The Lipizzaner Stallions are world renowned performing horses. They are bred at the Piber Federal Stud, a breeding facility located in western Styria, which has been their home since 1920. The School itself has been teaching Classical Dressage or haut ecole since its founding in 1572.
History of the "Winter Riding School"
In the 16th century, the Austrian Archduke Karl needed a place to raise horses for the Austrian court and decided on a site near Lipica on the Karst plateau. The breed takes its name from the town of Lipica. Studs and mares were brought from Spain, and the Lipizzaner line began.
The horses were bred for qualities that were suitable for court members and for war. Indeed, some of the most impressive moves in the Lippanzer Stallion's performances at the Vienna Imperial Palace in Hofburg Austria are based on battle moves. The Levade, in which the horse rears up and stands on its hind legs, was designed to allow the horse to strike an opponent on the ground. The Capriole, in which the horse leaps into the air then strikes out with its rear legs, was a move for kicking an opponent.
The daughters of Maria Teresa, Empress of Austria, received riding lessons at the school, including Maria Antoinette. The school survived the Napoleonic Wars, although it was in a poor condition.
The breeding program continued to supply the royalty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with quality horses until World War I. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in WWI, the horses were returned from exile to the Piber Federal Stud, and the Austrian government took over the program.
The Stallions
The stallions of the Spanish Riding School are trained in the three basic gaits: walk, trot, and canter. Young stallions are presented on a lead line. After six years of training that emphasizes each horses' natural movement, the horses can perform the following moves:
- Piaffe: The horse shifts its weight from a front and back leg diagonally opposite each other) to the opposite legs.
- Passage: A cadenced, high-stepping trot that's also known as the Spanish kick.
- Canter Pirouette: The horse jumps at a canter on its hind legs in six to eight leaps around as small a circle as possible.
- Leg Yield: This is a dressage movement that's ridden laterally and forwards in a two-beat stride.
(See the school's web site for a more detailed explanation of these moves.)
Other moves are the pas de deux, in which two riders and stallions perform complicated moves in a mirror image, and the quadrille, which has been compared to horse ballet due to its extensive choreography and difficulty.
The Riders
Riders of the Lipizzaner Stallions begin their career as an eleve or cadet. To qualify, candidates must fulfill the following requirements:
- Minimum age: 17 years
- Nationality of an EU member state
- Athletic and creative abilities
- Body height should not exceed 170cm; in relation to the upper body, the legs should appear long. A slim physique is required
- Fluent German and a good command of English
- A strong affinity to horses and basic riding skills
Recently, the school accepted the first two women to the training program: Hannah Zeitlhofer and Sojourner Morell. Once accepted, the cadets are expected to do many tasks, not all of them glamorous. For instance, they are expected to work in the stables as needed and to do instruction on a fully trained stallion. Only when they can present a fully trained stallion in the School Quadrille will they become an assistant rider. An eleve can expect to spend ten years in training before he achieves the status of Rider. Even then, there are higher levels to aim for: Senior Rider and Chief Rider.
Sources
www.srs.at/index.php?id=323
www.didyouknow.org/animals/lipizzaners.htm
www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,594002,00.html
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