Haras national d'Hennebont, Horse stud farm in Hennebont, France
The Haras national d'Hennebont is a national stud farm in Hennebont, a town on the Blavet river in Brittany, and is listed as a French historical monument. The site brings together over 30 buildings arranged around a central courtyard, including stables, manor houses, and a blacksmith workshop.
A decree of 10 November 1856 authorised moving the Langonnet stud to Hennebont, on five hectares around the former Abbey of La Joie, through an exchange with the Pères du Saint-Esprit; the law ratifying it was signed by Napoleon III on 19 May 1857, and the stud opened that year. Napoleon III and the Empress inaugurated it on 15 August 1858, and the facades were whitewashed for the visit. Stables 2, 3 and 4 opened in 1880, and the site was listed as a historic monument in 1995.
The stud's public stallion service, supplying mainly Breton breed stallions to breeders in its district, ran until it ended between 2007 and 2016 with the shift from state management to a syndicat mixte. The national equestrian society housed on the site, founded in 1964, ceased operations in 2019. The site now hosts shows, events and a Christmas market.
The site covers a large area and requires a fair amount of walking, so comfortable shoes are a good idea. Spring and summer are the best times to visit, as more activities and horses tend to be present on the grounds.
The entrance was originally from the banks of the Blavet, through the concierge's pavilion, not from the side seen today. A full-length portrait of Napoleon III in his imperial mantle is kept in stable no. 1 as a souvenir of the 15 August 1858 inauguration, when the facades were whitewashed for the visit.
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