Our columnist attends a judge’s forum in Vienna and is re-inspired by the famous white stallions.

In the heart of Vienna a lovely fragrance of horse lingers like perfume to us lovers of horses. Your nose has not deceived you. Behind the ornate and impressive facade of the Spanish Riding School, 73 Lipizzan stallions lead lives similar to those of celebrated artists.

Grooms and students make sure every hair is polished and all tack is gleaming before they leave the barn for the morning work session, or the afternoon performance, which are both open to the public.

The stallions live in roomy and immaculate box stalls placed along a winding aisle, which gives the impression of them living in apartments, rather than in a barn. Over each stall watches a white stone carving of a life-size horse head, each with its own personal expression and ear position.

For 436 years, since the school was established, the majestic white stallions have been performing at this same location, one generation following another.

Until 2001, the government supported the school, but it’s now in the hands of private enterprise, and although the routine of the riding and training hasn’t been altered, some innovations have taken place.

Modern Changes

One of them is the installation of a 20-horse walker, probably one of the largest ever made, which allows the horses to get out for a stroll and a breath of air.

Another novelty is that the school now hosts fundraisers and gala events, which are set up in the courtyard between the stables and the grand manège and are at times enhanced by a performance by the stars in residence.

The biggest change of all took place this year, though, with a break in tradition when two female apprentices were accepted. This is the first time women have been allowed to apply for the long and extensive training to hopefully one day become riders at the school and take part in the performances.

Two girls, one Austrian and one English, are now part of the four new trainees, or “éleves” as they are called, who joined the school this fall. Perhaps the fact that the business manager in charge, Elisabeth Gurtler, is a woman has helped to open the doors to female participation.

The new éleves are looking forward to years on the longe line and diligent stable duty, which may lead to riding young stallions in the show, and eventually to becoming part of the performance on the more advanced, older horses. After years of proving their worth as assistant riders, the pupils who have what it takes will reach the coveted status of Bereiter, and that’s as good as it gets. By that time, they do not only master all the movements we are familiar with in competition, but they will also have to perform the airs above the ground, which is a whole different agenda.

The head of the riding school and leader of the quadrille in the performances is a man we easily recognize: Ernst Bachinger. In the United States we know him as the trainer of Dorothy Morkis, and he has also trained several other international and Olympic riders. He successfully competed and trained horses for 30 years, but he grew up and started his career in the Spanish Riding School, where his father was a rider.

After seven years, when he earned the coveted title of Bereiter, Ernst developed an interest in competing and followed this urge. Eventually, he found it difficult to maintain a show schedule alongside the demands of the performances at the School, and he left to train and show privately owned horses.

After a satisfying career spanning more than 30 years of developing horses and riders in different parts of the world, Ernst was asked to “come home” and was offered the position as head of the Riding School he originated from.

Two years ago, he returned to Vienna with a wealth of knowledge and experience to add to his already solid foundation. The effects of his leadership are obvious in the way the horses are worked and in how the new stallions are selected to become performance horses.

A New Model

It had been forever since I was last in Vienna, but I’d seen the Lipizzans perform on their tours, and lately there’s an improvement in the quality of the impulsion and regularity of the gaits as well as the correctness, from a judge’s point of view, in the movements performed in the quadrille.

The young stallions we were shown are markedly different in type from their older colleagues. Almost all of the dappled gray youngsters could have appeared at a quality dressage show and held their own. They are elastic, free moving and exhibited going well forward over the ground.

This “modern” appearance and way of going, married to the tradition of correct riding, has to produce an even more interesting group of performance horses in the future. What made me wonder, though, is how this taller, more sleek model of horse will be able to deal with the airs above the ground, which is an incredible balancing act perfected by the “older” type of Lipizzan with shorter legs and a more compact body. I guess time will tell.

Sixty-three judges from 35 nations attended the International Dressage Judges Club General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, Oct. 16-19, hosted by the Spanish Riding School, and we were royally treated to several performances by the stallions. We watched the morning work and the regular performance.

We were also treated to a private exhibition with a guided tour of the movements and introduced to the new group of young stallions. When observing the work of the young horses, I believe all the judges were considering how nice it must be for a green animal to be introduced to his life as a riding horse by riders who are competent, consistent and compassionate.

Throughout the session, every stallion remained relaxed, yet alert and eager to strut his stuff. I realize that the pressure of having to prove something in competition is not in the picture, but the older horses performed all of the Grand Prix movements several times and also showed off their levades, courbettes and caprioles with no signs of tension, except the “good” kind, which you need to fuel the effort. When they finished, they were all dry and calm.

In the regular performance, there includes a long lining exhibition that is a flawless flow of all the Grand Prix movements. The Bereiter is walking so close to the stallion that he touched him with his body, connected to his mouth with only a pair of long lines. The symmetry and communication, both physical and mental, between those two is so strong and yet so subtle that it’s almost seductive. That part alone is worth a trip to Vienna.

Although the Spanish Riding School has to support not only itself, but also the stud farm at Piber, it looks to me as
if it has experienced a renaissance. Every performance is sold out, new ways of finding revenue are examined, and the rumor that it would be closed down doesn’t seem valid today.

Listening to Mr. Bachinger telling us that they have run out of stalls at the school and are looking into renting a nearby facility to accommodate about 20 new stallions sounded like a nice problem to have. With 16 full-time riders, four éleves and a whole staff buzzing around, it looks like the stallions will continue to dance in their glittering ballroom, guard tradition and thrill the people while sending their “Eau de Cheval” into the Vienna air. 

Anne Gribbons moved to the United States from Sweden in 1972 and has trained more than a dozen horses to Grand Prix. She rode on the 1986 World Championships dressage team and earned a team silver medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. An O-rated dressage judge based in Chuluota, Fla., Gribbons serves as co-vice chairman of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Dressage Committee. She started contributing to Between Rounds in 1995.