Spanish Riding School of Vienna
First U.S. Tour in Over 15 Years

For the first time in over 15 years, The Spanish Riding School of Vienna will visit the United States in a salute to the 60th anniversary of General Patton and the 2nd Cavalry’s World War II rescue of the Lipizzaner Breed. This extremely rare cultural event is not to be missed - as one would have to travel to Vienna to see The Dancing White Stallions perform their exquisite Equestrian Ballet.

The elegant riders and beautiful white Lipizzaner Stallions are the only remaining pure exponents of the classical art of dressage. The School maintains the skills and traditions passed on for centuries, dating back to ancient Greece and refined in Vienna over hundreds of years.

Using only the purest bred Lipizzaner Stallions in the world, you will be charmed and mesmerized by the accomplishments of the 30 horses and 10 riders taking part in this truly magical exhibition.

Once seen, there is no mistaking why The Spanish Riding School of Vienna is world renowned for their unique display of choreographed movements that have to be seen to be believed!

A short history of The Spanish Riding School of Vienna
The age of the Renaissance, which began in Italy, brought about a radical change of values throughout Europe and in all levels of society. The cities’ upper middle classes and the major princes and their courts strove towards humanist values and rediscovered the works of classical antiquity.

They thus endeavored to promote everywhere the fine arts such as painting, sculpture and architecture. In such pictures and studies, the horse was the second most depicted form, after humans. It is remarkable that the courtiers, well-trained in good manners, were called “gentleman” in England, but “Caballero” in Spain.

This new renaissance attitude – imaginative, open-minded, sophisticated and above all not tied to any particular locality – also required a new horse. Ceremony and representation gradually moved into the center of everyday life at court. Suitable horses as well as carriages became status symbols. The Spanish, or to be precise, the Andalusian horse, and the Neapolitan horse met these new requirements perfectly, and were increasingly in demand throughout Europe.

The practice of classic equestrian skills has been top priority ever since the formation of the Spanish Riding School Vienna in 1572. The foundations for this are again to be found in the Renaissance.

Horsemanship primarily covered three areas: warfare, the parade and presentation as well as entertainment at court.
The scripts of the great commander of classical antiquity, Xenophon, form the basis for equestrian teaching that emerged into the 15th century and became more refined in the 17th and 18th centuries. Taking into account the writings of Xenophon, the Spanish Riding School largely follows the teachings of the great riding masters at the French court. Antoine de Pluvinel and Francoise Rubichon de Guériniere. The latter explains in his great work “Ecole de Cavalerie”: “It is the goal of systematic horse training to make the horse calm, agile and obedient, so that its movements are pleasant and it is comfortable for the rider.”

Classic equestrian skills build upon the thorough study of the natural disposition of each individual horse as well as upon good communication – via the so-called helps.

This is based on ancient texts where horse training is described as promoting those movements that the horse displays in nature during play, status-fights and display behavior and that emerge from riding forward. The so-called airs above the ground such as the levade, the capriole and the courbette are derived from the herd’s status-fights. During training, this must be taken into account in a systematic way, and they must not be inconsistent with the natural disposition of the horse’s movement.

The Spanish Riding School is working only with stallions, the result of more than 6 years’ training with each horse is presented at the gala performances.

The Spanish Riding School Of Vienna 2005 United States Tour
HOUSTON, TX • THE TOYOTA CENTER, SATURDAY • DECEMBER 10 • 7:30pm & SUNDAY • DECEMBER 11 • 2:30pm, For More Information Please Contact: White Stallion Productions Inc., (407) 366-0366 or visit: www.spanishridingschool.com