National Horse Center Bern

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View over the grounds of the NPZ

The National Horse Center (NPZ) is an equestrian facility in Bern , where horses , riders and drivers as well as other interest groups are trained and looked after. The NPZ was founded as a cooperative , with the general assembly, the administration and the control body as organizational bodies. The center employs over 50 people and trainees. The focus of activities is the performance agreement with the army, the veterinary service , the training and further education of horses and riders as well as events and the stabling and care of boarding horses.

history

Inauguration of the riding arena during EMPFA times

In 1890 the Cavalry and Remontendepot (KRD) was founded on the site of today's NPZ to train newly acquired remonts of the Swiss Army . The facility was already home to the cavalry horse sanatorium, which had been built a year earlier and consisted of hospital stables, a pharmacy and a service apartment for the veterinarian . With the dissolution of the Eidgenössische Pferderegieanstalt in Thun (EPRA) in 1950, the Bern location was renamed the sole horse establishment of the army and the Eidgenössische Militarypferdeanstalt (EMPFA). The EMPFA experienced its peak in the following two decades: up to 1,200 horses were at home here, around 500 employees were employed. The maker of the institution were also in the national and international equestrian successful.

When the cavalry units of the Swiss Army were abolished in 1972, the EMPFA had to be restructured and downsized. The number of horses was reduced and a riding hall and six stable buildings were demolished. Nevertheless, horses are still used in the army today, especially in areas that are difficult or impossible to reach with motorized means of transport. The main tasks are room monitoring, the back of wood in forests or support in emergencies in difficult terrain.

When the plans to close down the Swiss Federal Military Equestrian Institute (EMPFA) became known in the early 1990s, the citizens of Bern and various associations and organizations from the equestrian scene took the initiative and ensured that the equestrian facility was maintained. This resulted in the NPZ cooperative, which has been offering horse-related services on the former EMPFA site since then. At the beginning, the company had to restructure in order to continue to work economically. The workforce was reduced from 70 to 30 for economic reasons. The horse population remained the same with around 160 horses - albeit in a different composition. The aim was a market- and customer-oriented orientation without the aid of financial subsidies from the federal government. The Bernexpo and the city of Bern, who wanted to bring horses and riding closer to children and young people , provided new impetus . The start-up phase was affected by financial difficulties and several personnel changes in the board of directors and in the management, but the service agreement of the army and the quickly established offers in private business, including equipment rental, pension and riding lessons, quickly stabilized the NPZ as a private company.

In 2001 the two new areas of riding school / events and veterinary service were created. In the areas of dressage and jumping, the focus was on teaching and courses. The NPZ is now one of the largest training centers in Switzerland. The horse clinic with insemination station is one of the leading veterinary centers in Switzerland. In 2017 the NPZ celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Plant under cultural property protection

Boarding houses in spring

Most of the buildings on the approximately 100,000 m 2 site of the NPZ are under cultural property protection (KGS no .: 9911). There are a total of eight stable buildings, in which an average of 120 horses are housed, are on the area. Around 250 horses can be stabled at events. Although it is forbidden to keep horses on stands in Switzerland, there is still a stable section with stands on the grounds. The Swiss Army has a special permit for these, so that the army horses can be stabled there for a limited period of 10 days during the training period.

Spacious riding arena of the NPZ
Spring garden with fixed and falling obstacles for riding and driving

The operation also includes two riding arenas (22 × 80 m), a forge and a veterinary clinic with an operating room, an X-ray room and an insemination station. The spring garden (77,200 m²) with the sand run around it (1,328 m) is also rented by the city. In the paddock there are fixed and falling obstacles for riding and driving . The spring garden with its population of over 100 years old trees is particularly valuable for the preservation of rare plant and animal species, according to the specialist agency for nature and ecology of the city of Bern. Due to the extensive use and open transitions to the surrounding area, it forms a network corridor for flora and fauna.

The crockery and wagon collection of the former Federal Military Horse Institute (EMPFA) is also on the premises. The exhibition is owned by the federal government and is supervised by the Central Office for Historical Army Material (ZSHAM). In it, wagons, harnesses and saddlery from the last and penultimate centuries are exhibited and testify to the cavalry and remontendepot (KRD), the Swiss Federal Equestrian Institute of Thun (EPRA) and the EMPFA. Trophies, photos and Olympic medals from EMPFA riders can also be viewed there. The National Horse Center Bern offers guided tours of the historical tableware and wagon collection on behalf of the ZSHAM.

The area also houses the offices of the Swiss Equestrian Association (SVPS), a gymnasium for the Artistic Gymnastics Canton of Bern (KKB) and the Army Shop of the Swiss Army.

Services

Private services

  • Education and training for horses and riders
  • Horse boarding
  • Equine Clinic
  • Wrought
  • Carriage rides

Services for the DDPS

Riding lessons for the VBS

The maintenance and riding of the armed forces' riding horses is carried out by the NPZ within the framework of a performance agreement with the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). From the age of three, the horses receive basic training in dressage, jumping, cross-country training and driving and are then used in the military, later, depending on their suitability, also in the Bern police, in equestrian music or as teaching horses in riding and vaulting. The Freibergs for the train are also bought in the NPZ. There they learn to ride, drive and hem within 6–8 weeks and then go to the recruit school. The NPZ also takes care of the veterinarian and farrier. In addition, paramilitary tasks, such as supporting the Bernese training society and the cavalry rider music, are carried out.

Vocational training

Forging a horseshoe at the National Equestrian Center

Every year several apprentices are trained in the various professions related to horses at the National Horse Center. The apprenticeships that can be completed in the NPZ include:

  • Swiss Federal Certificate of Competence EFZ Horse Specialist
  • Federal professional certificate EBA horse attendant
  • Swiss Federal Certificate of Competence EFZ Veterinary Practice Assistant TPA
  • Federal certificate of proficiency blacksmith
  • Apprenticeships for young people with learning disabilities in cooperation with Steinhölzli Bildungswege as EBA horse caretaker resp. Practitioner PrA horse care

Previous operations manager

  • Bernhard Hofer (1997–1999)
  • Ernst Vögeli (1999–2002)
  • Hans Bienz (2002-2008)
  • Corina Gerhäuser (2008-2016)
  • Salome Wägeli (2016-today)

See also

Web links

Commons : National Horse Center Bern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Homepage of the National Horse Center Bern
  2. Pierre-Eric Jaquerod (1990): 1890-1990 The Federal Military Horse Institute
  3. According to information from the crockery and wagon collection of the former Swiss Federal Military Horse Institute EMPFA
  4. a b c Thomas Frei, Ed. National Horse Center Bern (2007): 1997-2007 National Horse Center Bern
  5. Crockery and wagon collection of the former Federal Military Horse Institute (EMPFA) , with further information and the registration form for guided tours.
  6. ^ Homepage of the SVPS
  7. Homepage of the Swiss Army Shop ( Memento of the original dated August 12, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.armeeshop.ch

Coordinates: 46 ° 57 '27 "  N , 7 ° 27' 54.5"  E ; CH1903:  602,018  /  200715