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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.

If I’m remembering correctly, there are only 14 horses that remain in Christiansborg’s royal stables. There used to be over two hundred. The soldier had two horses stabled there as well, making it 16. When he was ready, we headed over to the arena.

The indoor arena at the palace is beautiful; light floods in from the high windows. When you look up, just under the windows, you can see balconies running the length of the walls. They end at the royal viewing box. I read that this building is considered the most important piece of eighteenth-century architecture in Denmark. I sat at one end of the arena, happy as a clam, and watched him work with the Kladruby. I filmed him riding. The film quality isn’t so great because it was just with my little digital camera, but you’ll see how beautiful the horse and arena are.

After awhile, he took the horse outside into the courtyard where a statue of Christian IX looms over the circular outdoor arena. The area is called the Ridebane (Royal Riding Ground). He told me that one of the court’s riders was on his day off and that was why he was exercising that particular Kladruby. He’d only ridden the horse twice before.

When he was entering the arena, a bunch of children were running around giggling and screaming. There were so many of them that the horse spooked. That’s when I put down my camera. The horse was having a panic attack and was racing around snorting and giving the rider some trouble. I was impressed by the way he handled it. The rider stayed perfectly balanced and centered and worked the reins until the horse was under control again. You can hear the horse snorting still at the end of the video when I began filming again.

My visit ended with a viewing of the antique coaches. It was incredibly nice of the soldier to let me spend some time there and to talk to me about the horses and the history of the palace. It was one of the high points of my trip. I may not have found any reining horses, but I got to pet the royal horses of Denmark!

More information on the World Heritage Monument petition for the stud farm at Kladruby na Ladem