DUSHANBE, February 17, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- A stud farm for selective breeding of the Kyrgyz horse has been established in the Murgab district, Gorno Badakhshan.

Ms. Jacqueline Ripart, Director of the Kyrgyz Ate (The Kyrgyz Horse) Foundation, remarked this at a news conference in Bishkek on February 17.Several mares of the Kyrgyz breed  

The stud farm was reportedly established in March 2011.  In October 2011, several mares of the Kyrgyz breed were purchased in Kyrgyzstan’s Naryn region and taken to the Murgab district.  The mares are expected to breed in spring, Ms. Ripart noted.

The Kyrgyz breed is very hardy and is used for pack works in the highlands. They can now be found in the south of Naryn, Alai, Alai-Kuu and Issyk-Kul.

Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz Ate’s official website reports an annual international horse festival, At Chabysh-Murgab, is expected to take place in the Murgab district of Gorno Badakhshan in mid-June this year.  The main objective of the festival is in promoting development of cultural and sports events in the region.

The Kyrgyz Ate Foundation is a Kyrgyz NGO, founded by Ms. Jacqueline Ripart in Bishkek in 2004.  It develops a vast program which the aims are the safeguard and the rehabilitation of the Kyrgyz horse and of the traditions which are closely attached to him, in the agricultural sector as in that of the culture, the sports, the tourism and the craft industry, within the framework of an economic and social sustainable development.