Kladruby nad Labem is a horse village in the flat country of the Elbe valley in eastern Bohemia, and its stud farm is among the oldest in the world. It was founded in the sixteenth century to breed carriage horses for the Habsburg court, and the Kladruber, a large, elegant horse that is usually white or black, is still bred here. The landscape, with its stables, riding grounds, pastures, avenues of trees and farm buildings laid out as a single working system, was added to the UNESCO list in 2019 as a cultural landscape.
The horses were bred for ceremony. Emperors rode in carriages drawn by teams of white Kladrubers for state occasions, and the black horses were used for funerals and high-ranking processions, and the combination of strength, height and a calm temperament made them prized across Europe. The stud has survived wars, changes of regime and many threats, and today it is a national cultural monument, which you can visit to see the stables and the horses in their paddocks. A foal in the spring, with its dark coat that will lighten over years, is a memorable sight.
The riding in the region is gentle. Roads run through flat farmland, past ponds and woods, and along the Elbe, with long straights and a few bends, and the surface is generally good. Traffic is light on the minor roads, though tractors and cyclists appear without warning, and on summer weekends the stud draws visitors. Spring and early autumn are best, with fresh green fields or golden leaves, and you may smell hay, horses and wet earth on the breeze. It is an easy place to combine with a visit to the nearby towns of Pardubice and Kutná Hora.
Přelouč, about six kilometres away, has fuel stations, shops and cafés, and Pardubice, a short ride further, is known for its gingerbread, called perník, and for a famous steeplechase. In the villages you can find simple Czech food: goulash with dumplings, fried cheese, and a glass of good lager. Visitors to the stud are usually asked to book or arrive at set times, so check ahead, and keep voices low and bikes parked at a distance, since horses are sensitive to engine noise.