Jiří Kocman

* 1935

  • "And that was also a wonderful thing, that the Queen of Denmark Margaret sent her master equerry to the stud farm in Kladruby nad Labem, so that he would pick horses for the Danish court. We offered him ten three-year-old stallions and he picked six, and the boys saddled them so that they would be able to walk under the saddle. I started to harness them with a group of boys, until they were able to walk in pairs, with four to six. And then the equerry came for me and the director invited me to Denmark, to Copenhagen along with them, where I spent a month with them at court. We trained them and saddled them under a roof. They walked under saddle. Finally I handed them over to the queen, to the master groom. And I went home. I had enjoyed a wonderful month there. This really great big friendship, because every weekend I wasn't alone, every time an employee took me with them to their family. They drove me on the canals and showed me everything, just wonderful. I spent a beautiful time there and lived with the King's Guard in the barracks. It was really very nice."

  • "I cherish my greatest triumph, which was to be invited by the Queen of England to Windsor for quadruped carriage races. And that was just the invitation. I had the great pleasure to attain a tight second place in the whole competition. And Prince Philip was fourth, behind me, and for this success I was so invited by the Queen to Windsor Castle, into the blue salon to a dinner with the Queen of England, which not even Prince Philip attended. There were eight of us there, eight people at the round table, a truly wonderful experience. How we watch it in the old movies."

  • "But I was very lucky, because at that time during the 50s Count Radslav Kinský from Chlumec nad Cidlinou rode there with his horses; he convinced me and we worked out an agreement for me coming over to him at the castle in Chlumec and taking care if his racing horses. But that was already after the year 1948 and they probably or definitely nationalized all of the property of the sir count Kinský, even the horses of course. And so now he took care of those horses as an employee. He was basically the branch manager there, because at that time Chlumec was grouped under Slatiňany. I remember that it was the State Experimental Institute Slatiňany, riding department, Chlumec nad Cidlinou. It was this round, plate-iron badge and all of this was written on there and he, Radslav Kinský, worked as an administrator there. He was an amazingly brave person of a very good character. He was personally very hard-working and I understood him as a friend. Now that I think about it he basically offered me his friendship, because we both loved horses and so came together in this field in a very good, friendly manner. I think that he didn't let the expropriation get to him that much, but it definitely greatly disappointed him deep in his heart of hearts. Because that was his property, the Chlumec area was beautiful and the castle was too. And the surroundings, and especially the game preserve behind Chlumec, which he had also owned. There was a little castle there, it was a truly beautiful environment. And so it definitely disappointed, as it would any person."

  • "Opposite the stables, by the coach house, there were these four sheds. You could say they were carriage houses, that's what we called them. There were a few carriages there which belonged to the Strahov Monastery and there were carriages of all types there. The abbot let himself be driven around his properties, because as is well known, the Strahov Premonstrantensians owned a number of large farm estates and the farmland. It's true that a few smart guys came, who managed to get to the carriages and sold them off beyond the border, and some carriages weren't used at all."

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    Studium Post Bellum Pardubice, 24.09.2021

    (audio)
    délka: 58:17
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A carriage driver from Kolesa apprenticed at the Kinský family and dined with the Queen of England

Jiří Kocman in a riding uniform
Jiří Kocman in a riding uniform
zdroj: Archív pamětníka

Jiří Kocman was born on the 14th of October 1935 in Prague Hradčany. He grew up in a monastery in Strahov. His father drove a horse-drawn carriage and drove the abbot around as his grandfather had before him. He started to love horses from a very young age and as a schoolboy guided and took care of the horses of the riding hall behind Černín Palace. He went to a riding school in Chuchle and began preparing to become a rider for his career. There he met Count Radslav Kinský. He worked with the count‘s racing horses in Chlumec nad Cidlinou. At the time these horses didn‘t belong to the count anymore, but as a top specialist he stayed as an administrator. Jiří Kocman began as a racing rider in the obstacle stable in Kolesa, which was under the Kladruby stud farm. He started twice at the Velká Pardubická. After this he went from racing to riding with a horse-drawn carriage. In this field he achieved great results in both home and foreign contests. In the year 1975 he was invited to the prestigious Royal Windsor Horse Show taking placing at Windsor Castle in England, where he took second place. At that time he was awarded the golden badge of the International Carriage Driving Federation. After the end of his sports career he trained his successors. He married and had two sons, who have also taken up work surrounding horses and riding carriages. His grandson is a professional vaulting rider. In the year 2021 he lives in Kolesa by Kladruby.