The Royal Horses of Christiansborg
Video of palace arena (sorry about the quality — little camera)
This will be my last blog entry from my Denmark ’07 trip. I just wanted to share my visit to Christiansborg (Christians Palace). It’s now where Denmark’s parliament is, but also the home of the Denmark’s Royal Riding School. I found out about it through one of the policemen that I met (last blog entry). He said it would be ok if I went to watch them exercising the police horses there. Due to an unfortunate bus transfer mishap (rrrr), I was too late to watch the police horses (disappointing because they were jumping). But on his way out, the officer introduced me to three of the Queen’s riders and one rider from the Danish military cavalry. They were exercising the Queen’s horses in the arena. The policeman, who I owe a huge thank you too, asked the soldier to please show me the royal stables and the antique coaches. He said ok!
First we went to the stables so he could saddle up what looked like an 18 hand giant to exercise. I looked around, and aside from the few Oldenburgs, I noticed that most of the horses were like the one he would be riding — towering, white, and beautiful. I’d never seen one before. They are called “Old Kladruby” horses and are still used by royal courts around the world as carriage horses on formal occasions. They have Roman noses, a silky main and tail, and look white, but when you get closer you can see that they are slightly flee-bitten. The original Kladruby stud farm (including the horses) at Kladruby na Ladem in the Czech Republic is on the list to become a World Heritage Monument because of it’s architectural and historical importance. Continue Reading »
