Classical Lipizzaner Should Be Preserved, Farm Directors Agree
Leading European Lipizzaner stud farms agree that breeding programmes should be harmonised and that the classical type of the Lipizzaner should be preserved, director of the Lipica Stud Farm Matjaz Pust said on Wednesday after a two-day meeting of Lipizzaner stud farms directors.
The Hungarian stud farm, officials of which were unable to participate in the event that was attended by the directors from Slovenia, Austria, Croatia and Slovakia, also supports joint approach to the breeding and selection of horses, Pust said.
In the last 100 years many types of Lipizzaners have evolved. The original Lipizzaner was only preserved in Austria and Slovenia, Lipizzaner expert Ivan Urbas told the press following the first meeting of state-run Lipizzaner stud farm directors.
In his opinion the Lipizzaner should preserve the "nature of the baroque type of horse with qualities and typical characteristics of the breed".
The Copernicus research project, which is aimed at unifying the standards for the Lipizzaner horses, said that the Lipica stud farm is the generic origin of all the Lipizzaner lines, Urbas added.
Lipizzaners take their name from the village of Lipica (Italian: Lipizza) where they have been bred since the 16th century. In 1580 Archduke of Austria Charles II bought a stud farm and a deserted mansion in Lipica.
The task of the original, royal stud farm of Lipica was to breed elegant cart and saddle horses for the Hapsburg court and the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
Six national Lipizzaner stud farms in Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Italy are home to 1200 Lipizzaner white horses. The Lipica Stud Farm has around 370 horses.
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