We, the directors of the European state studs and traditional studs, feel ourselves obliged to preserve and maintain the historic horse breeds of our countries as well as the buildings and the countryside in which these horses grow up and flourish. They represent an irretrievable cultural asset which deserves to be cherished and nurtured. Furthermore, horses are living creatures which only survive well in a clean and intact environment. They guarantee that in 50 and 100 years future generations will still have living access to the past. We human beings today have an obligation to protect the horses and their offspring. In this context it is not important whether it is a question of successful and valuable sport horses or breeds threatened by extinction.

We, the directors of the European state studs and traditional studs, see only one possible way of successfully pursuing this endeavour – by uniting and posing a joint demand: the historic state studs and their horses should be declared a "European Cultural Asset". This would make more difficult or prevent their break up, privatisation and commercialisation and thus make it possible to preserve them for our descendants as a living cultural asset which combines past and present in a very special and unique form.

When the horses have the status of a cultural asset this means that various ministries or government officials will not by able to rationalise them away into oblivion or to restrict breeding to the extent that reasonable reproduction can no longer be guaranteed. The studs in all countries are endangered because they require financial support from the states in question. They are a luxury for us which we should also make affordable in order to maintain close contact to nature and the earth on which we live. 

"Supported by a positive image, the "horse" can be an impressive ambassador for a united Europe and play a major role in strengthening the European identity."                                                                

Gabriele Boiselle