Milan Gonda, the most famous breeder of the originally wild Hucul breed, lives in Sihla in the Slovak Ore Mountains, where he has a unique collection of saddles and equipment from all over the world in his family home. Soon he wants to make it available as a museum.
He gets saddles on the Internet, via eBay, or visits old houses in villages, where people often don’t even know what rare things they have in the attic.
In the interview you will read:
that he got a “hybrid” between a horse and a camel saddle from Monaco, that not only soldiers, but also their horses were “mowed down” by machine guns, whether the horses were helped by a gas mask, that saddles and harnesses were burned here in large quantities as useless, that he was scraped to the point of blood and had bruises when he himself rode in a military saddle.
What was the beginning of your unusual collecting passion?
At first it was my general interest in horses, horse history. I breed Carpathian Huculs, which are descendants of the wild Tarpan horse. I slept with them in the meadow, I gave birth with them. I feel like I understand them better than people. As far as I know, I am the only collector of saddles to this extent in Slovakia.
Hucul breeder Milan Gonda. Photo N – Andrej Bán
How do you get saddles for the collection?
I buy them online, often through eBay. I regularly look at sites from all over the world. We also exchanged a lot of saddles with other horsemen. Or I walk around villages, visit old houses. Many times people don’t even know what precious things they have in their attic. Of course I’ll tell them what it is. If they don’t use it, they will exchange it for us. For example, I will buy a new stomacher and take the old one.
What countries are your saddles from?
For example, from Monaco, it is a “hybrid” between a horse and a camel saddle. Then from Uruguay,
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