Living treasures dubbed the ‘white gold of Vienna’

THE LIPIZZANERS of the Spanish Riding School are living treasures dubbed ‘the white gold of Vienna’.

Strong and compact, they have a wide, deep chest and muscular shoulders that enable them to perform the difficult and unnatural moves of Haute Ecole, the highest form of classical dressage that survives in the world.

Years of intensive training of both rider and mount is necessary to reach a standard deemed good enough for public performance. At the age of four, the stallions learn how to walk and trot correctly. Then they are placed with experienced riders and taught how to ride in turns and circles in all gaits, to bend correctly in the neck and body, shorten and lengthen gait and perform lateral movements at the trot.

After several more years of training, they are gradually pushed by their riders to perfection in straightness and suppleness for the pirouettes and other manoeuvres that are the speciality of the Spanish Riding School.