The Tradition of Lipizzaner Breeding

The Lipizzaner is a horse breed originating in Lipica Stud Farm (in Slovenia), and was also named after it. The stud farm was established by the Austrian Archduke Carl II in 1580 with the intention of breeding driving and riding horses for the needs of the imperial court in Vienna. The establishment of the Stud Farm marked the beginning of the Lipizzaner breed, one of the oldest horse breeds in Europe, whose distinguished features were perfected by a careful selection. Today, the Lipizzaner are mostly bread on the territory of the former Habsburg monarchy, that later became Austro Hungarian Empire. In Croatia, the Lipizzaners are mostly represented in Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem.

© Dražen Bota

There are two forms of Lipizzaner breeding in Croatia today: breeding on the state stud farms and traditional breeding on individual farms. Both of these forms of breeding have been closely connected and harmonised since the 19th century. This connection has been especially emphasised since the 2020s when the first farmers’ breeding societies were established in Slavonia. The breeding of Lipizzaner horses played an important role in the Croatian history, especially in the life of the noblemen, gentry and military class as well as in the life of ordinary people. However, the Military Frontier in Croatia had a positive contribution on the horse breeding and expansion of the Lipizzaner breed in the villages since at that time farmers were given stallions and their foals were bought etc. The first Lipizzaners on the Croatian territory were bread on the stud farm of Earl Andrija Janković in Terezovac (todays’ Suhopolje) near Virovitica around 1700. The known Lipizzaner breed line Tulipan was also bread there around 1800. This line was accepted as one of the eight primary stallion lines of the Lipizzaner breed and it is the only one originating in the Republic of Croatia.
Today, the breeding of Lipizzaner on Stud Farms in Croatia is carried out on at the State Stud Farm in Đakovo and Lipik, one of the oldest stud farms in Europe, which was first mentioned in written documents in 1506.

The Croatian Lipizzaner breeding is very distinctive because the Lipizzaner here became a part of the private breeding and tradition. This is especially the case in the eastern part of the Đakovo Region, in the regions of Vinkovci, Županja and Slavonski Brod (these are the areas that historically speaking belong within the boundaries of the Đakovo Diocese and Military Frontier).

Considering their desirable qualities and the fact that they are generally well-accepted, the Lipizzaners had a huge impact on the overall Croatian horse breeding in the past two centuries. There is a strong connection between the indigenous people of the Eastern Slavonia and Srijem, known as “Šokci” and horses that served them in the farming activities and the activities related to keeping the frontier at the time of the Military Frontier. Horses had a special status and played a special role in the tradition, various customs (wedding, Christmas, Shrovetide, St. George's), folklore performances (literature, drama, music, dance, visual art).