Alkars' Stud () is a horse breeding farm founded in 2004 in

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

Split-Dalmatia County Split-Dalmatia County ( ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 4.540 km2, the total area is 14.106,40 km2. Split-Dalmati ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Its main purpose is breeding of high-quality horses for

Sinjska alka The Sinjska alka () is an equestrian competition held in the Croatian town of Sinj. It commemorates a Croatian–Venetian Republic, Venetian Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18)#Austrian intervention and conclusion of the war, victory in the Ottom ...

equestrian competitions. It is situated at the Sinj

hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...

, where approximately forty horses have been housed, mostly of the English Thoroughbred and Croatian Warmblood breeds.

Establishment and development

The main initiator and founder of the

stud Stud may refer to: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar in San Francisco * ...

is the „Alka Knights' Society“ ("Viteško Alkarsko društvo" - VAD) from Sinj, which, due to the specific situation caused by the gradual reduction of horse breeding on private peasant properties, decided to organize its own breeding programme. In 2004 the

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Example ...

named "Alkarska ergela d.o.o." was registered and several

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

were engaged. The representatives of the VAD-Society agreed with the

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

that the stud would be located in the area of the Sinj hippodrome, the central place for keeping and training horses in Split-Dalmatia County. The hippodrome is situated in the eastern part of the town and there are four equestrian clubs from the wider area of Sinj which have their riding schools on it. The establishment of the stud was supported by the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

and the Split-Dalmatia County, and these institutions still co-finance Alkars activities today. In the first year after its establishment, the stud began to function with five breeding

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

s, and later its own breeding programme gradually increased. In addition, the stud assigns its

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

s to interested private owners of registered mares and thus stimulates horse breeding in Dalmatia.

Breeding and features of horses

The breeding and

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

of quality horses in the stud are important in order to ensure the high level of the significant event that takes place every year at the beginning of

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August ...

competition. A quality horse must meet a number of requirements, because the competition takes place in specific conditions. Horses have to reach a certain

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

, because they must run the 160-metre track in no more than 13 seconds. Furthermore, the racetrack is only 5

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

s wide, and there are people on both sides of it, so the horse must be trained to put up with different

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

colour Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...

s and generally unusual atmosphere without any problems. Horses bred in the stud, in addition to speed, must have a calm and even run, and a calm temperament. They are trained not to be afraid of sudden situations, such as, for example, the shot of a

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

called ‘’mačkule’’ during competition. All horses in the stud are not of the same

height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For an example of vertical extent, "This basketball player is 7 foot 1 inches in height." For an e ...

and

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition. Some sta ...

, so they are adjusted to the proportions of the rider. Taller and heavier horses are chosen for higher and heavier alkars, and vice versa. There are alkars that are up to two meters tall, and they ride horses that have a height of

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

about 180 cm. Besides, relationship between rider and horse must be full of trust. Therefore, the alkar must be in the stable with his horse more often throughout the year, as well as take him out for a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

References

{{coord , 43.704, 16.633 Agriculture in Croatia Tourist attractions in Split-Dalmatia County Horse farms in Croatia

Establishment and development

Breeding and features of horses

See also

References