| The LIF is a non-profit making
International Federation for the Lipizzaner Horse,
constituted in Brussels, Belgium by the Belgian Ministry
of Justice in December 1986. |
| The objectives as described in its
Establishing Acts, first produced in 1986 have remained
true, and the Federation has come a long way since those
early days. |
| Those objectives included the need to
open National horizons and to organise International
scientific research and co-operation in order to
perpetuate the Lipizzaner horse which represents one of
the most ancient horse races, and thus is an irreplaceable
cultural symbol of Europe. |
When the LIF was first constituted, it had three urgent
activities to attend to. These were: |
- The census of stallion pedigrees
and of mare families
- The setting up of the basic
structure of an International Stud Book.
- The definition of race purity and
the laying down of criteria concerning the
conformation and type of the Lipizzaner.
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| More than twenty years of hard work and
devotion to the breed, coupled with many ground breaking
activities, have passed since that monumental day during
the 400th anniversary celebrations in Lipica (1980)
when Rudolf Leiner and Hildegarde Gekiere, after speaking
to breeding authorities like Professor Joze Jurcovich and Dr Heinrich Lehrner, discussing the
importance of preservation of Lipizzaner blood lines & international cooperation, made a
decision in Brussels, with the help of lawyer John Ianuzzi
from the United States of America, to launch what was to
become the Lipizzaner breed’s most important development
since its beginnings 400 years before. |
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THE LIF WAS BORN
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| During those starting
years the ‘constant’ throughout all of the political & diplomatical crises, ups
and downs & triumphs of the LIF, has been those two
‘originators’ of our Federation: Rudolf Leiner & Hildegarde Gekiere. Their constant efforts as Legal Advisor, President & Secretary General for more than 20 years, built the structure of a well balanced, internationally recognized umbrella organization, with member organizations throughout the whole world! |
Nowadays the Lipizzan International Federation is the international communication platform for the breeding and using of the Lipizzaner horsebreed in the world. As a rare breed (less than 5000 in number) this noble horse demands our constant attention. Fortunately all traditional national studfarms and almost every private Lipizzaner breeding organization in the world is a member of our Federation.
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The LIF General Assembly meets every year. These meetings are the best opportunity for everybody in the world of Lipizzaners to contact, discuss, exchange and decide.
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The LIF Breeding Committee, of which all directors of the state studfarms and some acknowledged Lipizzaner experts are members of, has formulated the criteria for purebred ness, correct studbook keeping and judging. This committee controls the breeding of the Lipizzaner horse all over the world and supports scientific research. |
WE HOPE YOU WILL VISIT OUR WEBSITE OFTEN, AND TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK OUR LATEST NEWS SECTION FOR REGULAR UPDATES ON IMPORTANT MATTERS RELATING TO PERHAPS THE WORLD'S FINEST BREED OF HORSE:
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THE LIPIZZANER
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