The Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School in Austria (the Spanische Hofreitschule), is a unique institution, in central Vienna. It is the oldest riding school in the world and the last to train the horses and their riders in classic dressage routines.

In 1562 Emperor Maximilian II began importing Lipizzaner horses from Spain. They are a crossbreed of Arab, Berber and Spanish horses that are born black and become white as they mature. The horses are reared at the Piber Stud Farm (Bundesgestut Piber) near Graz, and about 40 foals are born there every year. Of these, perhaps only five stallions will be the right height and temperament to be sent to Vienna for training - the rest are sold to wealthy horses loves or kept as breeding stock.

Originally the school was based at the Imperial Palace, but Emperor Charles VI commissioned a Baroque Riding Hall to teach aristocratic youths riding skills. Completed in 1735, the hall looks more like a ballroom, complete with balconies and chandeliers. Performances here are booked out well in advance, but if you cannot get tickets, you could instead see the morning training sessions, also set to music or take a tour of the stables.

The riders all wear the traditional two-cornered hats and brown frock coats, and the horses all have gold-and-red saddlecloths. The performances include individual and two-horse displays, as well as the Grand Quadrille which consists of 16 horses in formation, performing something approaching a ballet, set to classical music.