ZAGREB, March 29, 2020 - A request by eight countries for the Lipizzan Horse Breeding Traditions to be inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has been recently submitted, and the final decision will be made by UNESCO in 2021.

The multinational request was forwarded by the following countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the Croatian Ministry of Culture said in a press release on 26 March.

The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will evaluate the request and decide on inscription at its 16th session in December 2021.

The Lipizzan Horse Breeding Tradition in Slavonija, Baranja, and Srijem regions is an important part of Croatian cultural heritage, and it was inscribed in the Register of Croatian Cultural Heritage in 2017.

At the end of 2017, the international initiative for preparing the request for UNESCO started, and the main coordinator for preparing the request in Croatia is the Ministry of Culture.

The breeding of Lipizzan horses played an important role in Croatian history, both in the culture of the aristocratic, landowning, and military classes, and in folk life. The first Lipizzan horses were bred in Croatia around 1700 at Count Andrija Jankovic stables, where one of the eight acknowledged Lipizzan stallion bloodlines, Tulipan, was bred around 1800.

The Croatian ministry also notes that "from the foundation of the stud farm in Lipica in 1580, the breeding of Lipizzan horses spread through geographical areas of today’s Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia."

"For more than 450 years and through the changing political systems, the element has always united bearers, practitioners and communities from eight countries. They are the first caretakers of the Lipizzan horse breeding, based on a trustful bond between human and horse, and of a shared cultural heritage."

Croatia has 17 entries in UNESCO's Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

More news about Croatia and the UNESCO can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, June 8, 2019 - Several hundred citizens rallied in Zagreb on Saturday outside the entrance to the city's horse racing venue to protest against Mayor Milan Bandić's decision to build what is colloquially called the Zagreb Manhattan project in that part of the city, warning the city authorities not to deprive them of that green area and the mayor to let them be.

Not long after Bandić announced that the Zagreb Manhattan project would be implemented in the area between Zagreb's Jadranski Most bridge to the west, the Sava River to the north, the Zagreb Trade Fair to the south and the INA company headquarters and the Most Slobode bridge to the east, equestrian associations and horse owners were informed that they had to move all of 147 horses from the city's racing venue.

Today's protest was organised by civic associations, and among the protesters were numerous children.

One of the banners displayed by the protesters carried Bandić's statement from 2018 in which he said that the city racecourse would not be touched as long as he was the mayor.

Ivana Ljubić, head of the Pony Express equestrian club, said that the racecourse was a second home to more than 500 children who did not own a horse and came there to ride.

Ninety percent of equestrian events in the country are held on the Zagreb racecourse and the place "is much more than a big meadow suitable for building commercial buildings with a high tower like the one in Mordor, offering a good view of subjects."

Ljubić recalled that town planners, too, opposed the project, that the racecourse was of strategic importance for children and the city, and that civic associations would not give up their fight for it.

As for the mayor's announcement that horses would be relocated from the racecourse to two equestrian venues in the area of Zagreb, Ljubic said that no private racecourse, regardless of its capacity, could take over the role of the city's main racing venue as the equestrian centre.

Another activist, Vesna Grgić, said that Bandić was behaving as a farmers' market vendor, "selling parts of Zagreb to whomever gives the highest bid."

In a comment on Bandić's statement that the city would not finance anyone's hobbies, a remark directed at people protesting against the closing down of the racecourse, activist Tomislav Vukoja said: "Nobody has asked us - the taxpayers who fill the city budget - what we think about the plan. If the city money was not spent on the unlawful hiring of 'relatives' who are incompetent but receive pay - there would be money for various hobbies."

The organisers of the protest said that until June 22 they would be collecting signatures for a petition to be given to the mayor, and activist Gordana Pasanec of the New Left party said the next protest would be held outside the city assembly.

According to the organisers, the protest was attended by more than 1,000 people, while police did not give any information on their number, saying only that there were no reports of incidents.

The protest was also supported by members of the Opposition in the Zagreb City Assembly - Renato Petek of the Forward Croatia - Progressive Alliance party and Gordan Maras of the Social Democratic Party.

In March this year, the city authorities said that Eagle Hills, a group of investors from Abu Dhabi, was the likely strategic investor in a possible development project colloquially called the Zagreb Manhattan.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 3, 2019 - Croatia has excellent conditions for the development of equestrian tourism and in cooperation with all other stakeholders in the appropriate destinations for that type of tourism, such demanding guests can be provided with superb services and experience, an international expert, Renzo Tomi, has recently said during his visit to Croatia.

Tomi, an Italian expert for equestrian tourism, arrived in Croatia to give a lecture at an international conference on this topic in Bjelovar.

Bjelovar, a town 80 kilometres east of Zagreb, has an international certificate for the Bilogora equestrian tourist trail, according to information provided by the National Environmental Equestrian Guide (ENGEA) in Croatia.

The 90-kilometre Bilogora equestrian tourist trail has a score of horse-welcome points.

ENGEA Croatia, an association established in 2016, has reported that all training and educational events for equestrian guides in Croatia have so far been supported by the Croatian National Tourist Board.

ENGEA Croatia says that there are a dozen equestrian associations in the region of Bjelovar and Bilogora, plus several family farms that are engaged in horse breeding and tourist trade.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

The Croatian Post has published a special stamp from the “Protected Horse Breeds” series which features the Lipizzaner motif, announced the Croatian Post. The stamp has a nominal value of 15 kuna and will be printed in 30,000 copies. The author of the design is Vladimir Buzolić-Stegu from Zagreb and the stamp was made according to a photograph made by Domagoj Topić, reports Agrobiz.hr on November 7, 2018.

The project was realised in cooperation with the State Stables of Đakovo and Lipik. The Croatian Post will also issue the first day of issue envelope (FDC). The stamp and the envelope can be purchased at the Croatian Post’s internet store at www.epostshop.hr. The first-day stamp will be used on 7 and 8 November at the post office in Jurišićeva Street in Zagreb.

The history of the Lipizzaner horse breed began in 1580 at the Lipica stables in Slovenia, at the time the official stables of the Austrian court. The Lipizzaner is a strong horse suitable for riding, with height up to 160 cm, characterized by good temperament. Its walk is graceful and high. They mostly have white hair, but some have brown and black hair. Interesting, they are never born white, but they become white as they get older.

Today, there are eight male and 65 female lines of the Lipizzaner. The male lines are Conversano, Favory, Maestoso, Neapolitan, Pluto, Siglavy, Tulipan and Incitato.

The breeding of the Lipizzaner in Croatia is linked to the state stables in Đakovo and Lipik, which make up the core of the breeding efforts, as well as to Slavonia, where the private breeding is part of the village life and folk customs, with numerous public events and sporting competitions in driving and riding.

Because of this, the Ministry of Culture issued a proclamation in 2017 making the tradition of the Lipizzaner breeding in Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem part of the intangible cultural heritage of Croatia and registering it in the Register of Cultural Property of the Republic of Croatia – The List of Protected Cultural Goods.

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Translated from Agrobiz.hr.

Brdovec is a small town just west of Zagreb.

The Bilogora Horseback Tourist Trail is the first internationally certified equestrian tourism trail in Croatia.