Spanish Riding School

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The Spanish Riding School (de: Spanische Hofreitschule, the "Spanish Court Riding-School") of Vienna, Austria, is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School arena in the Hofburg. Not only is it a center for classical dressage, the headquarters is a tourist attraction in Vienna that offers public performances of Lipizzan horse riding as well as allowing the public to view training sessions during the day. The presentation builds on four centuries of experience and tradition in horse riding. The leading horses and riders of the school also periodically tour and perform worldwide.

Contents 1 History 2 Methods 3 Performances 4 Dress and equipment 5 Location 6 Depiction on the euro 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] History

The riding school was established during the Austrian Empire in 1572, long before the French manege of Antoine de Pluvinel, and is the oldest of its kind in the world^[1]. Records show that a wooden riding arena was first commissioned in 1565, but it wasn't until 1729 that Emperor Charles VI had the architect Fischer von Erlach build the white riding hall used today. For a time, the riding hall was used for various ceremonies, but it is now open to the public, who may witness the training and performances by the stallions.

The Spanish Riding School was named for the Spanish riding technique and horses that formed one of the bases of the Lipizzan horse exclusively used at the school. Today the horses delivered to the Spanish Riding School are bred in a court stud in Piber in western Styria, Austria, though they originally came from a stud in Lipica (Italian: Lipizza), near Trieste in modern Slovenia, which also gave name to the race.

[edit] Methods

The methods used by the Riding School are based on old techniques to train war horses. It is a common myth that these movements are used to aid in battle- while in fact they are all used to strengthen the war horses body and mind and make him a supreme athlete, not to actually attack. All movements are based on those naturally done by the horse. These were obviously effective and memorable, as they have been built on and used. The young stallions are taught in three stages:

1. Forward Riding: This stage begins when the horse is first brought to the Spanish Riding School as a 4-year-old. The stallion is taught to be saddled and bridled, and is started on the longe to teach him the aids, to improve his obedience, and to strengthen his muscles in preparation for a rider. Work on the longe includes transitions between the walk, trot, and canter, and changes of tempo within the gait, and lasts 2-3 months before a rider is ever placed on the animal's back. After longeing, the horse is ridden in an arena on straight lines, to teach him to respond correctly to the rider's aids while mounted. The main goals during this time is to develop of free-forward movement in the ordinary (not collected or extended) gaits, with correct contact and on a long rein, and to begin to cultivate straightness. Additionally, it should have improved the animal's strength and stamina to prepare him for the next stage.
2. Campaign School: The horse is usually ready for the second stage after a year of riding in the first stage, although this time-frame is always adjusted to the individual horse. Young stallions are always placed with experienced riders during this second stage, to help prevent the development of bad habits due to incorrect work. During this time, he is taught collection, and is ridden in turns and circles at all gaits. The main purpose of this phase is to develop impulsion, improve the natural paces, promote self-carriage, make the horse supple and flexible, and gradually develop the muscles of the horse. The horse will learn to bend correctly in the neck, body, and at the poll as appropriate for his conformation. It is during this time that the majority of training takes place, and the horse learns to shorten and lengthen his gait and perform lateral movements, with most of the work taking place at the trot. This phase requires the most time of the three, generally two-thirds of the total time it takes to produce the "finished" horse.
3. High School: In this stage, the rider will gradually push the horse to perfection in straightness, contact, suppleness, collection, and impulsion, to produce improved gaits. Through this work, the horse will learn to perform some of the most difficult movements such as the counter-changes of hand in the half-pass, counter-canter, flying change, pirouette, passage, and piaffe. Many of the exercises first taught in the Campaign school are utilized in this phase, focusing on the quality of the work and using them to help teach the more difficult exercises. Before the end of this phase, the stallions are introduced to the double bridle, to refine the rider's aids. The stallions are then assessed to determine if they are suitable for the demanding "airs above the ground," the final step in their training. Once they are chosen, the horses are taught their most-suitable airs, first on the ground and then under a rider.

The riders, too, are carefully schooled. They first work on the longe without stirrups and reins on well-trained horses for 6 months to a year, to teach a balanced and independent seat. They are then allowed to control the animals themselves, under the eye of an experienced rider, until they can perform the high school movmements. WIth intensive training, this will take 2-4 years. The rider is then allowed to train a young stallion from unbroken up to High School, a process that usually takes 4-6 additional years.

[edit] Performances

Performances at the Spanish Riding School were originally only presented to guests of the Court, and then when they were finally opened to the general population at the turn of the century, it was only for special occasions. However, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the school opened up regular performances to the general public to help pay for its upkeep.

The original performances were quite short, with the head rider presenting stallions in the High School movements, both above the ground and exercises on the long rein, and then a Pas de Deux (two horses in step together) and a four-rider Quadrille would finish the performance. The programme today has expanded.

1. It first begins with a presentation of the young stallions which have recently come from the stud farm. They are to demonstrate the first phase of training, in which the horse moves forward and accepts the aids.
2. The High School is then demonstrated on fully-trained stallions, performing all the movements seen in the Olympic level dressage tests, including the flying change, passage, pirouette, and piaffe, as well as the airs above the ground. The horses are ridden on the curb rein only, to demonstrate their high level of training.
3. A pas de deux or pas de trois is then shown, demonstrating High School movements.
4. The riders then present the stallions in-hand, to show how their are trained for the airs above the ground, and this demonstration includes work on the wall and between the pillars, and levades, courbettes, and caprioles in-hand.
5. A stallion is then worked on the long rein, in which a fully trained stallion performs all the movements it would be asked to do under the rider, aided only by the reins.
6. The exercises above the ground are performed after this, all under the rider without stirrups. This includes the levade, capriole, courbette, and ballotade.
7. The performance finished with the Grand Quadrille consisting of 4, 8, or 12 riders working in formation at the walk, trot, and canter, including flying changes, piaffe, and passage work.

[edit] Dress and equipment

All riders wear the traditional brown frock coat uniform with bicorne hats, white buckskin breeches, white gloves and tall black boots—the uniform which has remained relatively unchanged for 200 years.

During performances, stallions wear a traditional gold-plated breastplate and crupper. They also use a school saddle, which is larger than the more commonly seen English saddle used by the school when training the stallions and riders. For training, black bridles are used, and the gold-plated bridles are only used for performances. All horses wear red and gold saddle cloths for performances (green saddle cloths are used for the airs above the ground). The saddle cloth is also used to differentiate the status of each rider: the Chief of the School has three gold bands and gold fringe, the head rider has just three gold bands, the rider has two gold bands, and the assistant rider one gold band.

[edit] Location

The Spanish Riding School is located in a number of buildings on the Michaelerplatz and the Josefsplatz near the Hofburg in central Vienna. Performances take place in the Winter Riding School, an elegant riding hall that was completed in 1735 and was commissioned by the Emperor Charles VI. Prior to that time, the School operated from an arena at the Imperial Palace. The Winter Riding School is completely white, with a portrait of Emperor Charles VI above the royal box and opposite the entrance (to which the riders always salute before they ride), and measures 55 by 18 meters and is 17 meters in height.

[edit] Depiction on the euro

The Spanish Riding School was shown in a very recent Austrian euro collectors' coins: the 5 euro Austrian 2006 EU Presidency commemorative coin, minted in January 18, 2006. The reverse shows the Vienna Hofburg Imperial Palace in the "Josefsplatz" square. The equestrian statue of Joseph II in its center. The wing of the Hofburg can be seen to the right, which contains the Spanish Riding School and the "Redoutensäle".

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Spanish Riding School official page
• Spanish Riding School
• Piber Federal Stud in Styria

Coordinates: 48°12′25″N, 16°22′01″E