A word from the director
about horses and people or how to coexist safely.

A must-read for employees and customers of the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse.

Horses can be unpredictable and behave in ways we cannot predict.

Anyone who interacts with horses must reckon that these friendly by-nature animals can astonish them. Anyone who deals with horses professionally knows this very well. In extreme situations, humans cannot control this animal, which is many times stronger than them.

On the other hand, horses are our fantastic social partners, and they give us joy in our relationship with them and the different types of use we make of them. This positive aspect is the majority of our experiences with horses.

Horses have accompanied mankind for thousands of years, and they built civilisation until the industrial age. Since domestication, man has taken over responsibility for them. Today’s horses are completely different from their wild ancestors. In contrast to their forefathers, they are now able to work with people.

But they are also demanding. They require riders to have physical fitness, mental stability, balance and skilful use of aids. Anyone who wants to stay with them, work with them, play with them, and enjoy their qualities, needs to be aware of this.

Horses are animals that tend to run away. They were the ones hunted by the animal world. They didn’t chase anyone, and they always saved themselves either by running away or with their hooves and teeth. They still use these defensive techniques today. It is important to be aware of this.

Our modern horses live in a world of people, cars, planes, lawnmowers – all the hustle and bustle of civilisation. It is also their world. This is our shared world. And they understand this world perfectly.

We have to be natural in this world. It is not allowed to behave with excessive caution, artificially, differently from how we normally behave because then we will make them anxious. People need to be themselves, laughing loudly, gesticulating, sneezing and applauding. Horses understand this. They are not afraid of the sudden banging of a shovel against a wheelbarrow because they know these sounds all too well from the stables from birth; it is the tune of their lives. But in a situation of discomfort – or a superb mood – mental or physical, caused by a variety of reasons, they can use the sound to get rid of the rider. Therefore, every person who gets on a horse must take this into account.

All of our clients at the Riding School of the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse, whether riding personally or enrolling their children in lessons, need to be aware that people may fall off horses. There is no rider who has not experienced a fall, just as there is no cyclist who has not fallen over with his/hers bike and no skier who has not scored painful contact with the mountain. Usually, the falls end harmlessly, but sometimes they are tragic. When deciding to ride horses, it is important to be aware of this. Equestrianism falls into the category of high-risk sports.

At the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse, there are procedures in place to regulate the various tasks performed within the budgetary unit. All employees are instructed on behaviour when working around horses. However, it is not possible for us to anticipate all the circumstances of non-standard horse behaviour when creating procedures.

Instructors and trainers of the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse, whether full-time or otherwise, are directly responsible for the safety of their students, which means that they must follow the procedures in force and, based on their knowledge and experience, anticipate undesirable events.

Employees of the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse are required to comply with the procedures contained in the Health and Safety Regulations.

Racing stable trainers, as independent entities, regulate their own relationships with the people they employ, but they are obliged to follow the safety procedures of Wrocław Partynice Racecourse.

Special signs, placards and regulations inform visitors and customers about how they are to behave on the track.

Each client of the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse, both undertaking riding lessons and leasing a box for a horse, as well as a trainer (including a racing trainer) and instructor operating at the track, is obliged to acquaint themselves with this document.

Jerzy Sawka
Director of the Wrocław Partynice Racecourse