Croatian Lipizzans

The USLR is providing the following information to help answer some of the questions generated by the recent news stories in Europe and on the internet.

Ingun Littorin, USLR Member and newly elected Vice President of the LIF (Lipizzan International Federation), has asked the USLR to distribute the following information about the conditions of the Croatian Lipizzans in Serbia.

Currently the USLR is not collecting funds for a rescue effort for these horses. As Ingun explains in her information below, there is no direct way to aid these Lipizzaners. If and when the LIF and USLR can determine a way to directly help the Lipizzans with a guarantee that the aid will reach the farms, we will inform you. We' will keep you posted if the LIF does ask for a relief effort for the horses. These horses are NOT related in any way to the previous rescue campaign for the Bosnian Lipizzans at the Vucijak stud farm. Ingun does provide an update below on these Lipizzans as well.The USLR does have our Relief fund available that we can access when appropriate, but, again, we need people in place to make sure everything gets to the horses. If you wish to donate to the general relief fund, contact the office, but the USLR will not send aid until we have guarantees in place that it will get to the horses in need.Lyn Schaeffer – Treasurer USLRLately there have been several news stories about the Lipizzaners in Bosnia and Serbia (the Lipik horses) and about the lack of “care” given to these horses.These issues were discussed during the last Lipizzan International Federation (LIF) meeting which was conducted in Kelebija, Serbia on June 16 and 17.The Bosnian horses are doing better and in fairly good condition according to Dr. Rus who had recently visited the stud-farm. More needs to be done in regards to securing the future within the Bosnian Government. Lipica and Slovenian Government have been working closely with Vujiak, including providing breeding stallions. At the meeting Piber, through Mr. Aigner, offered to send additional feed to the stud-farm to carry them through the winter...In regards to the Croatian horses in Serbia, things are not quite as good. These horses were removed from Croatia without permission during the war and have been moved to different locations several times. Off spring of these horses will not be registered by any LIF associated registry until the issue of the return of the horses to Croatia has been resolved. In the meantime, it was decided in June that an effort be made to collect DNA from these horses, as many of them are now very old and parentage may be difficult to prove. As to their condition, it appears not to be very good. There are still funds in the LIF Help-account (most of them collected in the United States) and it may be possible to transfer these over to assist with the Croatian horses in Serbia. It must be remembered however, one cannot simply cross a border with a load of hay – there is a tremendous amount of red tape, rules and regulations. And again, it is a private person who is in possession of these horses (possibly illegally) and the Governments are negotiating over the resolution of the problem.Croatia has from the beginning tried to have these horses returned as they were stolen. LIF has been assisting in these negotiations over the year. The return of these horses is a political issue and must be resolved between the two Governments of Croatia and Serbia. Currently negotiations are ongoing at the ministerial level, and it is hoped that they can come to a quick resolution as this now has evolved into a political embarrassment.According to a news bulletin on BBC news, the current “caretaker/owner” of the horses has requested $410,000 for care of these horses over the years (see link below). Croatia is refusing to pay this amount as their stand is that the horses were illegally acquired.I hope this will clear up some of the issues that have been discussed in various e-mails. The Europeans, as well as LIF, are very aware of the issues and have worked diligently over many years trying to resolve this very sad issue.LIF has on several occasions assisted in these negotiations. It has now become an important political issue and must be resolved between the two governments. Through LIF I will work on getting the latest information forwarded to you.Ingun Littorin

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