BREED PROFILE
DEFYING GRAVITY
With fewer than 4,000 purebreds alive today, the Lipizzaner is rare. Thankfully, many organizations and dedicated people have helped with preserving the breed over the years. B Y MON I QU E N OB L E
The darkness was not as scary as it should have been, only because of the smell of popcorn and my mother’s hand in mine. A light appeared and music washed over us accompanied by a tide of gleaming white horses rushing into the arena. The next hour was a whirlwind of grace and skill as gorgeous creatures leapt and danced like playful waves on the ocean. The Lipizzaner is world renown for their classical dressage manoeuvres of the Haute école and the “airs above the ground.” I enjoyed their performance – oddly enough – in Saskatchewan but the Lipizzaner is a horse known for seeming somewhat out of place. A Spanish breed being trained at the Spanish riding school in Vienna, Austria. The origins of the Lipizzaner are traced to a 1580 invoice for the first three of six stallions and 24 mares brought from Spain to Austria. Archduke Charles the II was establishing the Imperial Royal Court Karst Stud Farm Lipica in Lipica (Lipizza in Italian), Slovenia – which was part of Austria at the time. Prudent husbandry of these horses intended for military, royal and civilian use while being raised in the rugged Karst Plateau created a powerful, intelligent animal with an 22
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impressive carriage and presence. Breeding to mares from local stock such as the Karst horse, and the now extinct Neapolitan horse brought a distinct and colourful hardiness to the line, while keeping the elegant physique and intelligence of the foundation lines strong. Lippizaners originally had many coat colours with even a few Paints here and there. However, in the 16th and 17th centuries, horsemanship and dressage became noble and desired skills for the upper classes of the renaissance and striking “white”
the Lipizzaner has been repeatedly endangered by the ravages of war and time was the preferred colour of horses for royalty and nobility. Widely known as white, Lipizzaners are technically gray. Most are born black or bay with darkly pigmented skin and eyes, their coats turning gray with maturity. The graying process finishes between six to ten years which
coincides with their training, which is why most horses that perform their world-famous acrobatics are the shining “white” steeds we have come to admire. As gray is a dominant gene, other colours rarified, as the breed was refined to cater to the times. All the same, there is a long-standing tradition for one bay stallion to reside at the Spanish Riding School to honour their colourful ancestry. Centuries of selective breeding has resulted in a horse that exudes strength. Their heads are large and long with small alert ears and a straight or slightly roman nose. Large expressive eyes reveal their depth of intelligence and character and are complimented by well flared nostrils and a powerful jawline. Ranging in height from 14.2-16.2 hands they are strongly built, with a thick elegantly arched, extravagantly maned neck, set into a wide and deep chest. Their withers are low and flow into broad muscular shoulders that are balanced by wide, powerful hindquarters with a high set and proudly carried luxurious tail. The legs have fantastic depth of bone, well-developed muscles and tendons carried on small but strong hooves. Athletically graceful in movement they are a hardy and long-lived breed,
