Horse lover rescues the Bohai from extinction

Fan Jiayi with a German warm blood at his farm. He plans to cross-breed the Bohai horse with German warm bloods. JU CHUANJIANG/CHINA DAILY

He went across Shandong to look for Bohai horses and finally found more than 30 Bohais for his farm.

Ma Ling, Fan's wife, has a notebook keeping track of what Fan has spent on horses over the years. In all, over the past nine years he has spent more than 200 million yuan ($30 million) on the farm. Ma said she even considered divorcing him, because her husband devoted all his efforts to Bohai horses, not their family.

"But I can't let the famous Bohai horses die out," Fan said.

After years of development, Fan's horse farm now covers more than 30 hectares and has stables, indoor and outdoor training grounds, shower rooms and a horse breeding center.

He invited the experts from Beijing to breed Bohai horses, as his farm is the only conservation base for the Bohai horse.

Meanwhile, he planned to breed Bohai warm blood horses. "Crossbreeding the Bohai horse with German warm bloods, we can breed the best warm blood of China within five to 10 years," he said.

At present, China has no warm blood horse breeds of its own.

Descended from both hot bloods－known for their speed and endurance－and cold bloods－better suited to slow, heavy work－Bohai horses present many characteristics of warm bloods without actually falling into the category.

"Although Bohai horses are big and have good physical strength, they are ponderous, so pure Bohai horses are not suited to competing in races," Fan said.

On Fan's farm, some 40 Bohai warm bloods can be born each year. Through six years' training, these Bohai warm bloods will be able to participate in domestic equestrian sports events, he said.

"Currently, horse clubs import warm bloods for international competitions at a high price. In five to 10 years, we will have domestic warm-blooded horses that are suited to racing, substantially reducing the price of racehorses," he said.

Fan realizes that he needs to make money to support his dream of protecting the Bohai horse and cultivating Bohai warm bloods.

He imported more than a dozen purebred, or pedigree, horses from Germany, Spain and the Middle East, and then used Bohai horses as surrogates mothers to give birth to purebred warmbloods through embryo transfers. The farm can breed some 20 purebreds a year, some of which are sold.

He also opened an equestrian school and indoor venues for tourists to watch equestrian performances and experience horseback riding. Thanks to cooperation with local tourism agencies, tourists have brought income to his farm.

Now, a 40-hectare facility to display famous horse breeds to tourists is under construction, and a 200-km racecourse built to international standards will be ready for world-class endurance races next year, he said.

"Money is poured into this horse farm every day, and it might take one or two decades to see profits. But I won't give up on Bohai horses in this life. I'll help the breed to continue for generations," he said.

Zhao Ruixue and Gu Jingwen contributed to this story.