National Stud Kladruby nad Labem
The National Stud in Kladruby nad Labem is one of the oldest stud farms in the world and the home of the unique Old Kladruber horse – the oldest original Czech horse breed. Horse breeding has a long tradition here, dating back to the 16th century, when the stud was founded by the Habsburgs as an imperial court stud.
For more than 300 years, horses from Kladruby were bred for ceremonial purposes at royal courts in Vienna and Prague. This tradition continues to this day – the Old Kladruber is still used as a ceremonial carriage horse, for example at royal courts in Denmark and Sweden.
The stud focuses on preserving this unique breed and maintaining traditional breeding methods. It also takes care of the surrounding landscape, which was specially designed for breeding and training horses.
In 2019, the entire area – known as the Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses – was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the only landscape of its kind in the world that still serves its original purpose.
The National Stud also includes a second site in Slatiňany, where the black variant of the Old Kladruber horse is bred. Today, around 250 of these horses live there.
The above photographs were taken by Lucie Macáková.