PRAIRIE INONDABLES DE LA LIELUPE

Jelgava's natural gem lies behind the palace, accessible via Pils iela, a road along the Lielupe. Pass the yacht club and you'll arrive at the Lielupe floodplains(Lielupes palienes pļavas), a Natura 2000 area, protected for its flora and fauna. If the trail is open (it's closed in spring during bird nesting), you can head out and observe rare plants and birds, including migratory ones. A little further along the trail, you'll reach a 19-metre wooden observation tower, from which you can enjoy panoramic views of the river, meadows and Jelgava, which seems far away in this oasis of calm. From here, continue until you reach the home of a group of semi-wild horses. Between 60 and 80 of them live in the wild and are regularly fed. You'll soon notice that they're all alike: small in stature, rustic in appearance, and with coats ranging from black to sand and various shades of grey. They are koniks, an ancient breed of horse originally from Poland and introduced here as part of a program to revitalize the plains, where they naturally maintain the vegetation cover simply by grazing. Don't approach the horses - they'll come if they want to. Koniks, although semi-wild, are not shy. Don't feed them, they have everything they need here.