Where is the art in dressage today?

Classical Dressage

Competitive Dressage

by Don Blazer


It's a shame about dressage. Or at least to me it is.

I always thought of it as such a "pure" thing; such a "beautiful thing; harmony in union."

For me, Dressage was practiced by those who wanted "art with horses."

It was for horsemen and women who wanted to take a horse to his maximum performance ability, suppleness, flexibility, balance and grace. It was a work of art between a rider and a horse, and that is all that it had to be.

It was, but it is no more.

Dressage: a noun, French, originally meaning "basic dressing."

The basic dressing was applied to all horses and at all levels and that was the extent of it. It was done with any horse that a nobleman (and only noblemen could afford both the luxury of a horse and the time to develop its gaits, grace, balance, suppleness and flexibility) saw fit to ride.

The idea originally was not to compare horses, but to enjoy the development of a single horse's unique talents.

One horse and one rider, being all they could be.

And that was the original goal.

Then disaster struck; dressage became a competition.

One of my most admired dressage authorities, Waldemar Seunig (he attended the French Cavalry School at Saumur and the Spanish Riding School at Vienna and from 1922 to 1930 was the Master of the Horse at the Court of King Alexander of Yugoslavia; he was the coach of the successful German Olympic Team) says this about perfecting the art of dressage: "it is the practical, creative artist, the equestrian genius, who is fused with his horse into one unit, who makes its will his own, and who proves that there are no limits to art."

Great thinking ... and he could do it ... and many in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s could do it .. but by the 1900s competition had corrupted that simple idea of dressage for the sake of dressage.

Seunig was not only an equestrian competitor, he was a judge of international competition. He too was corrupted, and winning became more important than dressage.

But in the 1950s and 1960s, dressage was still defined as training, exhibition riding or horsemanship in which the horse is controlled in certain difficult steps and gaits by very light movements of the rider. The horse is to be relaxed and the performance is to appear "effortless."

Light and gently and subtle were the key words for dressage riders such as Colonel Alois Podhajsky, Jessica Newberry and later Reiner Klimke, a world champion and winner of 6 gold medals in 5 Olympics (1964 to 1988).

When I see pictures of Podhajsky and Newberry riding, or I watch Klimke ride, I see a horse that is relaxed and appears to be performing effortlessly. I see a rider not strained or stressed or rigid, but in a beautifully balanced position with a willing partner.

It's a shame about dressage.

When I see upper level riders today, the art is gone.

Don't misunderstand me. It is not that I am not in awe of the performances they achieve. They are getting more from their horses than the past masters did. (Of course, the horses they are riding have evolved along with training knowledge and techniques.)

What I see in today's advanced level dressage are horses performing phenomenally; they are giving every ounce of effort they have to give. They are reaching new heights in suppleness and flexibility.

And they are unhappy, tense and showing the exertion needed to respond to their rider's demands. Nothing about it appears "effortless." It is not light or gentle or subtle.

I watched a video of a horse score the highest dressage score ever recorded.

The maneuvers were fantastic and the accomplishments of the horse should be applauded again and again.

But the horse hated every minute of that performance; the tail wringing and swishing and twirling and shaking, the ears back, the face knotted with tension.

It wasn't the art I had hoped it would be ... it was man forcing his will onto the horse in the name of competition.

Oh, for the original idea of any horse being helped to reach his potential, with no intention of ever comparing one horse to another.

It's a shame about dressage. 

World Famous Lipizzan Stallion show files for bankruptcy

Here is an article about the bankruptcy from the Orlando Sentinel

http://www.hundkatzepferd.com/news/779405/Palatinam-Equestrem-Palaestram.html

Conversano Dagmar-- Paris

I wanted to post a video here, but can't. So, here is a link to the video.


It is the great Conversano Dagmar and Oberbereiter Andreas Hausberger.


Romy

The Lipizzaner

The formal Austrian Court stud farm Lipizza/Lipica, after the First World War the Italian military and later the Yugoslavian stud farm Lipica, is located on the karstic plateau 415 m above the sea level, 13 km northeast of Trieste in Slovenia. The whole region was shaded by hundred-year-old oak trees, by which the entire local karst was wooded till the Venetians cut them down and used them for poles to extend their city further into the lagoons. The forest around the Slovenian village Lipica remained preserved only because it was the property of the Trieste episcopate that had a farm set there with a small settlement/village; the area was well known for breeding tough and hardy horses, which the local citizens, who were mainly merchants, needed for the long commerce travels. This was one of the reasons why then the regent over Steiermark, Karl von Steiermark, the son of Ferdinand I, purchased Lipica from the Trieste bishop in 1580, disband the settlement, modified the court into stables, added new stables and in the oak forest established pastures. This was the year after, when his nephew Rudolf I founded a stud farm in 1579 in Bohemia (today Czech Republic) in the Kladrubian manorial estate of the Pardubice domain.

At about the same time in 1580 there was imported from Spain to Lipica a herd of 24 original mares and three stallions from Andalusia (“brincos”). Later on, there were purchased for Lipica stronger horses from not far Polesina, Roviga, the Venice region and from around Verona, more likely to improve the massiveness of the Spaniard, who was supposed to serve first as a riding horse but could be used as a light draft/carriage horse as well. The first results with the Spanish stallions and the Italian crossbred mares were obviously very successful; the herd status fluctuated around 100 mares.
















Herd of young stock in Lipica on typical karstic pasture. 1906


It is not possible to describe further the historical development of the horse breeding in Lipica. It is useful to mention that the names of the breeding horses from the early stages are not known. The first established studbook burned and the today preserved pedigrees go back only to 1701 and not even continuously.  Never the less, they are showing that the original Spanish stallions were still imported in the XVII and XVIII centuries. In the beginning of the XVIII century came to Lipizza, through a mutual exchange, several Dutch and Danish stallions, which also had a great deal of the Spanish-Italian blood. From these northern stallions especially the Danish Lipp, born 1717, and thereafter from his progeny was chosen a breeding stock for more than a century. His most proven stallions from those days were the north-Italian and Spanish-Neapolitan stallions; Generale 1710, Amico 1712, Superbo 1722, Maestoso 1736, Toscanello 1749, Pluto, orig. Dutch stallion 1765, Conversano, orig. Spaniard Neapolitan 1767, Favory, Kladrubian stallion 1779, Neapolitano, orig. Spanish-Neapolitan 1790, Danese, orig. Dutch 1795.

Besides the Spanish-Italian “carosiers” in the early stages of the Lipizzaner development, the Oriental stallions were used only sporadically. The more substantial and consistent use of the Oriental horses came at the beginning of the IX century, more likely with the intend to refine the contemporary form of the carriage horse, to add more speed to his gaits and to make him eventually useful as a riding horse. From these Orientals only one line managed to survive till today, the line of the Arabian stallion Siglavi 1810, which was of course numerously through-crossbred with other mares of the Lipizzan family as well as with other Lipica’s stallion lines.























19 yrs Lipizzan gray old Spanish type Pluto II, by 12 Pluto II out of 20 Neapolitano Capriola.


When the third court farm in “Kopchany”, established by Charles IV, was dissolved in Hungary near the Moravian border, it was decided in Vienna to breed the heavier carriage type horses in Kladruby by the river Elbe. Further more, the objective of Lipica was to become the breeding of the lighter type Spanish-Italian horses, which would be more useful for the saddle and would have more speed and endurance. This was to be achieved by crossbreeding with the Arabian horse, but always so, that at least part of the herd would remain intact (into the studbook were entered so called “rein Karster”, which is a Lipizzan of pure Karstic-Spanish-Italian type, against the “gemishter Karster”, which is a Lipizzan with more Arabian blood). There was for this reason added a herd of Arabians to Lipica from the “Kopchany” stables and the heavier carosiers were relocated to Kladruby. In those days there were established individual lines of stallions and mares in Lipica and Kladruby, thus from that time it is spoken of the Kladrubian (Kladruber) and the Lipizzaner. This separation is justified, despite of the same origins, only from the perspective in size and massiveness.

By the end of the XVIII century in Europe it was only in these two stud farms where the pure Spanish-Italian horse managed to remain pure. The object in breeding at Kladruby was to preserve the heavier, carosier type of horse, while in Lipica was added to the Spanish-Italian horses more of the Arabian blood to make them more suitable for riding as well as a lighter carriage. The Lipizzaners were used in Vienna for the high school near the castle at the Spanish riding arena, a beautiful baroque architecture build and finished by Joh. Bernard Fisher from Erlach in the year 1735. This high school was concurrently a test of strength, maneuverability, endurance and learning ability of the Lipizzan stallions, which as four-year-olds were coming to Vienna for at least two years or longer training. Any stallion that did not graduate with success this High School was not allowed back to Lipica as a breeding material.























11 yrs black Lipizzaner 81 Maestoso IV, by Maestoso I, out of 276 Neapolitano.


From the Arabians, one of the best-proven stallions in Lipica was especially Siglavi 1810, who established after himself a line that was preserved till this day. To Lipica also arrived a large transport of Arabian horses (16 stallions and 50 mares) purchased in 1857 by colonel Brunderman in the desert from the Bedouin tribes in Syria and Arabia. However, from this transport remained in Lipica only two stallions, honey gray Samson, and silver gray Hadudy, furthermore 16 desert imported mares and one foal. It was in those days, in the middle of the XVIII century, that the Lipizzaners were crossbred the most with the Arabian. In those days a part of the breeding program in Lipica was to breed also pureblooded Arabians, but later this was abandoned because the Arabian progeny was too slender/delicate for riding at the court riding stables. The Arabian material was therefore moved to other state stud farms, outside of the mares and stallions used for crossbreeding with the Lipizzaners. On the hard, stone paved streets of Vienna the Arabian crossbreds could not equal the Lipizzaner, and because it was constantly more noticeable that with further crossbreeding with the Arabian the Lipizzaner would lose his original type/form and invaluable characteristics, the use of the Arabian for crossbreeding in Lipica came suddenly to an end. The last Arabian stallions active in Lipica were: Arabian halfblood Ben Azet, “fly-gray” born 1851 and an original Arab Massaud, “trout-gray”, born 1869. From the older Arabians stallions there were mainly: Tadmor Or. Ar. 1834 and Gazlan Or. Ar. 1840, whose lines we can often see in the Lipizzaners pedigrees; especially in the line of Favory and Neapolitano is widely spread the blood of Gazlan.






















Lipizzaner stallion Favory, Hungarian import, by Favory XVIII, out of 23 Maestoso XIX, Bábolna bred. At one time a main stallion in the Kladruby stud farm used for the blood refreshment of the Kladrubian grays.


From Kladruby to Lipica were often sent mares that came out of Kladrubian female stock by Arabians stallions and for the Kladrubian frame were too slim and too light. In those days the breeding stock exchange between the two stud farms was quite frequent. In the stallion stable of Kladruby stood usually one Lipizzaner with whom were mainly bred the rougher types of mares for the production of tough/hard “figural” horses used for pulling the postal wagons; the female crossbreds were not usually added to the Kladrubian herd, but were sent to Lipica instead.

It should be mentioned that there were some experiments made to improve certain weak forms of the Lipizzaners, especially the less prominent withers, sometimes soft back, too steep shoulder blade, with the use of several English thoroughbreds, Northern Light, Millord, Pilgrim, Grimalkin Worthy and others. These experiments were a total failure because the progeny was absolutely unsuitable for the Lipizzaner type and the crossbreds were more or less a caricature of the Lipizzaner as well as the Kladruber.



















301 Pluto XVII, out of Maestoso XIII, Bábolna bred. At one time a stallion in Slovakia. A Lipizzaner stallion, the type very close to the Old Kladruber gray.


The balanced and refined posture of the Lipizzaner, his high but roomy gaits, at one time very much sought out, his lively temperament but with good character, durability, toughness, easy learning ability and further his undemanding upkeep were the reasons why the “left-over” stallions were added for the country-breeding in other parts of the southern Austrian empire like; Croatia, Slovenia, Herzegovina, Bosnia Dalmatia, Istria etc. From the surplus material of Lipica were founded breeds of Lipizzaners in other state and private stud farms in Austria-Hungary. In Hungary was established herd of Lipizzaners in Mezöhegyes and Fogarash, later on in Bábolna and in the state Austrian stud farms Radovec and Piber. In Mezöhegyes were the Lipizzaners bred already from the stud farm establishment in the year 1783 till 1874, when the whole herd of Lipizzaners was transferred to Fogarash stud farm. The most typical Mezöhegyes stallion line was Maestoso, established by the Kladrubian Maestoso; further there were bred the lines of Favory and Conversano. Later there was established a new line Lipizzaners Incitato after the stallion Incitato, born 1807, by Curioso out of Capallana, who was undoubtedly a stallion of Spanish- Italian origin. It seems however, that this line was not bred quite purely. The Incitato stallions were/are more massive, rougher and more lymphatic, stand on a longer leg, have heavier head, are longer, lower set neck, thus they have pure karstic Lipizzaner type.


















Lipizzaner stallion Incitato, state stud farm in Bábolna, Hungary 1934



In Fogarash were the Lipizzaners bred from 1874 till 1915. The Mezöhegyes herd was completed from Piber and Lipica; hence all the original lines were represented there. Besides these, there were also present the lines of Incitato and Tulipan.

In the state stud farm in Piber was the Lipizzaner originally bred only for a short time, from 1853 to 1869 and with a material that came there from Lipica, Mezöhegyes and Bábolna.

In Radovec the Lipizzaners were bred from 1793 till 1914. The Lipizzan stallions were at first crossbred here with the Oriental mares and only later on there was established separate herd of Lipizzaners, which consisted of about 100 heads at the end of the 19^th century.  This herd included some oriental mares, which gave a foundation for new female lines that were not bred in Lipica. Some of these female lines managed to survive till this day in the Piber stud farm. From the Radovec herd came to Lipica Arabian mare Gratia, who proved herself well and became the founder of the individual female line, which was named after her great grand mother Mercurio.

After the beginning of WW I in 1914 the Radovec Lipizzaner breeding material was moved to Piber. From the cleaned out Lipica the original herd was evacuated to Laxemburg near Vienna and 3 age groups of the oriental young stock and foals were sent to Kladruby, where they remained through out the war till 1920.
















Light palomino Lipizzaner mares in Slovakia.


The stud farm Fogarash was completely cleaned out at the beginning of the First World War and the Lipizzaner herd was moved to Bábolna in Hungary, where it remained and was bred after the war. Fogarash was annexed to Rumania after the war where there was placed a herd of Lipizzaners from the formal Radovec stud farm. This herd however, suffered the moon blindness and was therefore moved further into Rumania. After the Second World War the Fogarash stud farm was again renewed and in the fifties of the 20th century the head count was around 100 mares.
Quite a few Lipizzaners of the Hungarian stock and also from Lipica itself came to a private stud farm of Count Jankovitch in Terezovec and Cabun. Here was bred the new line of Lipizzaners, the Tulipan, which is however not quite pure bred. The Tulipans are of lower grade in exterior; they are rougher, less correct, heavier heads and stand on taller leg.
The majority of the original herd ended up in Italy and the long evacuated Lipica in Karst was again resettled. A smaller part of the herd kept the Austrians for the reproduction of stallions needed for the Spanish Riding School, where still today is ridden the high school (dressage). The Lipizzaner stud farm is in Piber, Steiermark.




From the 1953 Special Zoo-Technique - Breeding of Horses
Published in 1953 by the Czechoslovakian Academy of Agricultural Science and certified by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Written by: MVDr Ludvik Ambroz, Frabtisek Bilek, MVDr Karel Blazek, Ing. Jaromir Dusek, Ing. Karel Hartman, Hanus Keil, pro. MVDr Emanuel Kral, Karel Kloubek, Ing. Dr. Frantisek Lerche, Ing. Dr Vaclav Michal, Ing. Dr Zdenek Munki, Ing. Vladimir Mueller, MVDr Julius Penicka, pro. MVDr Emil Pribyl, MVDr Lev Richter, prof. Ing. Dr Josef Rechta, MVDr Karel Sejkora and Ing. Dr Jindrich Steinitz.

The Furioso Lineage of Warmbloods

The Furioso line was founded by an English thoroughbred named Furioso, born 1836 on the  Hungarian stud farm of Count György Karolyi, sired by Privateur and out of Miss Furey. He was sold to the military stud farm Mezöhegyes where he was breeding from 1841. He was a strong and bony bay horse, 168 cm tall. He was active in Mezöhegyes from 1841 till 1851, he was very fertile and left behind him 95 stallions and 81 mares. He was also very strong and influential in his progeny, which gave the initiative for the breeding of an individual lineage named after him.





A broodmare 540 North Star XIX, born 1939. Sire North Star XIX-B, Dam 73 Przedswit



A smaller part of the Furioso lineage was moved from Mezöhegyes to both of the Austrian state farms in Radovec and Piber, where this lineage was independently reproduced for the use in individual Austrian countries. When it finally came to the separation of Austria and Hungary in 1867 the breeding of horses somewhat declined as well as a direct influence of the Mezöhegyes stud farm on the breeding of horses in Austria, Bohemia and Moravia. Also from that time the breeding of Furioso line continued separately in both Austrian state stud farms and in Mezöhegyes, though they often draw the pure blooded material from the maternal farm. In Hungary from the year 1870 the main objective was to keep the Furioso lineage as pure as possible and was combine only with his “sister-lineage” North Star established by a thoroughbred stallion of the same name. Eventually the Furiosos merged with North Stars into one lineage called also Furioso-North-Star, which was sometimes refreshed with a selected thoroughbred. For the solidifying of the Furioso line there was also implemented occasional inbreeding.



A typical stallion of this line, Furioso VII K, born in Wieselburg Austria



 The Mezöhegyes Furiosos were rougher, mainly in the head, more massive than the Radovec Furiosos, especially when it came to the XXI lineage. In order to maintain the toughness and durability of these horses, a great attention was paid to the final results of the performance tests during the selection of individual stallions for reproduction. Besides in Mezöhegyes and Radovec, the Furioso lineage was also bred in the Rumanian stud farm, Bontid. During WW II, the Mezöhegyes bred Furiosos were destroyed only to be renewed again from the scattered and again collected material from the country breeding in Hungary.

In the breeding of the Furiosos in Austria, the attention was not paid exclusively to the purity of the blood; in Radovec the Furioso was often bred on the Anglo-Norman blood foundation, mainly the Nonius. The inbreeding technique was not used and in the reproduction a great emphasis was paid to the dry shapes, durability and endurance of the horses. The Austrian line was bred in two lineages, the Furiosos VIII (resp. XIII), whose members were of rougher type, and the Furioso IX (resp. XI) whose descendants were of lighter caliber, and more refined and rounded shapes after the admixed Oriental blood.




Furioso XVIII, born 1943,Sire Furioso X, dam 398 Gidran
Height 166 cm (about 16.1) Weight 650 kg (about 1433 lb)

The halfblooded Furioso line is a representative of all around useful horse. First of all his exterior shows a medium high and massive frame of warmblooded horse e.g. average height 175 cm and weight 620 kg. The old rougher type of the head is no longer present. The required characteristics are, straight head, regular and relatively long and muscular neck, distinct withers, strong upper line, relative depth, dry limbs, dry foot and regular stand. The most common fault of the Furioso is the narrower and “roof” like hindquarters and “strangled” front shins. The Furiosos are easy keepers, tough, hardy and can be easily measured in their all around usefulness against any other lineages or breeds.




From the 1953 Special Zoo-Technique - Breeding of Horses
Published in 1953 by the Czechoslovakian Academy of Agricultural Science and certified by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Written by: MVDr Ludvik Ambroz, Frabtisek Bilek, MVDr Karel Blazek, Ing. Jaromir Dusek, Ing. Karel Hartman, Hanus Keil, pro. MVDr Emanuel Kral, Karel Kloubek, Ing. Dr. Frantisek Lerche, Ing. Dr Vaclav Michal, Ing. Dr Zdenek Munki, Ing. Vladimir Mueller, MVDr Julius Penicka, pro. MVDr Emil Pribyl, MVDr Lev Richter, prof. Ing. Dr Josef Rechta, MVDr Karel Sejkora and Ing. Dr Jindrich Steinitz.

The Gidran

An Arabian stallion named Siglavi Gidran born in Arabia in 1810 by the tribe "Nejd" and imported in the year 1816 to a Hungarian stud farm Bábolna, founded this line of oriental halfbloods. According to well-preserved records, he was very elegant and graceful in appearance, of lively temperament, lest distinct withers and lighter back. He stood 15'1 hands tall. In Bábolna he was bred to various mares of domestic breeds, producing much offspring. The most prosperous of his sons were Gidran I and Gidran II who was out of a bay Lipizzaner mare Fortuna. On account that the progeny of Gidrans was somewhat too heavy, when bred to mares from a military stud farms, the entire herd of Gidrans was moved from Bábolna at first to Mezöhegyesh to be cross bred with  English fullbloods (thoroughbreds). From here, part of the herd was moved to the Austrian stud farm in Radovec. Here they were crossbred further with halfblooded and oriental mares. It was common those days, to exchange larger counts of horses, since both of these stud farms worked closely together. First one to excel from the first stallions in Mezöhegyes was Gidran XIV, sired by Gidran VII out of Arabian mare 375 Koheil I, born in Bábolna.


Gidran VII born 1942, Sire Gidran IV, dam 470 Przedswit, 17 hands and 1,336 pounds




In Mezöhegyes the Gidran line was bred to English fullbloods (thoroughbreds) every 2nd or 3rd generation. Henceforth, in appearance they resembled the English type of horses, which was detectable in the straight head, long and low set neck, longer and mildly sloped hind quarters, strong back and build.

In the first half of the 20th century the line of Gidran was bred in Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. The most common color of the Gidran line is chestnut.



Oriental halfblood stallion 24 Gidran XXXIV born 1924




Gidran Stallion




Gidran breeding stallion from Hungarian Stud about 1930




modern Gidran

Fête Impériale, July 10th 2010

Selten war eine Ballnacht so heiß: In den diversen Räumlichkeiten der Spanischen Hofreitschule in Wien hat am Samstagabend die erste "Fete Imperiale" stattgefunden - bei hochsommerlichen Temperaturen. 2.000 Menschen waren der Einladung von Geschäftsführerin Elisabeth Gürtler gefolgt, darunter zahlreiche Prominente. Sie feierten trotz Hitze ein elegantes, aber auch entspanntes Fest.

„Alles Walzer“ - Mit diesen höchst traditionellen Worten wurde das Geschehen offiziell eröffnet. Der Rest des Großevents unterschied sich jedoch deutlich von vergleichbaren Veranstaltungen. Durch die für Bälle eher ungewohnte Jahreszeit konnte vor allem im Freien gefeiert werden, also etwa in der Sommerreitschule, aber auch im offenen Innenhof der historischen Stallburg. Fast zu heiß war es nur in der Winterreitschule. Dort, wo die Lipizzaner sonst ihre Auftritte absolvieren, ging die Eröffnung über die Bühne.

Und ganz kurz, zwischen der Balletteinlage und dem Jungdamen- und Jungherrenkomitee durfte dabei auch ein Lipizzaner bestaunt werden. Conversano Mascula I. - so der vollständige Name des weißen Gastes - wurde durch den Saal geführt.

Durchaus imperial gestaltete sich auch die Ankunft der Ehrengäste. Sie wurden in Pferdegespannen - manche aber auch in schwarzen Limousinen - zur Michaelerkuppel gebracht. Mit dabei waren eine Reihe bekannter Persönlichkeiten aus Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft: Peter Weck mit Gattin Ingrid („Mausi“), die Schauspielerinnen Sunnyi Melles und Elfriede Ott, Gabriela Fürstin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn und Prinz Constantin von und zu Liechtenstein, um nur einige zu nennen.

Ob es eine Wiederholung der „Fete Imperiale“ geben wird ist noch offen: Die Geschäftsführerin der Hofreitschule, Elisabeth Gürtler, denkt jedenfalls darüber nach. Der Erlös des Benefiz-Events kommt den finanziell notleidenden Lipizzanern zugute.

Summer Riding School (Sommerreitschule)

Between Schatzkammer and Winter Riding School lays the "Summer Riding School". She is used, when the weather allows it, by the riders for the daily training of the Lipizzan stallions. The Summer Riding School measures 30 x 15 meters and is surrounded by trees and the worlds largest covered horses walker, in which the stallions get exercised all year long.

Zwischen Schatzkammer und Winterreitschule befindet sich die Sommerreitbahn. Sie wird, wenn es das Wetter erlaubt, von April bis November von den Bereitern zum täglichen Training der Hengste genutzt. Die Sommerreitbahn hat die Maße 30 x 15 Meter und ist von schattenspendenden Bäumen umgeben. Um die Sommerreitbahn befindet sich die größte überdachte Freiführanlage der Welt, in der die Hengste ganzjährig bewegt werden können.

The Nonius

 
The Nonius is an Anglonorman line of horses bred in the formal imperial stud farm in Mezöhegyes, but was also spread into Jugoslavia and Romania and into southern Slovakia. The founder of this line was a stallion named Nonius who was as a 5 year old, stolen in France during the occupation of the Rossieres stud farm. Nonius was then sent with other nine stallions to a stud farm in Mezöhegyes, which was then an imperial army stud farm. According to the French documents, Nonius was born in 1810 in one of the stud farms of
Calvados in Normandy out of an Anglonorman mare and sired by a thoroughbred Orion. The records also show that Nonius was a light bay, 16’ 3.5 hands, had a large and heavy head with small eyes and long ears, short neck, high and tall withers, long back that wasn’t well bound in the loins, narrow and low hindquarters and low set tail. His ribcage wasn’t sufficiently arched and with short and steep shoulder blade. His stand was narrowed at the knees in the front and at the hocks behind. On account of his exterior deficiencies Nonius was very seldom used for breeding in Mezöhegyes. It was only when it was noticed that his offspring did not inherit his looks and that they were horses of good endurance, more correct and better build in form and muscles. He was then bred mostly to Spanish, Lipizzaner and Kladrubian mares. Nonius senior was quite potent sire; when he died in 1838 he left behind 79 stallions and 137 mares. All of his offspring were properly named after him with lineage numbers from which the Mezöhegyes Stud founded a line after him that from the year 1817 grew to 284 stallions and 3203 mares by the year 1890 (F.Shultz)

Nonius LI-8, black, born 1945 in Poduren Stud in Romania sire Nonius LI, dam 71 Vulkan Nonius I-2, height 17 hands, weight 1256 pounds











      By mixing with other bloods the individuality of Nonius has refined and changed his progeny that much, that by the year 1854 were recognized Nonius small and Nonius large types. Both types of Nonius have same colors, mostly dark bays or blacks, they have kind character and good temperament, willingness to work in harness as well as under saddle with good endurance in medium speeds.  The uneven, unbalanced build of Nonius was corrected by frequent breeding to thoroughbred stallions, which were carefully selected. After the use of thoroughbred the Nonius gained in refinement and in exterior resembled the English type, while loosing his massiveness and becoming more demanding (harder keeper).


8 Nonius XXX
a typical Nonius stallion, 18 yrs dark bay,  Hungarian import
sire Nonius I, dam 478 Nonius XXXI
height 17 hands 1322 pounds

       Horses of the Nonius line were bred in Hungary, not only in Mezöhegyes but also in other private farms like Gödölö. In Yugoslavia the Nonius line spread to Croatia where it was bred in Vulkovar and Kladordiev. In Romania on the stud farm Bontida, in Bulgaria on the stud farm Kabiuk and Klementin. In Bohemia and Moravia this line didn't catch on, because at that time the more heavier and early type of horse was preferred in the agriculture. Besides they care didn't for his appearance as well as his out put at work, also they didn't like the flat ribcage, less muscles on thighs and too straight  and short (from the profile) hindquarters (the latter being unfortunately present in many warmblooded horses today).



From the 1953 Special Zoo-Technique - Breeding of Horses
Published in 1953 by the Czechoslovakian Academy of Agricultural Science and certified by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Written by: MVDr Ludvik Ambroz, Frabtisek Bilek, MVDr Karel Blazek, Ing. Jaromir Dusek, Ing. Karel Hartman, Hanus Keil, pro. MVDr Emanuel Kral, Karel Kloubek, Ing. Dr. Frantisek Lerche, Ing. Dr Vaclav Michal, Ing. Dr Zdenek Munki, Ing. Vladimir Mueller, MVDr Julius Penicka, pro. MVDr Emil Pribyl, MVDr Lev Richter, prof. Ing. Dr Josef Rechta, MVDr Karel Sejkora and Ing. Dr Jindrich Steinitz.

Die Zuckerseiten Österreichs

Wiener Zucker (Spanische Hofreitschule)

AGRANA Zucker GmbH

Kladruber

This is from the 1953 Special Zoo-Technique - Breeding of Horses
Published in 1953 by the Czechoslovakian Academy of Agricultural Science and certified by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Written by: MVDr Ludvik Ambroz, Frabtisek Bilek, MVDr Karel Blazek, Ing. Jaromir Dusek, Ing. Karel Hartman, Hanus Keil, pro. MVDr Emanuel Kral, Karel Kloubek, Ing. Dr. Frantisek Lerche, Ing. Dr Vaclav Michal, Ing. Dr Zdenek Munki, Ing. Vladimir Mueller, MVDr Julius Penicka, pro. MVDr Emil Pribyl, MVDr Lev Richter, prof. Ing. Dr Josef Rechta, MVDr Karel Sejkora and Ing. Dr Jindrich Steinitz.

The Kladruber or Kladruby Horse

Stallion Generale XXXVII, a Kladrubian gray, born 8/28/1936 in Kladruby. Sire Generale XXXIV, dam 278 Shagya I, 16'3 hands and 1642 pounds.


The Old Kladrubian has common origin with the Lipizzaner  in the Spanish – Italian ancestors, however in the Kladrubian the Italian branch is more dominant, containing the blood of the Alpine  western horse, who already during the middle-ages was spreading to Italy and along the Apennines.

     The Old Kladrubian horse is a “carosier” (carriage/wheel horse) of Italian-Spanish origin, henceforth he is a type of breed that was raised till the end of the 18th century in the northern and central Italy near Rome on large and small stud farms.

     The Old Kladrubian horse was bred in the Bohemian (Czech Republic today) court stud farm in Kladruby by the river Elbe. Rudolf II, the son of Maximilian II, established this stud farm in the year 1579 in the Pardubice domain that was purchased already by his grand father Ferdinand I.
Rudolf II was a “horse lover” who especially favored the Spanish horses with which he was very familiar, because he himself was raised in the Spanish court during the time when the Spanish horse was at its peak. From the establishment perspective, the Kladruby and Lipizza/Lipica stud farms are the oldest horse farms in Europe that managed to remain active till this day.

After the court chamber decision, additional stables were built in the court of Kladruby manorial estate and Rudolf Breitenbach was named as the “gestütmeister” (modern English term “farm manager”). The first horses that arrived to Kladruby came mainly from Spain. The Imperial scouts (agents) were also buying horses from northern Italy, especially around Lipica region.



Stallion Generalissimus XXIII as a 8-year-old, gray, a main breeding stallion, born 1938 by Generale XXXIII out of 407 Generalissimus, 16'2 hands and 1421 pounds.


Unfortunately, there is very little known about these horses that were active in the stud farm, because all the documentation from the first two centuries was destroyed in the Kladruby fire in the year 1757.
     The greatest prosperity from the architectural and hippological aspect came to the Kladruby stud farm during the era of Charles VI (1712 – 1748), who was also a passionate horse lover. The original Pernstein court buildings were demolished and the foundation was laid for the new stud farm as well as the castle, which remains in foundation intact till this day.

         During that time there were more than a thousand horses. The stud farm always depended not only on the personal fancy for horses of individual rulers, but also on the court financial situation as well as the political status of the land, whose fate it shared. During the Prussian wars the stud farm had to be evacuated to Enyed in Hungary. After the battle of “Kolín” July 17th 1757 the building in Kladruby succumbed to a fire. An Austrian cavalry regiment was staying over night and after their departure a fire broke out and from the structures build by Charles VI remained nothing but bare walls. Charles VI also established a third stud farm in Kopčany in Slovakia, which was less threatened by foreign invaders than the Kladruby and because of it Marie Teresa decided to liquidate the stud farm in Kladruby. The decisive factor were also various financial problems brought by many years of wars. The buildings were rented out to a Dutch textile company, which had them repaired and suited for a garment factory. In the frequent flooded, damped environment of the Hungarian Enyed, the horses did not do well, mares were aborting and foals were dying.


Therefore, Josef II decided to have the Kladrubian stud farm renewed, repaired and further reestablished and continued only in Kladruby the breeding of the havier carriage horse of the Italian – Spanish type from the previous herd from Kladruby and Kopčany. From that time; the Kladruby stud farm remained to serve the purpose till this day. Those days type of the Old Kladrubian horse can be seen, hitched to heavy wheels, depicted in the paintings of Wouwermann and Hamilton.



  Sacramoso XXVII - Aja 1907, Old Kladrubian pureblooded stallion, black without change, sire Sacramoso Risamota 1889, dam Aja 1889, + 8/21/1930. An old type of carosiers, 16'2 tall and 1373 pounds.


  Horses in these paintings are tall with Roman heads (nose), with ears conspicuously short, accordingly to the contemporary fashion cropped already in the foal stage, high set necks, wide and muscular hind quarters, long tails, high stepping slim legs, mostly blacks, grays, but times even some bizarre colors.
     The founder of today’s Old Kladrubian Grays was a Spanish black stallion Peppoli born 1764 in a private farm near Ferrary in northern Italy. His son was a gray, named Imperatore out of a gray mare Aurora by the stallion Toscanello. Imperatore produced with a black mare from Kopchany named Mosca, who was more likely of Italian origin, a gray stallion named Generale, born in Kopčany 1787, who became the forefather of today’s descendants of the Old Kladrubian grays of Generale lineage.

     The stallion Generale left behind in Kopčany lines of descendants from which 4 sons were used as breeding stallions in the Kladrubian stud farm. The first son, born 1797 out of Bellona, was named Generalissimus and became the founder of the second line of the Kladrubian grays that remained till the year 1929; last stallion being Generalissimus XXII. The second son, born 1797 out of Bellasperenza, was named Generale III, but established only a small lineage, which later vanished.
The third son born 1797 out of Altabella had very little influence and his line died out. The most influential was the fourth son Generale – Vallona, marked as Generale II. This branch remains till this day and to which belonged the exclusive stallion Generale XXXIII, whose son, out of mare 407 Generalissimus, was inserted into the breeding program and named Generalissimus XXIII Thus the lineage was renewed through the daughter of the last Generalissimus.

                                             Four-in hand Kladruby stallions

Due to the fact that in Italy and Spain the horses of these old breeds completely died out, the Old Kladrubians Grays are maintained in such ways where the daughters of Generale are paired with Generalissimus stallion and the daughters of Generalissimus with Generale.
The breeding of the Old Kladrubian Black went through a similar process, where the breed was maintained through two stallion lines, Sacramoso and Napoleone, from which the Napoleone lineage was liquidated in Kladruby in the year 1922 and only the line of Sacramoso survived. The Italian – Spanish black stallion Sacramoso, who came to Kladruby from the archiepiscopal stud farm of Riess, established this lineage, but this line from which came 13 stallions died out. The second line of the Sacramosos remained till this day. The stallion Sacramoso born in 1800 in the Olomouc stud farm of the Kroměříž archiepiscopate established this line.

     Both lines of Sacramosos were related because they came from the same stud farm, owned by the marquis Sacramoso of Verona, from where also the archiepiscopal stud farm of Riess was purchasing horses.

    The second line of the Old Kladrubian Blacks Napoleone came from a black stallion Napoleone born 1845 and was purchased for the Kladruby stud farm as a ten-year-old in 1855 in Rome from a private stable. Henceforth, he was of the same origin as the Sacramoso but of different blood. In Kladruby, the Napoleones were covering the Sacramoso mares and the Sacramoso stallions in return bred the daughters of Napoleone stallions. The last Napoleone was Napoleone (VI) Soal born 1902 in Kladruby by Napoleone Amelia out of mare Sola; he was figural, tall stallion who on account of the lacking interest in his particular breed after the first world war, was prematurely excluded from the breeding program; despite the fact that this breed of horses in Europe is a hippological uniqueness, because this old, yet viable Italian – Spanish race of horses cannot be found anywhere else in the World.

                  An open stabling for broodmares and foals in the Kladruby stud farm.