The Spanish Riding School

Friday, April 9, 2010 (Part 2):

We started our time at the Hofburg Palace at the Spanish Riding School, which is the 450+ year-old home of the world famous Lipizzaner Stallions. They are beautiful, all white horses (all male) who are trained to perform intricate steps and jumps in formation. They are born and bred for this purpose at a farm several hundred miles from Vienna. The maneuvers they perform were originally highly valued as effective on the battlefields of Europe.

We began the morning by observing a one-hour training session. The practice session was rather tame, but were we able to see a wide variety of horses at various stages of their training process, and that was interesting. All of this took place in a beautiful indoor riding arena built specifically for these horses 450 years ago. It has to be the most beautiful show ring in the world -- with its great columns and three huge crystal chandeliers. Unfortunately, as was the case almost everywhere we went in Vienna, no photos were allowed!

We returned to the Spanish Riding School later in the day for a guided tour of the stables and arena. Through this tour we learned about the breeding and training of the horses. We also learned how riders are chosen and trained as well. These horses are incredibly well kept, but I do not envy their lives. They spend their days going from their stalls to the show ring and back again. They rarely are allowed to run free - but for a couple months in the summer when they are sent to another facility for that purpose in the country.

Everything about the Spanish Riding School is highly structured and highly organized. It is immaculately well kept, and the people who were there are totally dedicated. The riders are chosen through a rigorous process, and if they survive the years-long training process, they are riders of these stallions for life. Each rider typically has 6-8 horses, at various stages of training, under their charge. Riders are matched with horses for the life of the horse.