a Mexico City collector who bought several of the Dutch Warmbloods. "In addition, they have been trained very well. They are advanced for their age, very well-behaved, perform concentrated jumps and have excellent blood lines."

Read the rest at Westman Journal

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