By Agata Grosicka
Photography: Magda Kapica
For almost a decade, the Udorz Stud Farm – a well-known riding and breeding centre located in the south of Poland – has been holding the annual breeding championships for Warmblood horses in four age categories: foals, yearlings, two-, and three-year-olds. Entries in the youngest age-groups are presented on a triangle, while the eldest are judged in free jumping.
Once hosted at a local level, this event has now grown into one of the most important events on the Polish Sport Horse breeding calendar, thanks to the engagement of organizers to promote the initiative, and its fortunate location adjoining three large Polish voivodeships*: Silesia, Lesser Poland and Swietokrzyskie. This year the event held on September 9 saw 50 horses competing in all categories.
Maciej Wyszomirski, the director of the Silesian-Opole Branch of the Polish Association of Horse Breeders was very satisfied with this year’s edition: “We started almost two decades ago and held our championships in different locations around the county of Silesia. We were very lucky and eventually got affiliated with the Udorz Horse Stud about eight years ago, and since then we have organized our championships in Udorz. It is a great equestrian centre with sporting traditions and willing to promote Polish-bred sport horses. The two last editions were very successful, not only in terms of the number of horses in competition. We managed to achieve the quality of horses we’d always dreamt of. Udorz has become the place for all breeders from southern Poland who come every year to celebrate. Currently in Poland we are having three major breeding events: Ours which covers Southern Poland, one organized by Kuyavian – the Pomeranian branch of the Polish Association of Horse Breeders in North-West Poland, and one in the Mazurian district. They are becoming professional and spectacular shows. Our common goal is to use the potential of these shows to promote the breed of Polish Sport Horse.”
What exactly is a Polish Sport Horse?
“That’s what we would like to establish – one common breed for all sport horses bred in Poland. Interestingly, if you look at the starting lists at any competition in Poland or abroad and come across a horse with a Polish passport, what identifies him is this abbreviation – PZHK. It is not a breed, it is the abbreviation of the Polish Association of Horse Breeders. We would like to replace it with one common name for our horses...
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