Kaldruby nad Labem is known as the home of the National Stud Farm in Czechia. The horses that are bred and raised here are used to pull carriages during special ceremonies. I always thought that is nice to see ceremonies which features these horses but I never stopped to think where they got these horse from in the first place. I just assumed that any horse would suffice. In order for them to be presentable, they need to be bred exactly the same way. This is where the National Stud Farm comes in. The entire landscape is in support of breeding these horses. We weren’t able to get in to see inside the farm but we were still able to go around the grounds, which are pretty big.

We made it behind the main stables and saw where they would be “exercising” the horses. There is a round structure where the horse would be made to go round and round. There is a metal “door” which would be moved behind the horse and which would make the horse move forward constantly. There is enough space for the horse but the only direction it can go is forward. This is their exercise. I don’t know how long the horses a made to do this but I thought it was rather cruel to just leave it to a machine to make the horses move around. I would later see actual people lead horses out another area where they would be led along through the paths. I think this is much more preferable compared to one which is controlled by a machine.

[xmlgm {https://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/KladrubynadLabem.kmz} zoom=19]