The horse breeding farm proudly bears attribute of National Stud Farm from 1921. It is the only place in Europe where five horse breeds are bred at the same time. It focuses on breeding of Shagya Arabian, lipizzan, hutsul, purebred Arabian and Slovak warm-blooded horse. Herd’s quantity is 550 pieces. Part of the stud farm is situated in the territory of Topoľčianky Castle – summer residence of the first president of the Czechoslovak Republic T.G. Masaryk.

Also hipologic exposition with lot of interesting exhibits forms part of the farm. It covers an area of more than 1000 ha what shows power and importance of the facility. Single breeding objects and centres of National stud farm were built in the course of period 1921 – 1930. Even today, 90 years later, it serves as a model of complex solution of zootechnical, biological and social needs of reproduction process in horse breeding. Stud farm is known abroad mainly thanks to quadrille and classic school with lipizzan stud horses. Horses from national stables performed at events as record of mega-quadrille to Guinness Book of Records in Mannheim in Germany. They are successful also at sports events in many equestrian disciplines - dressage, equestrian vaulting, show jumping, endurance riding, teams of horses. Sports and breeders’ events take place also on stud farm during whole year. Highlight of the season 2013 was World Pair Driving Championships with record participation of riders from 23 countries of the world. The stud farm is important as one of the European selection breeding and breeding centres of noble warm-blooded horses. If you prefer not just to watch horses but also to own one, you should certainly contact the breeding centre.

Topoľčianky is unique for its European Bison Reserve. By the 1930s only a handful of wisents remained, in Poland. A captive breeding population was established and at the time the Topoľčianky reserve was established in 1958, there were 150. The global population is now over 3,000, and in 2004 the reserve started releasing small groups into the Poloniny National Park in eastern Slovakia, where they appear to be thriving.

In nearby Topoľčianky itself, is a Renaissance castle at which the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, holidayed every summer between 1923 and 1933. The landscaped gardens which surround the castle are spectacular, and include an early 20th-century hunting lodge surrounded by bronzes of deer and other quarry in their death throes. The castle’s southern wing, reconstructed in the early 19th century, is regarded as the purest example of neoclassical architecture in Slovakia, and is open to the public (the rest is now a hotel).

Source: Wikipedia