Breeding centre
The establishment of the Research and Breeding Centre Fitmin was motivated by a shared interest – the love for dogs, sheep and horses. It is currently mostly used to evaluate the quality of the nutrition programmes and help identify new trends in animal nutrition. The Fitmin Research and Breeding Centre also operates the Fitmin Breeding Station that engages in pure breeding of Texel sheep as well as horses, adding to the farm’s atmosphere.
Fitmin Breeding Station, which focuses on breeding the Border Collie, was established by Ing. Zdeněk Štěpánek in 2002. The main mission of the station is to breed dogs useful in verifying the quality of food, healthy, happy and all-round dogs appreciated not only in shows but also in working and sports contests. The dogs mainly do agility and what they are traditionally used for – sheep herding.
The partnership between the Fitmin Breeding Station and Dibaq is mutual and balanced. The involvement of Dibaq ensures a high standard of breeding. In turn, the company uses the services of the company in testing the quality of its food. In order to achieve highly objective evaluation, the dogs are fed and kept in a fashion similar to many households – with a lot of time outdoors, care and affection. Help in this is provided by children from the cynology club and assistants who work on their graduation theses in the centre.
Texel sheep have been bred in the Breeding Centre Fitmin since 1993. Sheep genetically resistant to scrapie were purchased in 2004. Together 60 excellent animals have gradually been purchased from Bavaria, Westphalia and from Texel in the province of North Holland, they have become the basis of a top-level breeding stock. It became one of Europe's first stocks genetically resistant to this dangerous infectious disease.
The horses kept in the Breeding Centre add to the overall atmosphere of the farm. The farm used to be the home of very successful horse racing stables, but it was closed after an accident of the top horse at the Grand Pardubice Steeplechase and the centre only uses horses for recreational horseback riding and to train young riders.
