Kladruby Horse

The Kladruby horse breed is the oldest one of Czechoslovakia. At present, this horse breed is very rare. National stud farm Kladruby nad Labem is the main breeding centre. This stud is in the Czech Republic where Kladruby horses were bred for four centuries and now this breed is amongst the oldest horse breeds on the globe. This horse breed is also known as Kladruber and Kladrubsky.

History of Kladruby Horse

The Emperor of Rome and the Czech King Rudolf II found Kladruby stud found in 1579. Imported Italian and Spanish horses, crossed with Danish, Irish, Neapolitane, heavier Czech and Oldenburg horses and Holstein horses formed the base of the stud. All the breeds used in the stud carried some Andalusian breeding in their lineage. The Vienna imperial court used the Kladruby horses as royal ceremonial carriage horses at a time. Early two hundred years of breeding records of the Kladruby horse of the 18th century were damaged by fire in 1759. Before this destruction the Kladruby breed was very colorful but after the fire destroyed the precious breeding records of two centuries, the breeding has been restricted only to black and white horses. In order to preserve their genetic characteristics both colors were bred separately. The black colored Kladruby was meant for carriage and clerical dignitaries but in 1930, these animals (with one of the foundation studs) were sold for meat after the herd was liquidated. To regenerate the strain, programs have been established by using a few remaining mares. At the Kladruby stud White Kladruby horses are still bred and are performing their ancestral function of drawing the State coach on ceremonial occasions. Unfortunately, the breed is in danger.

Physique of Kladruby Horse

The Kladruby horse has a convex face. It has a superb carriage horse personality. It has Baroque appearance with a huge frame and arched neck. It has moderately upright shoulder, pasterns and hooves. The back is long and croup is short. The chest is profound and broad. It has sound legs with big joints and hooves. The legs are unfeathered but mane and tail are thick and graceful. The horse is a lean one. Its trot is rhythmic with high knee action. This is characteristic of this horse breed.

Height of Kladruby Horse

The Kladruby horses are minimum 16.2 hand high and maximum 17 hands high.

Body Color of Kladruby Horse

Today the Kladruby horses are usually found in gray color, occasionally in black.

Temperament of Kladruby Horse

The Kladruby Horse is obedient, tough, calm, intelligent, good-natured and late-maturing one with great fortitude.

Uses of Kladruby Horse

Kladruby horse is chiefly used in harness. It is good for agricultural and light draft works. You can see these horses in the sport of combined driving at international levels. This horse is at times crossbred with lighter breeds to bring into being a more suitable riding horse, typically for dressage.

The Kladruby Horses are the only native breed of Czechoslovakia and they descend from the old Spanish and Italian blood of the 16th and 17th centuries. They have some common ancestors with the Lipizzan breed. The Kladrubers, as they were called, were bred with great purity of line. The only new blood, it seems, comes from exchanges with other imperial studs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire such as those at Lipizza and Piber. They stocked horses of almost exclusively Andalusian origin. As already mentioned, this is an endangered breed but keen breeders are continuously making sincere attempts to protect the breed.