ESSA courier No. 21 – April 2014 __________________________________________________________________________________ The President’s Editorial 2 __________________________________________________________________________________ New partner institution: the Portuguese National Stud ALTER REAL 3 __________________________________________________________________________________ This year MARBACH STATE STUD celebrates its 500th jubilee 4 __________________________________________________________________________________ REVIEW: ESSA presence at the Pferd Bodensee fair at Friedrichshafen, Germany 6 __________________________________________________________________________________ REVIEW: CAI3* KLADRUBY NAD LABEM with successful teams of the National Studs 7 KLADRUBY and TOPOL’ČIANKY __________________________________________________________________________________ Days of European Stud culture with General Assembly, Symposium and Marbach Classics, July 3rd to 5th at MARBACH STATE STUD 7 __________________________________________________________________________________ ESSA presents “Europa‐Quadrille” at the European horse fair Eurocheval at Offenburg, Germany, July 23rd to 27th 8 __________________________________________________________________________________ Register now for the excursion to YPÄJÄ Equine College and the King Trotting Race at Pori, Finland, August 1st to 4th 9 __________________________________________________________________________________ One year in Switzerland – internship report by Anja Schwarz 10 __________________________________________________________________________________ In memory of Svetlozar Kastchiev 11 __________________________________________________________________________________ ESSA dates 2014 12 __________________________________________________________________________________ Dates of ESSA partner institutions 12 1 _________________________________________________________________________________ European State Studs Association e.V. c/o Haupt‐ und Landgestuet Marbach I D‐72532 Gomadingen‐Marbach Tel +49 73 85 96 57 17 I Fax +49 73 85 96 57 38 I [email protected] I www.europeanstatestuds.org ESSA courier No. 21 – April 2014 The President’s Editorial Dear ESSA members, dear friends, At our next General Assembly on 3rd of July you will have to elect a new board member because I will not anymore be the person representing the former French National Studs (today IFCE) on the ESSA board. May I take this opportunity to share with you some of the remarks and advices that could be useful for most of you if you come in the same difficulties that we have in France, or that our Swiss friends of AVENCHES, or our Portuguese friends of ALTER REAL have had in the recent years. First of all, we as State Studs need a clear support of the breeders as customers, of the breeding organisations as partners, and of the horse people, both professionals and amateurs, as users of our premises. If the only support is the state ‐ and all of them in Europe are lacking money because of the economic situation and all of them are lacking interest or knowledge of the horse industry ‐ this support will sooner or later be reduced, because the priority for the horse sport and leisure sector comes clearly far after education, health, security or justice… But if we are horse specialists, we are also independent of the commercial world, so we can be the ones who are there to spread knowledge through research and teaching and to protect ethics through expertise and practical experience, and it’s a good way to be recognised for our expertise and to be supported by the horse sector. And of course we need as much public as possible as visitors, because the politicians are elected by all people. They respect the sites where the great public is part of the activity, through events or shows, but also through any type of cultural or sportive organisation. This point covers also some understatement about the economic situation of our studs, which should improve their own resources in order not to be totally depending on the goodwill of some decision makers in a Ministry who don’t know anything about horse world. This open mind is not supposed to forget that we are studs and most of our sites are also schools, and that these activities should stay connected to horse culture and horse heritage; but the possibilities to welcome more visitors through tourism, marketing and the adapted communication are here. It’s only through these two directions that our heritage could be of some interest for the ones who are responsible of our future. It covers living heritage, protecting the endangered breeds or helping the selection of the actual ones, promoting the specialties around breeding, horse driving, horse riding, horse training, the connected handicrafts like farrier or saddle maker, and so on… History, 2 _________________________________________________________________________________ European State Studs Association e.V. c/o Haupt‐ und Landgestuet Marbach I D‐72532 Gomadingen‐Marbach Tel +49 73 85 96 57 17 I Fax +49 73 85 96 57 38 I [email protected] I www.europeanstatestuds.org ESSA courier No. 21 – April 2014 books, archives are also part of this heritage. Not to forgot buildings and landscapes, most of the time the only aspect immediately taken in account when our studs, the walls and the roofs, the fences and the roads, start to get old… On that special topic, I am especially happy that we will have in connection with the General Assembly and the 500th anniversary of MARBACH the 2nd edition of the Symposium on the Cultural Heritage of the European Studs. It gives us, it gives you all, plenty of information and arguments to present and promote this heritage. The power of our network is there since 6 years now, its efficiency has been proved in many situations, it has to go ahead to defend our heritage and traditions, in connection with most horsy institutions at the European level. Thanks a lot to the ESSA management through Alexandra Lotz, to the people of MARBACH who work with us since 6 years, and a special thanks to Astrid von Velsen‐ Zerweck, who gave me many occasions to visit and enjoy this wonderful place! Looking forward to seeing you there in a few months! Bernard Maurel __________________________________________________________________________________ New partner institution: the Portuguese National Stud ALTER REAL With great pleasure we welcome the Portuguese National Stud as new ESSA member. ALTER REAL was founded in 1748 by King John V and, since then, has contributed to show to the world the role and vital importance of Lusitano Purebred and in particular Alter Lusitanos in Portugal. In fact, among all Portuguese breeds, Lusitano is the one with more international visibility and has recently achieved recognition for its unique characteristics: gentleness, focus, versatility, courage and enthusiasm. To all these features, Alter Lusitanos add an historical past. They represent stability, tenacity, resilience regarding the several adverse situations the stud has faced during 266 years! Despite all difficulties, ALTER REAL is now in great moment genetics wise. Alter Lusitanos and their influence on other studs show important results in different equestrian activities. Not only in classical riding with the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art but in sport disciplines as driving and dressage. The most popular dressage horse in Iberia is the Alter Lusitano Rubi, present at the London Olympics 2012. 3 _________________________________________________________________________________ European State Studs Association e.V. c/o Haupt‐ und Landgestuet Marbach I D‐72532 Gomadingen‐Marbach Tel +49 73 85 96 57 17 I Fax +49 73 85 96 57 38 I [email protected] I www.europeanstatestuds.org ESSA courier No. 21 – April 2014 ALTER REAL is located at 200km east of Lisbon, close to the border with Spain, in a 800ha property with beautiful stables and prairies. Since August 2013, Alter Stud, previously a foundation, is being managed by Companhia das Lezírias, a public agroforestry business with 18.000ha located 30km north of Lisbon. This company is now in charge of all the public studs. At present, ALTER REAL is counting 510 horses of which 388 stay at the stud’s 800 hectares property, while 112 are distributed to other entities (universities, equine management schools, riding clubs). The most important one is the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, located near Lisbon with 49 bay ALTER REAL Lusitanos. The stud itself is home to 307 Lusitanos (225 Alter Real + 82 Coudelaria Nacional), 43 horses of the local Sorraia breed and 40 horses of other breeds, Arabians being the most representative. At the stud property there is also a public equine management school and the Molecular Genetics Laboratory that certifies the identity of the horses and keeps a DNA bank of all Lusitanos worldwide. It is possible to visit the stud and stay at the guest house, a beautiful 5 room house at the heart of the stud. The most important annual event is the annual horse auction, which attracts 2000 people from all over the country and foreign visitors. In 2014 it will take place on 24th of April. We are looking forward to the introduction of ALTER REAL during the next ESSA General Assembly and a presentation about the equestrian tradition of Portugal during the symposium “European Stud Culture” at MARBACH STATE STUD on July 4th and 5th. For more information about the Portuguese National Stud see http://www.alterreal.pt/ __________________________________________________________________________________