WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

With the invention of the steam engine, the role of horses slowly began to change. The gradual introduction of mechanisation, which replaced horse power, pushed the use of horses into other spheres. By the second half of the 20th century, horses were rarely seen in agriculture. Advances in the development of weapons decimated the herds of military horses and rendered them useless for military purposes. However, horses have acquired (old) new purposes, and today they are welcome partners in equestrian sport and horse racing.

Perhaps the most popular entertainment, not only for television viewers, is horse racing, which England has brought us. Obstacle races became widespread in Bohemia thanks to parford hunts, which were organised as early as the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The most famous race in this country is still the Great Pardubice. As the name suggests, it has been run at the Pardubice racecourse since 1874. Anyone who watches the main October race knows the dreaded obstacle, the so-called Taxis Ditch. When Prince Egon Thurn-Taxis died in 1892, who was famous for organising parfors hunts in Pardubice, the originally very difficult obstacle called the Tribune Jump was renamed after him. He was a great supporter of it.

The National Museum of Agriculture also has one nice memory of horse racing in its collections. It's a thoroughbred stallion named Gradivo. The English Thoroughbred was one of the biggest horse racing stars of the first half of the 20th century. He was born at the German stud Waldfried in 1939. He started 20 times on the racetrack, winning eight of them. In the autumn of 1943 he was bought by the stud in Napajedla. Here Gradivo helped to reestablish the Czechoslovak post-war breeding of the English Thoroughbred. He worked as a breeder in Napajedla until 1962. He became the sire of 81 foals and 71 mares. His prepared skeleton as well as a dermoplastic preparation were acquired by the museum in the 1960s.

In addition to flat and steeplechase races, trotting races are popular today, where the rider does not sit on the horse, but on a small cart (sulky) harnessed behind the horse. Trotting horses, for example, have been bred since the 1960s by the Provinian Stud Farm in Tlumačov. Elegance in sport is brought to us by horse dressage, no less noble entertainment is parkrun. Formerly working horses used in transport found their application in chariot races, which have deep roots in our country. Originally hard-working breeds of horses used in forestry or agriculture are now found in heavy-drawn races. The American continent has inspired us with its western riding, for example the popular reining. Equally interesting are the competitions in endurance, versatility, voltige or harness.