tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170520502008-10-06T02:05:05.062-04:00The legendary Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, is touring the U.S. this fall in honor of General George Patton's rescue of the school's Lipizzan horses during World War II 60 years ago. Writer Fran Jurga chronicles the tour, which visits Columbus, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta and Houston, in her blog on EquiSearch.com, sister website to EQUUS, Dressage Today, Practical Horseman and Horse and Rider magazines.EquiSearch.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12671815112903432584noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1129210729601536292005-12-16T00:00:00.000-05:002005-12-15T22:49:14.900-05:00

IMPORTANT: Please scroll down past this introduction to read the latest post; most recent posts are placed at the top of the blog. Older posts are at the bottom, and at the left of this column you will see links to the archives of stories from September, October, and November. Your comments are welcome! Just click on the "comments" link at the end of a post to leave your input or ask for more

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134751055732902072005-12-15T23:04:00.000-05:002005-12-16T12:12:26.453-05:00

Austria Olympic dressage gold medalist Sissy (Elisabeth) Max-Theurer has been named deputy head of the supervisory board of the Spanish Riding School, according to a news item in this week's Horse & Hound (UK). Mrs. Max-Theurer, who has been president of the Austrian Association for Riding and Carriage Driving (FEI governing body for Austria) since 2002, retired from competition after the

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134705685192138242005-12-15T22:55:00.000-05:002005-12-15T23:01:25.193-05:00

I came across this quote tonight from classical dressage icon Sylvia Loch: "Yet, amongst the faithful public who troop time and again to see The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, many know little of the intricacies of horses or indeed of dressage. They go because they are drawn. "There is something mystical and magnetic about the dancing white stallions, and here - with no prizes to get in

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134702860439767812005-12-15T22:00:00.000-05:002005-12-15T22:14:20.456-05:00

When it was time for the performance to begin, I went to my seat high in the stadium. I was surprised to be seated next to a young boy, about 10. He was antsy and didn't seem very happy to be there. He was about to start misbehaving so he could make sure his mother didn't get to focus on the performance. I knew it would be a long evening for me, too, unless I could get him interested. Then I

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134701564976260462005-12-15T21:27:00.000-05:002005-12-16T11:03:02.250-05:00

Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to write to me about the blog. So far, every letter is an encouragement to proceed. We're up to 18 letters as of today, December 15th. What I would like to do is make a book of your letters, which I will send to Mr. Aigner, the new director at the Spanish Riding School, and to Oberbereiter Riegler. I would like them and everyone at the School to

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134706486748496182005-12-15T19:09:00.000-05:002005-12-15T23:14:46.750-05:00

Meet Siglavy Malina, son of retiring solo star Siglavy Mantua I. He's nose-to-nose with equine-specialist journalist Melissa Birks of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I snapped this photo in the high alpine pasture above Piber in June. I have been told that he has been moved to Vienna, where he is a candidate for training in the Spanish Riding School. Good luck, Malina, you have big shoes to fill!

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134521666532310682005-12-13T19:02:00.000-05:002005-12-15T21:26:34.306-05:00

Here is the contact information for Eva-Maria at the Spanish Riding School's Vienna ticket office for tickets to Vienna performances. Eva-Maria Schöbinger Ticket Office / Visitor Centre Michaelerplatz 1, 1010 Vienna, Austria Tel.: 011+43-1-533 90 31-0 Fax: 011+43-1-533 90 31-40 evamaria.schoebinger@srs.at Best advice is to go to the main SRS web site and do your homework. There is a

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134443083317984992005-12-12T21:47:00.000-05:002005-12-13T08:35:22.536-05:00

Yes, that's the name of the corny song that Eddie Albert croons (or lip-syncs) early in the Disney movie, "Miracle of the White Stallions" as some of the SRS riders are sent off to the front to fight the advancing Russians, while the rest caper off to St. Martin im Innkreis to hide until the Americans arrive. In a few hours, the 30 stallions of the Spanish Riding School will be loaded into two

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134191513372485342005-12-09T23:52:00.000-05:002005-12-10T00:11:53.386-05:00

Everything is bigger in Texas...and that goes for the welcome, too. Classical dressage is a far cry for cutting, reining, and rodeo, but the crowds will be lining up tonight for the performance! While in Houston, the riders will be introduced to members of the Southwest (USA) Lipizzan Association.

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134190314772929022005-12-09T23:45:00.000-05:002005-12-09T23:51:54.773-05:00

The media has created a new geographic region in the United States: "Katrina" signifies the Gulf coast area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. This week, the stallions of the Spanish Riding School have had a few days off in West Monroe, Louisiana, at an equestrian center that was helpful to the Katrina evacuation effort. The horses were able to relax from their long van ride from Atlanta, and

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134156286888388452005-12-09T23:22:00.000-05:002005-12-12T16:20:54.743-05:00

Get behind the scenes on the Spanish Riding School's American tour with a photo gallery by Fran Jurga of how the great Lipizzan stallion Siglavy Mantua I gets ready for a performance. Click Here to View Photo Gallery Comment below to let us know what you think!

EquiSearch.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12671815112903432584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134189629152895932005-12-09T23:11:00.000-05:002005-12-10T00:29:36.390-05:00

Once you start to study the Spanish Riding School in depth, you learn that everything means something. There is an intent to every detail, and nowhere are the details of this institution more significant than in the design of the saddle cloths. First of all, these are actually ornaments, and not part of the saddle. Unlike the saddle cloths that you and I use when we ride, these attach to the

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134185456017460462005-12-09T22:30:00.000-05:002006-06-17T19:32:29.956-04:00

2006 is a huge year in Vienna, being the 250th anniversary of Mozart. (Of course you all can tell the Strauss music from the Mozart pieces during a Spanish Riding School performance, right?!?) I actually wish I knew more about the music. I recall Dr. Polz telling me that some original music had been composed expressly for the Spanish Riding School, but I don't think it is included in the program

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134184575993551782005-12-09T16:55:00.000-05:002005-12-09T22:42:39.430-05:00

One of my fondest memories of the Spanish Riding School took place neither in Vienna, nor Piber, nor at any of the USA tour performances. It was on TV. A few years ago, perhaps it was 2000, master conductor Seiji Ozawa conducted the Vienna Philharmonic at their annual New Year's Day concert. This is a highly traditional, mostly-Strauss, mostly-waltz concert held annually and if you'd like to go

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134191599468050492005-12-09T12:12:00.000-05:002005-12-10T00:13:19.470-05:00

Just musing: The Lipizzans selected for the US by General Patton didn't last long in US hands at the end of World War II. True, they were shipped home, along with the great Polish Arabian stallion Witez II. They landed in Virginia and then somehow showed up at the Kellogg Arabian Farm in Pomona, California, which had been comandeered as a remount station during World War II by the US Cavalry.

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134177541661840312005-12-06T20:16:00.000-05:002005-12-12T16:30:35.606-05:00

In an interview with Rachael Mason, staff writer of the Gwinnett Daily Post in Georgia, last week, rider Herwig Radnetter stressed that the seemingly exaggerated and extravagant movements of the Lipizzans are actually manifestations of their natural action. "The horses have a beautiful temperament. There are no lazy horses. They want to move. They also have a very good mind. They like to be

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1134192428398251272005-12-01T12:17:00.000-05:002005-12-12T16:27:14.570-05:00

It snowed in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving but the stallions of the Spanish Riding School were well-equipped with new "Freestyle" Weatherbeeta blankets. This horse is being lead by stable manager Johannes. The horse is wearing a cavesson, which is interesting, instead of a soft head collar (halter). Cavessons are used for training and lungeing. My guess is that the blankets were a bit tough to

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1133319136774211472005-11-29T21:48:00.000-05:002005-11-30T00:36:08.400-05:00

As if he wasn't a great rider, Herwig is a great translator, as well. He speaks perfect English and is a friendly ambassador for the Spanish Riding School on the tour. Perhaps the fact that his father is an American helped? He seems very at home in America! Herwig started at the Spanish Riding School as a very young rider in 1976. He became a cadet in 1982 and progressed to full rider in 1988.

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1133315994074177452005-11-28T20:46:00.000-05:002005-11-30T00:42:56.046-05:00

Stirrups are an important part of modern equestrianism. You'll see lots of stirrups in the gilded tack rooms at the Stallburg in Vienna and also at the stud at Piber. In the museum at Piber, there is even an interesting display of hand-forged stirrups made for the Spanish Riding School from different metals. The designs are ornate and beautiful. But the apprentice riders of the Spanish Riding

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1133033440850642182005-11-26T14:30:00.000-05:002005-11-26T14:45:18.970-05:00

Did you know...that after the end of World War II, the Austrian federal stud at Piber was in the British zone of Austria, while the Spanish Riding School was in St Martins and Wels, in the American sector? Piber was under British jurisdiction until the re-establishment of the free Austria in 1955. The mares and breeding stallions and foals had a tough ten years at Piber, with shortages and

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1132699786357363312005-11-22T17:36:00.000-05:002005-11-23T10:25:05.926-05:00

In Washington, DC, there seemed to be confusion about USEF pre-event clinics and what was required to attend. That part of the program was organized by USEF, and I don't know much about it except that it seemed like a very interesting presentation. I am listing below the contact names for the three upcoming performance venues. In DC, the clinic started about 5:30, as I recall. You really must

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1132796988818115132005-11-21T20:41:00.000-05:002005-11-30T00:35:21.346-05:00

The riders and staff had a few free hours while in Washington DC...and they were happy to play tourist! Of course, they got the royal treatment they deserved. Here are the SRS representatives relaxing on the Mall. Count the blue jeans! At the far right you will see Norbert Tschautsche, who was a special guest for the Washington weekend. He was Oberbereiter from 1956 to 1997. It was a great

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1132536177201747262005-11-20T20:19:00.000-05:002005-11-23T10:21:08.136-05:00

Your blogger has made a mistake. In the early days of the blog, we reported that only white stallions would be coming to the USA. To our delight, we announce that Favory Alea II is enjoying the tour. He is a 25-year-old dark brown stallion (almost black but not quite) with some unusual white markings on his pasterns...and we'll have more to tell you about him in the days and weeks to come! In

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1132795237025774712005-11-20T20:13:00.000-05:002005-11-23T20:37:44.036-05:00

Shoes of silver? Nails of solid gold? Pads of velvet and brocade? It's quite hard to see the feet of the Spanish Riding School horses as they glide by; the footing clings to their hoof walls and you can't see much. Most of the horses have similarly shaped (oval) feet and short upright pasterns. For that reason, the feet look like the heels are quite high and the coronet (hairline) is almost

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052050.post-1132535629288549872005-11-18T11:57:00.000-05:002005-11-23T20:41:14.426-05:00

FRIDAY MORNING--It was nice to see the riders show up to say hello to their horses and reassure them after their first night in the strange, cavernous building and the ordeal on the highway. Here you see Oberbereiter Klaus Krzisch greeting the solo horse Siglavy Mantua I and Rider Herbert Seiberl offering an apple to Conversano Toscana I, the horse he rides in the quadrille. Rider Seiberl

Fran Jurganoreply@blogger.com