Changes in Lipica
Changes can be good or bad. Man can cope with both, yet horses are dependent on people and their ability to take care of them. We read about the Lipica Stud Farm in the Slovenia newspapers at times. There are a lot of articles when changes might endanger the number of brood herds of Lipizzan horses.
I wrote about the development of the Lipica Stud Farm a few years ago, and it is time to revisit the current situation in Lipica from a few points of view. I have talked to the stud farm manager, Matjaz Pust, the town planner, Etbin Tavcar, the chief trainer, Igor Maver, and the head of the Lipica Stud Farm, Mitja Pernarcic.
With Igor Maver, Acting Chief Trainer and Mitja Pernarcic who trains stallions for harness, I stood in the corridor of the so-called training stable, where 60 horses, three to twenty years old, dwelled in big stalls. It was as though they were listening to our conversation. Everything was quiet, but now and then we could hear a short sigh from one of them.
"There are 30 horses that we ride in the Classical Riding School presentation, which is enough for continuous shows through the whole season, that is 7 months, 3 times a week," said Slovenian dressage riding champion Igor Maver. "We train the horses, all of them stallions, 2 hours a day, except on Mondays. The official training consists of riding, mostly. In addition to this we work with horses that are trained for Airs above the ground. Sometimes we train them in the presence of spectators, so that they get used to full stands. The training program is not fixed; we try to adjust it to the horse, his condition, feelings and knowledge".
Are you concerned about the changes in the Lipica Stud Farm? New manager - new instructions?
"I think that the media often exaggerate and dramatize the situation in Lipica. They forget the most important fact : we always take care of the horses at a very high level. I don't deny that it would be better for the Lipica Stud Farm if the management were elected for a longer period. The results with the horses can be seen in many years, not in two or four years".
Mitja Pernarcic added: "Our goal is to offer our facilities to all three main riding disciplines: dressage, jumping and harness. My staff and I have to do our best for the horses, and I am glad that my workers are proud of the Lipizzan horses. The team in Ravne, for example, has to take care of young stallions and they do a wonderful job there. They don't need any special supervision. They just do what is good for the horses. The journalists don't want to write about these facts, because they prefer to emphasize something that might have a negative connotation".
So, up to the manager's office situated close to the Casino entrance to meet Matjaz Pust, the Manager of the Lipica Stud Farm, and later than, Etbin Tavcar, the president of the International Association for Lipica h whose goal is to call attention to the importance and necessity of adequate protection of Lipica Studfarm and Lipizzaner. He studied landscape architecture, and he thinks that the situation in Lipica would have been quite different, if it hadn't been for the golf course and the Casino.
