Siglavy (1810,

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

- unknown) was a gray

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easi ...

who became one of the foundation sires of the

Lipizzan The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner (, , , , , , ) is a European horse breed, breed of riding horse developed in the Habsburg Empire in the sixteenth century. It is of Baroque horse, Baroque type, and is powerful, slow to mature and long-lived; the coa ...

, and

Shagya Arabian The Shagya Arabian is a horse breed which was developed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the 19th century at the Bábolna, Mezőhegyes, Radautz, Piber, and Topolcianky stud farm, studs. Today it is most often seen in the Czech Republi ...

breeds.

Denomination

Siglavy derives his name from his Saklawi lineage, with early documentation of bloodlines referring to him as a Siglavie Ghadran.

History

Siglavy was born in 1810, with a

gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

coat. According to Donna Landry's academic study, he was purchased in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

in 1814 by Prince Charles Philippe de Schwarzenberg, along with three other

s, as part of a military procurement mission entrusted by the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

to supply their stud farms. He was acquired for a substantial sum of 3,400

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

and was likely closely guarded on his journey to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the capital of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. However, some popular sources claim that he was bought in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

by the Prince of Schwarzenberg. In 1816, after being tested on his

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

abilities, Siglavy was transferred from Prince Schwarzenberg to the imperial stables at Koptschan (in present-day

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). The first evidence of his presence at the Lipica stud dates back to 1821, when he was used as a stallion to sire military horses for war and for transporting Austrian troops. Siglavy was sold in 1826.

Recognition

Siglavy is recognized as the founder of one of the six modern Lipizzan bloodline lineages. However, it took some years before his influence on the Lipizzaner breed was officially acknowledged. In addition to his influence on the

breed, Siglavy also founded a lineage in the Shagya breed.

References

Bibliography

* {{Cite book , last=Landry , first=Donna , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6E3ADwAAQBAJ&q=Siglavy&pg=PT60 , title=Horse Breeds and Human Society, Purity, Identity and the Making of the Modern Horse , publisher=Routledge , year=2019 , series=Human-Animal Studies Series , chapter=Habsburg Lipizzaners, English Thoroughbreds and the paradoxes of purity, isbn=978-0-429-65692-7 1810s animal births Individual male horses