Lipizzaner Celebrations in Ljubljana
Slovenia was marking on Saturday Lipizzaner Day, dedicated to honouring the famous white horses that are bred at the Lipica Stud Farm in the southwest of the country. As part of celebrations, the Lipica Stud Farm is to bring several of its horses to Ljubljana, where a number of events are to be held, including free coach rides, said Kobilarna Lipica, the institution running the stud farm.
The Lipica Stud Farm brought to Ljubljana two horse-drawn coaches that were driven by two of Slovenia's best coachmen. Moreover, the Hungarian stud farm Szilvasvarad, which has been extremely successful in breeding Lipizzaners used in teams, appeared as well with a five-horse carriage. The Lipica Stud Farm has traditionally been breeding horses used for drawing coaches. Initially, coach riding, which is one of the elements of the classical riding school, was used foremost as a test of pedigree mares, but has over time evolved into a sports category involving mares and studs.
Lipizzaner Day has been celebrated for the past five years, remembering 19 May 1580 as the day when Archduke of Austria Charles II bought a stud farm and a deserted mansion in Lipica.
The horses take their name from the village of Lipica (Italian: Lipizza) where they have been bred since the 16th century. Lipica, located in the southwest just near the border with Italy, is the oldest European stud breeding the same horse since its start.
More than 200 members of the Slovenian Association of Lipizzaner Breeders take care of around 500 Lipizzaners, of which around 400 belong to the Lipica Stud Farm. Together with the farm, the horses have been protected as cultural heritage of utmost importance since 1996.
Having been open to visitors since 1960, the stud farm is visited by some 110,000 tourists a year, mostly from abroad. Not all of them come to see the horses, though, as Lipica has also become known for gaming and golf.
The institution running the stud farm has been facing financial difficulties for years, while the Slovenian government adopted last year a strategy to tackle this by creating a commercial division of Kobilarna Lipica specialising in tourism. One of the main attractions apart from the horses is expected to be an expanded golf course.
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