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Journalism of Courage
Arriving astride a horse at the 11th Mega Kama Horse Show and Equestrian Meet in Gandhinagar on Saturday, Chief Minister Narendra Modi called for the revival of the age-old horse breeding activity in the state as a full-fledged industry.
Modi exhorted the state Animal Husbandry Department and the Saurashtra University to undertake a comprehensive study on the history of the Kathiyavadia-Marvadi horse breeding and help turn it around as an industry and trade.
The CM also distributed prizes to the winners of a horse show and equestrian event held at the Kankaria Lake in Ahmedabad, and released a souvenir, Ashwadarshan.
Gujarat BJP president Purshottam Rupala and state Agriculture, Co-operation and Animal Husbandry Minister Dilip Sanghani also rode horses at the event organised under the aegis of the Saurashtra-Kutch Mitramandal. The three-day event has been organised for the first time in the state capital.
Sanghani said that the horse was deeply associated with the people of Gujarat as the metaphor of energy. He said that the very mention of a horse leads one to think of Maharana Pratap’s legendary Chetak.
He told the audience that Chetak was born to a mare belonging to the Kathiyavadi breed. He said that as a cow is identified with the White Revolution, horse should be developed into an icon for energy.
Narrating the past initiatives taken in Saurashtra about horse breeding activity, Rupala said that only stringent training makes horses a valuable asset.
Nearly 225 horses were presented at the show. Earlier in Ahmedabad on Friday, nearly 300 horses were presented at the horse show where riders displayed their skills.
A dog show was also organised at Kankaria on the second day of the ongoing Kankaria Carnival.
