The last paradise of the LIPICA stallions
Divaca, Sezana, Koper, Trst, Postojna, Lipica ... names that evoke distant memories of childhood. The primary school of Divaca in Slovenia, the games with pals in the Karst grottoes, the sea at Koper where I learned to swim... at that time horses were far from my mind.
My passion for horses was born in the German part of Switzerland, and continued in the USA where I learned the basics of riding and breeding and from where I brought back a few horses, who still live with us in France.
It was by chance, three years ago, that my work for the magazine brought me close to the Lippizaners and to Lipica which I had never visited as a child. It took all this time and many detours in my life to bring me back to my native country and discover the National Stud Farm there in Slovenia.
One fine afternoon in January, 2005 Jana Vejnovic and I are driving towards Lipica, the green oasis of the Karst, where the Lipizzaner horses live. A narrow tree-lined avenue, which leads to the stables, greets all visitors to Lipica. If they are lucky, they will catch a glimpse of the Lipizzaners grazing in the meadows that border the drive ; the young ones, still grey, or the older ones, already white. But at nightfall all of them are brought back to the stables. So, arriving at dusk, our first question was : where are you, you Lipizzaners ? A question that relates at the same time to their past, present and future.
