About
Ilona Heyrovská, the owner of the stable, started to pursue horse riding in her 21. In such age, many horsemen are often already winners of various races and competitions. In her beginnings, she devoted herself to show jumping. Nowadays, she engages mainly in dressage. It didn't take much time when Ilona and her parents understood that the hobby was becoming a lifelong mission. The most logical step was to utilize the family farm which had had no practical utilization until then. A decision was made at that time: The farm would become a high-quality sport stable.
The reconstruction has begun in November 2006 when a lower stone stable and paddocks were completed. The hall was still in construction at that time and the first few inhabitants had to wait for the outer riding school until half a year later, in April 2007. Since then, the stable owner --together with her family-- strives to cultivate and further develop the premises. For example, a single harness room was split up into two; the horses were given the luxury of additional vast and extensive paddocks, new wash boxes and solaria. With the growing number of horse residents, it was necessary to start a discussion over the construction of the second outer riding school.
The former utility farm buildings also went through the extensive reconstruction. The truth is that a considerable amount of additional financial resources will be needed for investing into the premises until everything is according to the plan. Regardless of this, it is obvious that the owners' priority is always to provide comfort to the animals. They are already provided with the highest-quality care possible, 24/7.

History of farm
Kamenický dvůr belonged to a wealthy family of Ringhoffers, who started to farm in the region of Kamenicko in 1820. The family of Ringhoffers built a copper hammer in the premises of an old mill. This move brought significant industrial activity into predominantly agricultural landscape. After the copper hammer was built, a copper melting plant, a brass foundry and a sheet rolling mill followed shortly.
By 1890, the estates of this wealthy family extended to 2950 hectares covering Kamenice, Štiřín, Kostelec u Křížků, Velké Popovice and Lojovice. In addition to the Kamenický dvůr estate which was the part of the Kamenice castle, the Ringhoffers also owned Štiřín castle with a golf course and other important buildings in the vicinity.
In 1945, all property of the Ringhoffer family was confiscated and the ownership subsequently fell into hands of the state. Until 1989, the farm was used by a local Unified farmers' cooperative unit (so-called JZD). In 1990s, we have rented the farm at first. Then we bought it back from the state.
An alley lying between today's paddocks leads to the Ringhoffers' tomb. Its area is bounded by a stone wall with metal-mounted gate. The tomb itself is formed by semi-circular wall with forged bowls; in the middle you could see a statue of crucified Jesus sculpted by J. V. Myslbek. In the lower section of the tomb, there is a rectangular metal desk with the Ringhoffer family emblem inscribed.
Services
In comparison with the countrywide average, the Kamenický dvůr farm keeps high standard of provided services for several years. The horse owners can choose from various possibilities of stabling. We offer indoor and outdoor boxes which are littered with straw or sawdust. This way we can provide better accommodation for the animal with respect to its healthy needs. Spacious paddocks habitable throughout the year and unlimited feed rations are a matter of course. Right in the stables you can easily order various additional feed or vitamins.
The essential equipment of the farm consists of an outdoor riding school with the best surface possible which is also in the hall and a sheltered round pen.
Within the care of the stabled horses we offer a solarium service in the wash box free of charge and the blacksmith Michal Fišer with the vet MVDr. Michal Šindelář visit our farm on a regular basis. If the stabled horses have their own vet or blacksmith, they are welcomed at our farm as well.
We also offer horse purchase consulting and sale of horses precisely according to the needs and capabilities of horsemen. In our instructors' team there are horsemen of top dressage and jumping quality. We organize collective trainings on a regular basis which are attended by top instructors from the Czech Republic. However, we can also fully cooperate with the absolute beginners and we also accept horses for racking and training.
We pride ourselves on maintaining a regular contact and good relationships with our clients. That's why we organize regular social events, summer grilling, birthday parties and Christmas parties.

Instructors

Junior dressage champion and instructor Martina Opočenská has dreamt about the life with horses since she was a child. Although she can't remember her first contact with horses, she's sure that it must have been at a funfair.
Her first legitimate horse-riding attempt was at her 9, when she rode a horse in a stable in Highlands Region. She was very nervous about her first race. The reason was that the race was also a qualification for children's national championship in dressage. Unfortunately, the nervousness from that race stuck to her also during many other competitions.
According to her, her biggest life-time success so far was gaining a junior national championship title. She obtained this title in the saddle of a mare called KIPI-N, her great teacher, with who she went through her whole junior period. Martina's most distinct sport memories and many "first times" are associated with KIPI.
For her achievements, Martina Opočenská is also grateful to her trainers she had opportunity to meet so far during her career. Irena Plánková and Karolina Žižková primarily spent most of time participating on Martina's training. But a trainer Martina admires the most is Rapstern who tries her every day.
Apart from horses, Martina used to go in for pottery when she was a child. At college she pursued law studies. However, her relationship with animals was pretty obvious already in her early childhood. If she hadn't devoted herself to horses, she would definitely choose other quadrupeds to be interested in.

Horseman and trainer Jiří Luža sat in the saddle of a horse for the first time when he was 13. Only one year later he took part in his first combined contest (show jumping/dressage) which he won at once. He decided to do the show jumping because of the fact that the referees cannot possibly influence the outcome in any subjective manner. Among his greatest successes are taking part in several Cup of Nations competitions and in the championship of Europe which took place in 2011 in Madrid, Spain. It's also hard not to mention medals from the championship of the Czech Republic.
During his riding career, he had chance to sit in the saddles of many horses, but most often he remembers Imrich – a gelding he rode in his beginnings. Imrich lived to the ripe age of 32, which is quite incredible for a horse. In his saddle, Jiří won the championship of the Czech Republic in juniors and young horsemen category three times. So far the best horse he ever had the pleasure to ride was Ronald, with who he participated in many competitions abroad. Luža has learnt most things related to horsemanship thanks to his trainer Jaroslav Jindra, with whom he's been cooperating for more than 10 years now. He appreciates mainly his teacher's ability to give a good advice in any situation. Jiří would like to train young horsemen and horses in the future.

Mgr. Alexander Onoprienko, a former couch of the Ukrainian representation, belongs to the elite of the Czech dressage scene. He is one of the trainers and horsemen who place top spots in dressage competitions on a regular basis.
He sat in the saddle of a horse for the first time in 1968, when he was 12. Three years later --in 1971-- he participated in his first official contest. Since then, he has obtained an immense number of championship titles and won plenty of competitions. However, he believes that the biggest success in his life is meeting his wife Káťa who has been also a great trainer to him.
Jasnyj, Echor and Arcon are the names of three horses which Alexander likes to remember the most. The gelding Arcon was also a long-time resident and a darling of the Kamenický dvůr farm. If Saša wasn't into horses, he thinks he would have become an astronaut.
Horses for sale
For kids
Within our efforts to further improve and broaden our services, we also try to entertain children of our clients and visitors. Obviously, the biggest temptation for kids is the endless watching of little foals, their first steps, their first visit of a paddock and how they are getting to know each other.
However, there also other animal residents of the farm who can catch your attention. In addition to a lots of dogs and cats (and puppies and kittens in the spring of course), we also breed pigeons for example. Our farm was also a home for a pygmy goat and a Shetland pony for some time. Last year, we even "suckled" a little hare with cat milk.
Naturally, we also offer horse and pony riding lessons to children. This way they can acquire a solid background in horsemanship, learn what everyday care of these animals mean and meet plenty of new friends.

Photo gallery
Contact
Adresa: Kamenický Dvůr, Jílovská 59, 251 68 Kamenice



