By Agata Grosicka
Photography: K. Broda, L. Kowalski, A. Wiatrowska, D. Paley
Remigiusz Makowski from the Opypy Horse Stud located just outside Warsaw – Poland’s capital city – is one of the country’s most recognized breeders. He can also claim to be the one of the most successful breeders: Last year his mare Winona sp (Love Affair - Waikiki x Spartakus) ridden by Mariusz Kleniuk, was a member of Polish eventing team that won the Olympic qualifier for Tokyo 2020.
Likewise, Makowski’s grey Jerico sp (Wieland -Jenifer x Ever For Pleasure) ridden by Jaroslaw Skrzyczynski – one of the best Polish showjumpers – contributed to the silver medal won at the last Polish showjumping championships. Lastly, his young dressage stallion Donatan (Bon Coeur - Dream Girl x Rhytmus S) won both the Sport Championships for Young Horses in Solec Kujawski, as well as the Polish Championships for Young Horses organized by PZHK, scoring 8.60 and leaving many competitors behind, including the offspring of Glamourdale.
Remigiusz Makowski has also been awarded as Polish breeder of the year on a couple of occasions. Now, what was once a passion and an expensive hobby, has grown into a full-time family business which is now being taken over by his daughter Marzena Makowska-Chentkowska, an acclaimed dressage rider. Makowski is also a representative of the Polish private horse breeding assoc-iation that bloom-ed in the country in early 1990s following the political trans-formation.
Q When did you start breeding horses?
RM: I am a professional gar-dener and for years was running a huge gardening company. Yet I’ve always had horses. Firstly they weren’t strictly sport horses, they were horses of a light type – Polish Anglo-Arabs (malopolska horses). Then I bought the Opypy Horse Stud in 1992 and a year later took up breeding. In 1995 I had my first sport horses. So it’s been a while since I started.
Q Who did you learn from, and how did you acquire all your knowledge about breeding?
RM: At the beginning it was not so easy. It took me a while till I started going to the German korüngs. I had some help from my cousin, Ryszard Mordzelewski, who was really into horses and had a lot of passion for them. I then became interested in Hanoverian horses and became involved with the work of the Polish Association of the Warmblood Horse. We tried to create our own studbook of Polish Warmbloods, but we first had problems with state breeding for it to be officially registered, then eventually earned their agreement. However, the economic situation changed and the European markets were opened to us, so creating a totally new breed was pointless. Actually, we did not want to create a new breed of a horse, we wanted to create new conditions and requirements. Our goal was to have a super sport horse so the requirements to produce such a horse were different... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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