1/25/13

Freisians, a Dutch breed retreat in the heart of Russia.

Horses have always drawn my most affectionate admiration. Since the age of 3.  Just looking at them was a pleasure, not to mention driving a cart when I was about 5 or 6 and my granny let me rein horses on the way to town.

I'm going to write about a horse-breeding center in this post.

The country's population is not just poor but destitute, deprived of most inalienable rights, so most of them don't think about how to learn to ride or mountain ski ... So horse breeding industry is just beginning to emerge. However, there are a few places where horses are groomed, well-kept, and I even know at least one instructor, knowledgeable and able to communicate with customers.



 We spent a beautiful weekend last year in an SKS (Sports-Equestrian-Center) Svechinsky. They offer a number of activities to indulge in: from skating (they have a small skating-rink), sledging, having a nice dinner at the restaurant, having an excursion of the stables to predictably horse-riding classes and sledging/or riding in a cart in the nearby forest.

This sports-equestrian center target at breeding Freisians particularly. The breed is well-built and proportional. It's feature is long manes and tails. They braid them to avoid tangling or brushing them continually.

These horses were knights' support in crusades, they have strong joints, relatively broad chest.  Some owners of such horses write in their blogs they are inquisitive and like wading in water.))
a knight-to-be on a glittering horse in a tiny riding hall



Yes, the dog is dancing for a carrot
and eating it

It is allowed to feed the horses, which I liked. Some carrots and apples. You can watch horses walking about. Stroke them.


This is a remarkable horse,
 it could open the gates in of the outside enclosures and walk about
It is actually a complex with different services. A hotel, detached houses for rent, a restaurant. You can both watch a horse riding competition and ride horses or learn to ride yourself. The drawback here is that they allow to learn to ride in a tiny riding hall. It was too small for two people: another "student", except me,  was riding so I didn't enjoy it much. However, riding a Freisian was worth it.  They actually let you ride a Freisian.
in the background  - houses of residents of the village Svechino
in the foreground - skating-rink for visitors

the view from our room
the hotel with the restaurant downstairs is just opposite the enclosures for the horses


Different types of competitions are held all the time. There's much space in a bigger riding hall for professionals so you can observe everything well if you are upstairs on the balcony. Attending competitions is free.
A video of driving competition. The horse that did the best. There are balls on the posts of the frames and the horse didn't hit off any of them.



The restaurant: a bit overpriced, nourishing dishes. The hotel rooms: spacious (ours was about 40 sq meters), overpriced.

Overall service: a bit offhand, seemed to me that money matters too much for them, they demand you to pay the rooms (overpriced ones) in advance and that was not negotiable, which, I suppose, is a sign of disrespect towards customers and narrow-mindedness.

Still the beauty and nobleness of the horses overweigh all the drawbacks.

You can get in touch with them  8 (909) 966-19-99     8 (985) 766-25-14     8 (925) 505-35-75

More pictures of these amazing horses you can see here . 

Have you seen anything more beautiful than this? 


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