Celle State Horse Stud, Germany
The Celle State horse stud is open to the public and well worth a visit if you are passing through. The Stud is well maintained with beautiful old buildings and stables which you can view and visit inside any of the buildings if the doors are open. The Stud is located in Celle, Lower Saxon, Germany.

When I visited, I was able to view most of the stables and saw many stallions. The farrier was busy shoeing some of the stallions and each day is different at the stud. Tours can be arranged for larger groups with prior arrangement.

Celle town itself is very quaint and filled with half-timbered houses with the Schloss Celle, a grand castle combining renaissance and baroque elements. I recommend staying overnight in the town to enjoy the ambiance and transport is easy via train or car. Celle has plenty of hotels and B&B’s on offer and Snaffle Travel can help with any of your travel arrangements.

Foundered
The State Stud was founded in 1735, by decree of Georg II, Elector Hanover and King of Great Britain. Its purpose was to make high-quality stallions available to local breeders. Celle’s history is well known for the Hanoverian horse breed.

The Hanoverian is a popular sporting horse and can usually be found in the competition world across all disciplines including dressage, show jumping and eventing. The breed is also used as a show hunter but also makes a good pleasure riding horse.

Important sires
Celle has stood a number of important sires and many you may have heard of and many who have are represented in dressage by Olympic medallists including Wansuela Suerte, Weltall, Farbenfroh, Woycek, and in the dressage breeding legacy of Weltmeyer.

Some other descendants include the Olympic jumper Deister and the all-important Donnerhall. Grannus, a descendant of Grande. Grannus was fiery and magnetic, was written off by some breeders because of his petite offspring. It wasn’t until his children started jumping the highest jumps the world had to offer that his true talent showed. Olympians from this line include dressage stars like Isabel Werth’s Gigolo, Graf George in the United States, show jumpers like Graf Grande, Genius, and Goldfever. The list of famous horses goes on.

Stallion Parade
Each year the stud has a stallion parade or hengstparade. The parades are a major tourist attraction every year. Stallions perform in a variety of acts, some showcasing their performance capabilities in dressage or show jumping demonstrations, while others are shown in-harness. The parade is an opportunity for the stud to showcase the less competitive talents of the stallions, as well. The State stud is still worth visiting when the stallion parade is not on. You can view the historical buildings, stables and see where the stallions are housed. Check the website for more information about the Celle Stallion Parade.

Open to the public
The gates of the State Stud are open every working day from 8.00 am to 12.00 am and from 1.00 pm until 3.30 pm. On Saturday you can visit between 8.00 am and 12.00 noon. During this time you can independently look around.

For further information https://landgestuetcelle.de/en/state-stud/state-stud-celle/

How to get to Celle
Celle is 45 minutes from Hanover and 50 minutes from Verden by car. Celle has a train station and is accessible from most places in Germany.

Snaffle Travel offers tours to CHIO Aachen Equestrian Festival in Germany every year. We are a specialist equestrian travel agent that can help with all travel arrangements and also help with self-drive holidays in Germany.

References: https://landgestuetcelle.de/en/
Photo credits: Snaffle Travel