The Horse Museum is the only museum of its kind not just in Lithuania but in the Baltic states. The idea of founding it in 1978 came from the agronomist Petras Vasinauskas, who also made it happen. Three years before the museum was founded in Niūronys, in the Anykščiai district, this enterprising scientist staged an original campaign that remains unmatched to this day: he travelled more than 1,500 km along Lithuania's roads by horse and cart in just over a month. The aim of the initiative was to draw attention to the fact that horses were no longer valued on Soviet state and collective farms. They had been replaced by machinery. The museum was created with the permission of the then Anykščiai Executive Committee. When word spread across Lithuania that the museum was being set up, farmers from all over the country brought horse-related equipment they no longer needed to Niūronys – saddles, carts, sledges, light carriages and horse-drawn farming implements. Even live horses were brought here; they grazed in the meadows next to the museum and amazed visitors. Today the museum is a busy place – it presents an extensive exhibition, runs educational activities and offers horse riding. A blacksmith works here, fresh bread is baked, traditional clothes are woven and talented craftsmen bring wood to life. People come to Niūronys from all over Lithuania with families, friends and guests from abroad. The exhibition is truly extensive: from visual information on horse breeds to real tools for caring for and treating horses. Those more interested in ethnography will enjoy visiting an early 20th-century farmhouse, where they will learn about the journey of bread – from grain in the fields to a loaf on the table. Old bread-baking customs and rituals, family traditions and household utensils are all laid out for you. Only here can you shape a small loaf of bread from dough with your own hands and bake it in an old-fashioned oven. While the bread bakes, you can taste rustic fare or watch the horses. The care for folk culture in Niūronys is a reminder that traditions come alive when they are cherished and valued. The Horse Museum reminds us that horses have always been among the most important animals in Lithuanian culture, and that Lithuanians' relationship with them has been close and sometimes even mystical. It is no coincidence that one of the museum's founders set out on the journey of a lifetime, described in the book “A Journey on Horseback around Lithuania in 1975”.