Whether the Bosnian Mountain Horse will survive depends on the agreement between the owners of the stable Borike and the Republika Srpska (RS) entity’s Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry said they are ready to buy the stable, and take care of the horses, but there was never any agreement.
The Sljivic family, the owner of the stable, told N1 they have not even received an offer. They say they want to sell the horses because they only make further expenses for the family.
The Borike stable is a place near Rogatica, northeast of Sarajevo. Formerly known as a stable of Arabian and Bosnian-Mountain Horses, today it is a place where the issue of preservation of this indigenous horse breed is on the line. Three years ago, the Borike stable had 14 mares and three stallions of the Bosnian Mountain Horse. There are 36 of them today. Several days ago a foal was born.
“Borike stable has two stallion lines, Misko and Barut. They are released separately every other year among the mares, but even so, we are facing inbreeding now. New blood is needed,” said Radomir Sarenac, an employee at the stable.
Related news
Equine experts say Misko is a truly rare line. All this year's foals belong to Misko. Next year the foals will belong to Barut.
“The horses haven’t been branded for the past five years, they do not have a pedigree, they are left to themselves,” Sarenac adds.
But that's not the only problem. The land on which these horses were grown for more than a hundred years was first privatized, then it changed the owners several times, and in the end, the horses were left without stables and pastures. The horses, the sale of the buildings, the hotels and all the other facilities that existed on the land were exempted from the bankruptcy proceedings. Now the horses belong Zoran Sljivic’s company. The stables and land, either belong to the state or to the bank that has seized the property due to a mortgage.
Although most of the horses are in good condition, a few Arabian horses on the said land are not in the best condition. The Sljivic family said they are doing their best. They added they do not have any income from the horses, only expenses, but they are not leaving the horses to die.
Bosnian Mountain Horses do not live in stables as they do not mind the harsh climate. Arabian horses do. No one is dressing the horses anymore as they are not profitable. The RS Agriculture Ministry said they offered to buy the horses.
“The Ministry representatives visited the Borike stable several times and proposed certain operational solutions, but we have not been able to come to an understanding with the owner of the stable so far, neither on the basis of a possible purchase of these horses, nor on the basis of their transfer,” the Ministry told N1.
Although there was information in the media that the Sljivic family refused to sell the stable, they denied any such information. They said they received no such offer, nor were they ever offered any other form of help for the horses they own.
