Spanish riding school from Vienna in London

In 1983 I was in Vienna and wanted to see the famous Lipizzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, but didn't manage it. So when they came to London I jumped at the chance to see a performance, at the Wembley Arena.

From the Spanish Riding School website : "The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practised for over 440 years and continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the haute école. The objective of classical equitation is to study the way the horse naturally moves and to cultivate the highest levels of haute école elegance the horse is capable of through systematic training. The result creates an unparalleled harmony between rider and horse, as only Vienna's Spanish Riding School achieves."

The show was amazing. The horses are so graceful and almost seem to be dancing to the music. The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner stallions are white. They are the only breed of horse called white, all other breeds are known as grey, even though they are white in colour.

The movements are quite different from modern dressage. I still have a book from my childhood, "Airs above the ground" by Mary Stewart. Airs above the ground is when the horse leaves the ground. It is some feat for a horse to be able to rear on it's hind legs and balance when carrying a rider, as most of the horse's weight is carried by the front legs. This is the levade.

Even more difficult is from the levade the horse tucks in its forelegs and jumps forward on its hind leg for 2 or 3 jumps = the courbette. The capriole is when the horse leaps into the air with its front legs tucked in and it kicks out the hind legs. See more on airs above the ground.

The maneuvers and jumps were designed as equine military training to develop strength. I really wonder how the horses are trained, especially in the beginning, how do they understand what they are being asked to do!

I didn't get any good photos of the movements as I wanted to watch the real thing. The levade -

One horse did quite a long solo routine with the rider walking behind using a long rein and just controlling the horse by this and his voice. Amazing that the horse could remember all the steps of this routine. And it is an incredible relationship between horse and rider.

These amazing horses go all over the world giving shows. I am so glad to have seen them.