The number of foals born from the Finnhorse breed this year is significantly below its replacement level.
The Finnhorse, also known as the Finnish Universal or Finnish horse, is the only horse breed developed entirely in Finland and is recognised as the country's national breed. The horse breed is a jack-of-all-trades and can be used for agricultural and forestry tasks, racing and riding.
Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat interviewed Minna Mäenpää the CEO of Hippos — Finland’s national central organisation for trotting and horse breeding — on the declining birth rate for the national horse.
According to Mäenpää, fewer than 900 Finnhorse foals are expected to be born this year, compared to 980 last year.
A reduction in the population below 1,000 is expected to lead to a decline in the breed's numbers and increase the risk of disease.
Government cuts impact horse breed
Hippos is also concerned about possible cuts in state aid, which Mäenpää said will make it more difficult for the sector to operate.
"If funding is collapsed so severely in a one-off cut, it will have a major impact on the Finnhorse and the horse industry as a whole," Mäenpää told HS.
The government programme states that the operating conditions of the equine industry will be ensured and the status of the Finnhorse as a national breed will be safeguarded.
"The planned cuts will implement this part of the government programme quite poorly," Mäenpää said.
As the Finn horse is the only original horse breed in Finland, a closed population cannot introduce new genes from outside Finland. Mäenpää argued that the health of the breed relies on decisions made in Finland.
The equine sector receives around 40 million euros a year in subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
A little more than half of this is channelled into prize money that goes back to horse owners, a quarter goes to racetracks and 2.6 million euros goes to horse breeders. Just under three million euros will go to the work of Hippos and horse welfare such as competition veterinarians and drug monitoring.
According to the state-owned gambling monopoly Veikkaus, the state currently receives around 30 million euros in revenue from races, including gambling taxes.
Hippos calculated that, in addition to this, millions of euros are returned to the state through taxes paid through business activities, among other things. The sector employs an estimated 6,500 people full-time.
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