— VIENNA: The Spanish Riding School —

May 28, 2007 — Vienna has been wonderful, but unseasonably hot. By mid-afternoon the city streets are downright sweltering, so I try to find things to do indoors. On Friday I was lucky enough to get a ticket at the Spanish (Winter) Riding School to see the Lipizzan stallions take their early morning exercise in an outdoor ring, followed by a training session within the Imperial Hofburg Palace.

The Lipizzan is, as far as I know, the oldest documented breed of horse in all of Europe. It's interesting to note that these beautiful white horses are born almost black. As they begin to mature they turn a soft dappled gray. By age 7 they are nearly white; by age 10 they are fully white.

Shooting the Lipizzaners
It wasn't easy to get good photos of these beautiful creatures because the audience is kept at a fair distance and the stallions are always moving. (Thank goodness for my 70-300mm zoom lens!) None-the-less, I hope you enjoy the pictures. I certainly enjoyed taking them:

The Riding School
The Spanish Riding School, which was founded in 1572, is the oldest riding school in the world where classic dressage is still practiced in its original historical form — and they train only Lipizzaners. Training begins at age 4 and can last 6 years. A fully trained Lipizzan may perform for 15 years before retiring in his mid-20s. Then, with luck, he'll enjoy his well-earned retirement for ten years or more.

I observed 21 stallions training, each with a unique rider. They entered the ring in 4 groups. Each group had the ring to itself for approximately 30 minutes. There was no interaction between the horses as they were put through an unchoreographed series of moves. A few of them were accompanied by a trainer on foot who worked closely with both the horse and his rider. If a certain move seemed particularly difficult and/or strenuous, the horse was handled kindly. He wasn't pushed on any one move for too long.

An Amusing Moment
While I was watching, I noticed that one of the horses was given a tasty treat — on the sly — by his rider. The rider slowed the horse and acted as if he was simply adjusting his own coat tail, which looked a little rumpled. On closer examination, it was downright lumpy! He fiddled with it for a moment and then he reached way down into the bottom of the coat tail and pulled something out. He whispered in the stallion's ear and with a subtle gesture offered the goodie. It took a minute for the horse to realize what was going on, then he figured it out. He swung his beautiful neck and gratefully grabbed his prize.