Chotěnov - Horse Spring

Drowned horse and rare orchids

Koňský pramen is a natural monument in the Cheb district approximately 5.5 km from Mariánské Lázně in the valley of the Chotěnovský stream. The protected area is under the care of the AOPK ČR - the Slavkovský les PLA Administration. The reason for the protection is the springs of natural carbonate acid water with a predominantly magnesium to iron composition. The geological base consists of amphibolites with parallel inserts. During the botanical survey, 4 species of bryophytes and 26 species of vascular plants were found, no protected species were found. The spring itself is a calcium-magnesium bicarbonate, weakly mineralized cold acid water with a temperature of approximately 8 °C and pH 5.3, with a content of 2,197 mg of free CO2 per 1 liter. The spring's yield is 19.8 liters/min.

Horse Spring

The Horse Spring is the best preserved mineral water from the three springs mentioned in the valley of the Chotěnovský stream, which is a left tributary of the Kosí (Kosový) stream. The name of the spring is derived from a legend according to which a horse team drowned in a swamp nearby during the Thirty Years' War. According to other sources, the correct name of the mineral spring is Údolní or Chotěnovská.

A natural spring of mineral water in an alder meadow on the site of an original high herb meadow has been protected as a natural monument since 1996. The size of the protected area is interesting - four square meters. The spring is captured at a depth of about half a meter by classic collection from a hollow trunk and a small path is laid to it from the forest path.

The spring is located on a slope at the western foot of the Tepelská Highlands. A significant tectonic line runs along the slope - the Mariánské Lázně fault, which is considered to be the main original path of juvenile CO2. The increased magnesium content in the water of the Koňské Pramen spring suggests that the surrounding rock environment consists of basic rocks - amphibolites of the Mariánské Lázně complex.