Vienna and the famous horses

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Hi Everyone!
When I arrived in Vienna off of the bus from Prague it was pouring rain. It continued to pour rain all day as I searched up and down for a tourist information office. Apparently it is across from the Opera house. Not at the train station like every other tourist information office I have come across. But I guess the Viennese like to march to a different tune. The first thing I looked for was information on the Spanish Riding school. I promised several friends that I would visit the famous Lipizzaner horses here in Vienna. Unfortunately I found out that the school is closed from July to August while the horses take a break. It is just my luck that the only time that I am in Vienna and the Spanish Riding School is on vacation. But they were holding a special performance where they brought untrained horses up from their breeding farm Piber to Vienna for three weeks. I caught the last performance on Sunday. I got to see three year old stallions, and six brood mares with their two month old foals. The little baby horses were adorable. Apparently the ‘lipizzaner’ breed of horse is always white as adults, but they are dark brown or black when they are born and they gradually turn white. Only about one in 100 horses stays dark. It was interesting to see the 3 year olds because they were varying shades of grays and blacks but you could tell their color was fading. The horses try out for the riding school when they are 4 years old, only 4-6 new horses join the school every year. I am sure that they don't get their feelings hurt if they don't make the cut, but the way they describe it as 'trying out' it makes me think that they have a desire to join the school. I imagine from a horse point of view that it would be a better life to hang out in the pasture for your entire life, than to have to train for hours everyday. They train for about 6 years and remain in the school for up to 20 years. The Spanish Riding school is about 400 years old, it was started by the Hapsburgs during their very long reign over the Austria-Hungarian empire. There are about 70 horses in the school at one time. Riders start training at the school when they are 15. It seems from what I saw in the show and read in the program that women are not allowed to train as riders at the Spanish riding school and mares are not allowed to train at the school either. They can be brood mares though. This is very important job. They are doing their duty by reproducing male horses. I find this emphasis on breeding kind of disturbing although I suppose that all horse breeders think along similar lines.

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Photos

Close up of a fountain
On the corner of the Spanish Riding School building. A part of the Hofburg palace.

Courtyard of the Riding School
Complete with horse statue

The Balconies of the performance room
I was in the back corner, standing room tickets cost 12 Euro.

3 year old stallions
Notice the shades of gray. These horses have had no training whatsoever. They only receive training if they are accepted into the school next year.

Mother with foal
The foals were about two months old.

Three year old
It was very difficult to take decent pictures, the lighting was dim and flashes just made it worse.

Comments

[Nancy]

Aunt Nancy
Jenny, Sorry you missed the real Spanish Horses. but you did get to see a special show that most people have never seen nor heard of. Stay safe, and take care, n