The Spanish Riding School
Lipizzaner and the sound of the waltz, the Spanish Riding School in Vienna
Spanish Court Riding SchoolHorsemanship to the highest standards possible await you in the Imperial Palace. The world-famous Spanish Riding School is a term that is not only familiar to horse fans. Experience the Lipizzaners live!
Riding can truly be an art form. No other animals can move so elegantly, so gracefully and precisely. The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the internationally recognized embodiment of artistic riding. Nowhere else are classic equestrian skills from the renaissance period right up to the present day taught and cultivated in such an unchanged manner as here. Be amazed by the precision with which the noble animals move to the music. Tricks such as pirouettes or caprioles are part of the repertoire of the world-famous Lipizzaners and ensure that spectators from all over the world are amazed and fascinated. The culmination of this art comes in the form of a gala performance in the Spanish Riding School. See the perfectly performed pas de deux, the "schools over the ground", the work on the hand and, as the highlight, the "great school quadrille". The latter requires eight stallions.
Apart from the aforementioned performances, the historic ambiance of the stables in the Imperial Palace is also unique. The indoor riding hall with its lavish baroque fittings is spectacular and offers a perfect setting for the horses and their riders.
As an interested guest, you will be given the opportunity to receive insights into the training. Take part in morning exercises and see how the white stallions are trained. The Lipizzaners are the oldest breed of horse in Europe. Their appearance is characteristic, their perfect physique reflects strength and grace. The proud animals begin their education at the age of four years old. After four to six years the horses have then mastered the equestrian art of the "High School". However, years of training are not only required of the animals, the challenge of adapting oneself to the animal also awaits the rider every day. It is only through this that the excellent performances by the Spanish Riding School are possible - through perfect teamwork between man and horse and the considerate way in which the animal is handled.
