Tuesday 7 April 2015

Royal horses

During my holiday in Copenhagen I went to Christiansborg Palace and visited the Royal Stables. There I saw the most beautiful white horses!




Kladrubers come from the Czech Republic. They were bred during the 17th Century to be used for ceremonial tasks, like pulling carriages. They can be grey or black. The ones I saw were mostly white with a few grey freckles. A curious fact is that they are born dark and turn white when they reach 6 or 7 years of age.

The grey population is rather small. So I was very sad when I read that they are an endangered breed. Luckily, conservation programmes have been established to deal with problems like loss of genetic variability due to inbreeding. However, they are also threatened by cancer and viral infections.




Like  humans, horses suffer from skin cancer. Kladrubers in particular are prone to this disease. Part of the conservation programmes include studies to find genetic markers related to predisposition and resistance to melanoma.  

Kladrubers are also victims of infection by Equine herpesviruses. In particular, Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) affects the respiratory tract and causes abortions in pregnant mares. Fortunately , we now have vaccines which prevent the spreading of the virus.




I hope that thanks to the conservation programmes, these horses will not be considered an endangered breed in the near future.



Visit the Royal Stables if you go to Copenhagen!



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