I visited this recently inscribed WHS in Summer 2019. Once a settlement for “timber logging” (in Czech klady rubaji), Kladruby provided ideal conditions for horse breeding, thanks to the cut-down floodplain forest. 

At the time of Charles IV, the village of loggers, horse breeders and traders, administered by monasteries, flourished and a rectory and church were founded. The loggers gradually became squires, and their coat of arms from the early 15th century in fact shows a horseshoe. Yet this growth didn't last for long, as both the rectory and the church were destroyed during the Hussite Wars. By 1500, after a period of frequent changes of owners, Kladruby was bough by William of Pernstein and consequently attached to the large Pernstein dominion of Pardubice. The Pernstein family maintained the local tradition of horse breeding and founded a horse sanctuary, as documented in 1522, where horses were bred half-wild. The history of old Spanish and old Italian horse breeds in Kladruby which survived till present times began in 1552, when Jaroslav of Pernstein, following the fashionable trends of his times, brought the first horses of Spanish blood to the sanctuary. The year 1579 is an important milestone as by the degree of Emperor Rudolf II, a royal stud was established in the sanctuary.

Around 250 White Kladrubers, as they are called, are bred at Czechia's only national stud farm in Kladruby nad Labem. Black Kladrubers are bred in a secondary farm nearby in Slatinany. Written records of Kladruby date back to the 12th century, when the village belonged to the Litomysl monastery and later to the Sedlec monastery on the outskirts of Kutna Hora. In the early years, horses were bred in an enclosure rather than in stables. After Henry of Pernstein was forced to sell the estates to pay his debts, these became property of the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian II. In 1579, Emperor Rudolf II elevated the original horse enclosure to an imperial court stud farm.

Kladruby horses were originally bred in many different colours but today only two varieties survived. White Kladrubers were used predominantly for the ceremonial needs of the royal court, while the Black Kladrubers were primarily bred for church dignitaries. The Kladruby Stud Farm actually consists of three facilities. The largest one, in Kladruby nad Labem, where breeding stallions, broodmares with their foals and young horses in training are stabled. The second are the Josefov stables, about half a kilometre away, where mares without foals or which are in their early stages of gestation. The Frantiskov stables are the third facility, where foals are reared in Selmice, which is connected to the main stud farm building by a 3.5 km long avenue of lime trees. The stud farm in Kladruby includes some 1200 hectares of land, including fields, meadows, pastures, an English park and forest (if you would like to have a better overview of this rather flat area, you can pay extra to climb the wooden 'watchtower' after your guided tour of the stables.

During my visit, I opted for the stables tour which roughly takes around 45 minutes. Tours are held on the hour and are sold at the information centre. I joined a tour in Czech but a numbered information leaflet with a translation in English is given prior to the tour so you can follow quite well. Currently, this is the only way to explore the stud farm interior and I found it very interesting and organised quite well.

First we visited horses stabled in box enclosures which are used for stabling young stallions which are still being trained. At the age of three, they are brought here from Frantiskov and for 11 months they receive training here which mainly consists of getting the horses used to saddles and bridles. The first harnessing of a young horse is always paired with an older horse which acts as its teacher. Finally performance tests take place and the horses must prove themselves in harness and riding under saddle. The horses stabled in box enclosures have differing degrees of whiteness in their coats. This is due to the fact that like the Lipazzaner, White Kladrubers gradually become whiter with age. The gestation period for mares is 11 months and 90% of births happen at night. Foals from White Kladrubers are surprisingly born dark brown to black and then gradually turn white as they grow older, turning completely white at the age of 8-10 years.

The tour continues with visits to the competition horses' stables, the stanchion housing where broodmares are stabled and which are looked after by pupils of Kladruby's Seconday School of Horse Breeding and Riding as part of their practical studies, the breeding stallion stables with hand-painted signs bearing the horses' line and an indoor riding hall. White Kladrubers consist of the Generale, Generalissimo, Favory, Sacramoso and Rudolfo lines. The well-known Napoleone line died out. The indoor riding hall surface is made from glass sand and geotextiles.

Being around an hour by car from Prague, a visit to Kladruby is a very worthwhile half day trip and can easily be combined with a visit to Kutna Hora. Having already visited other national stud farms around the world, I was quite impressed with the overall condition of the one in Kladruby and how horse breeding is still very much alive in this area of Czechia. I really enjoyed my visit and I'm glad it has been inscribed as I would have never visited such a place otherwise.