United States Kladruber Horse Association 

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Very few horse breeds have the history of the Kladruber. It is a breed dating back 450 years.

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Petra Beltran

Petra Beltran’s roots are in the eastern Bohemian mountains of the Czech Republic, where she rode and  drove horses from childhood. She studied at the National school of agriculture, where she specialized in animal husbandry and horse breeding. It was in her position as Stud Manager at the National Stud at Kladruby nad Labem that she consolidated this background. Petra was the first woman in  the history of the stud, which goes back to 1579, to hold this position. She was responsible for the stud book of the Kladruber horses that have been bred there since the 16^th century. As well as maintaining the extensive computerized records of the 350 horses at the stud Petra also had to be up to date on the 40—50 horses sold annually . She was also directly involved with the raising of young horses and the preparation of select horses for performance testing, which were eventually used for breeding. Her expert opinion was used by the sales committee in determining the sale price of the horses.

While at the stud Petra also developed her passion for dressage, mainly under the tutelage of the Stud director, Dr Norbert Zalis, a proponent of classical dressage and author of several books on the subject. Petra rode the young Kladruber horses and successfully brought on some for competition.  She also had the opportunity to train at the Reitinstitut Egon von Neindorff in Germany and with the renowned German classical rider, Richard Hinrichs, who was a regular visitor to the stud.

Dr Zalis picked a young Kladruber stallion, Generale Ariosa XLVIII-4 for Petra’s dressage career and she competed with  him in the Czech Republic for 4 years. In 2003 Petra moved with Ariosa and five Kladruber mares to California, where she helped found the Kladruber Breeding Farm Inc. She continued to compete with her stallion in the US till 2006. In 2008 Petra imported another young Kladruber stallion Gss Serpa, currently standing in her newly built barn in Portola Valley. More about her private dressage barn you can read on www.whitehorsedressage.com

As well as teaching dressage, Petra is currently studying to become a licensed veterinarian technician.

In 2007 Petra established the United States California Kladruber Association with a two fellow Czech and Kladruber owners with the aim of promoting this beautiful breed in the US through training, showing and sales. 

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