Thanks to the work of the foundation, more than 100 horses have found a home in Szépalma. The animals come from various rescues or are brought here in their old age and here they can find a home for life.
The mentally damaged horses that have come to us have rebuilt their trust in people and other horses. This makes the daily routine of work and life in Szépalma a unique experience. Our team is dedicated to caring for these animals, showing them with pride and sharing their stories with visitors. This makes our daily business a passionate and dedicated one, supported by professionalism.
Our stock includes six ex-star stallions from the world-famous Spanish Riding School of Vienna, who spend their retirement years enjyoing grassland and fresh air of Bakony landscape in complete peace and appreciation. These can be seen by anyone and are an experience first-hand at our estate.
Lipizzan
The history of Lipica began in 1580, when Archduke Charles II, son of the German-Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, King of Hungary and Bohemia, founded a breeding farm for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, founded in 1572 – in Lipica (Lipizza in Italian), near Trieste, on the Karst plateau in present-day Lipica, Slovenia. The genetic basis of the breeding farm was provided by the local, but somewhat heavy-bodied horses, imported from Spain, which were highly valued in the Middle Ages, and by the local, hardy mountain horses.
They wanted to breed here an excellent horse for the imperial court, with a solid conformation, showing splendour and richness in all its features. The breed’s ancestors include hardy mountain horses and Spanish-Napolitan stallions. Eight of the stallions lines used in the early days are still in existence today, and the breeding is based on them.
The Lipizzaner stallion herd was twice evacuated to Hungary during the Napoleonic Wars, thus the Lipizzaner-style herd of Mezőhegyes was formed. These horses were moved to Alsószombatfalva in 1876 and from there to Bábolna in 1912. From there they were reintroduced to the mountain environment of Szilvásvárad in the 1950s.
Thanks to the cooperation between the Szépalma Foundation, Gut Aiderbichl in Austria and the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, some of the Lipizzaner stallions can spend their well-deserved retirement years with us after a life of training and work. Our “stallion stable” is the perfect place for this, where we can safely separate the stallions from each other, yet still have a social life, which contributes to maintaining a balanced state of mind.
Arabs
The Arabian horse is the embodiment of beauty, nobility and elegance, making it one of the most popular horse breeds today. The breed originated in Central Asia and is considered to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula and present-day Egypt. Careful breeding by nomadic tribes in the desert has resulted in the development of an excellent horse population in the Najd Plateau, which has played a key role in the breeding and development of breeds such as the English thoroughbred, the Lipizzan, the Gidran, the Percheron, the Haflinger and the riding horse.
Breeding in Hungary began in Babolna in 1816, and a further bred version of the Arabian thoroughbred was developed, called the Shagya Arab. These horses carry the athletic conformation, stamina and noble appearance of the Arabian thoroughbred, but are characterised by a calmer temperament and greater cuddliness.
A group of Arabian mares can also be found in the pastures of Szépalma.
Hucul horse
The Hucul is also considered the pony of the Carpathians and is a national treasure. The breed takes its name from a group of Ruthenian people of the same name, the Hutsuls, who live in the Ukrainian Carpathians and the Maramures. The breed is a result of the domestication of the Tarpan and its adaptation to mountain conditions. The first authentic mention of the Hucul dates back to 1792, when there was a stud farm for Carpathian horses in Radautz. After the Second World War, the breed was devastated, and in the second half of the 20th century the Aggtelek National Park Directorate helped to revive the breed. The Hucul horse is small, undemanding and hardy. Its colour is mostly chestnut, summer black or pale, but it also has the original ancient colour, the mouse pinto, and often has a backstrap.
Some of our Huculs used to be horses for children in Szépalma, and now they enjoy their retirement and endless pastures. Visitors can get to know them on a walk in the woods, playful pony rides and horse grooming.
Kisberi
In 1853, Emperor Franz Joseph I ordered the creation of a military stud of noble blood. A herd of mares of mixed descent (Arab, Circassian, Spanish, Piberian, etc.) was brought to the chosen site, where they were bred to English thoroughbred stallions over several generations. This has resulted in a herd of horses that is close to English thoroughbreds, but with a greater willingness to work, a calmer and more massive appearance.
After World War II, the stud farms were dissolved. Some horses were even taken to the United States of America, where the Hungarian Horse Association, founded in 1953, helped to preserve their purebred breeding.
Szépalma is also home to a few horses of this small breed, which we are happy and proud to look after.
Leutstettener (Sárvár)
In 1826, breeding was started in what is now “Sárvár”, in the Royal Bavarian private stud, on the basis of the British half-breed and Furioso-North Star, the main sires were mostly from Mezőhegyes. From 1926 to 1930, three mares formed the base. Consistent selection ensured a stable genetic balance and efficiency. Since 1875 the Leutstettener horse has been an independent breed. In 1945 the horses of the private stud were transferred to Leutstetten, hence the name. Nowadays they are mainly found in the south of Munich, at the Leutstetten stud.
The gold medal-winning dressage horse of the Swiss team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was a Hummer, a twelve-year-old Furioso-North Star horse of Hungarian origin bred in Sárvár, which is said to have been of the same breed, under the leadership of Captain Hans Moser. This horse is also special for us because two of our horses in Szépalma are of this breed.