In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought the least I could do was take a break from my studying and post some pictures of the gorgeous Lipizzaners of the Royal Lipizzan Stallions. They have their own "haute ecole" and while I bet that high school doesn't have to take AP exams, I'm sure it's no less challenging!
If I had all night, I could go on for ages about the history of Lipizzaners and the Spanish Riding School and all of its successors (like the Royal Lipizzan Stallions). Unfortunately, I'm on a little bit of a time crunch, so all I'm going to say is this: If you haven't seen the Royal Lipizzan Stallions perform, you must! The world famous Lipizzaners are not a sight to be missed, and watching their live show definitely had an impact on my childhood--I've loved dressage ever since.
The only problem here is that the pictures you have are not from the Spanish Riding School. These look to be pictures of the Royal Lipizzan Stallions--same breed of horse, same style, but not the Austrian Spanish School.
ReplyDeleteThe Royal Stallion show brings the horses to the general public all around the US. The Spanish Riding School of Vienna has toured the US only a few times. Once you have seen the "real deal" you really begin to appreciate what the subtle differences are.
These guys and their training are absolutely amazing!
Oh how embarrassing! The photographer definitely claimed they were the Spanish Riding School horses. *blush* That's what I get for not doing my homework-- or, rather, DOING my homework instead of double-checking the pic's before posting them to my blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. I'll go fix that now...
The Royal Stallion show in the US has often made that claim. The horses are bred from Spanish Riding School stock, as are most Lipizzaners but the trainers and riders are not the true Spanish School from Vienna.
ReplyDeleteI discovered it once by going to the show, thinking it was. By that time I had seen the real School do a show in New York so when I saw this show, I realized what was going on.
Many people are confused by this, so don't feel foolish.
See the real Spanish Riding School just once in person (horseon?) and it's a sight you will never forget.