Bill Murray Goes Carriage Driving in Slovenia

The Lipica Stud Farm in Slovenia will host the World Pairs Driving Championships this September. But first, the Lipizzaner farm hosted Bill Murray.

The American comedy actor was spotted at the farm recently, feeding carrots to the horses, mugging with the equine residents, and even going for a carriage ride in a marathon driving cart pulled by a pair of athletic Lipizzaner horses.

Murray is reportedly on Slovenia for business purposes. He became a co-owner of Slovenia Vodka in 2013 and made his first visit to the country last week. According to an article from RTV SLO, during his visit to Lipica, he took in a Lipizzaner performance that included airs above the ground set to the Ghostbusters theme. He also was named godfather to Slava, the first foal born at the farm this year.

The Lipica Stud Farm has a long history dating back to the 1500s, and the Lipizzaner breed can trace its origins back to Lipica. The breeding program has survived—sometimes barely—four centuries of natural disasters, wars, and fluctuating national boundaries. In 1945, the fate of the Lipica herd was uncertain when the horses were stuck in the Soviet-controlled territory of Czechoslovakia, nearly lost in the devastation left behind after the end of World War II. The herd was saved, however, in a military operation led by American forces that brought the horses to territory controlled by the Allied Forces. The horses were later returned to Vienna’s Spanish Riding School in an operation made famous by the 1963 Disney Film, The Miracle of the White Stallions.

Learn more at www.lipica.org.

Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer based in Lexington, Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com