Updated

A renowned Arabian horse breeding program in Poland has held a disappointing auction, selling fewer horses and raising less money than in the past, after a political purge of its managers by the country's conservative ruling party.

The yearly Pride of Poland auction at Janow Podlaski, in eastern Poland, was world-renowned, drawing horse breeders from around the world.

The 200-year-old program suffered a blow to its image in 2015 when the newly elected Law and Justice party fired the longtime managers and replaced them with party loyalists with little experience.

Government critics on Monday described this year's auction as a fiasco. Of 25 horses, only six were sold and 410,000 euros raised on Sunday. The last auction before the purge, in 2015, raised 4.5 million euros.