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• A Horse of Grace and Majesty Horse of Battle, Horse of Ballet 

 
Way back in 1580 Archduke Karlo of Austria bought the village of Lipik in order to form a Stud in the region. The area was well used by the ancient Romans who bought most of their horses there, horses which went on to help conquer most of Europe, in the same year Baron Khevenhuller imported Stallions and Mares from Spain and this amalgamation formed the original breeding herd of Lipizzaner.

The Stud flourished and in 1728 provided Lipizzaners to help establish the Spanish Riding School, fifty years on they also provided the Austrian Army.

In the years 1979, 1805 and again in 1809 during Napoleonic wars the herd was forced to leave its Lipika home for brief periods of time, returning finally in 1815. The Stud itself had suffered much damage and required rebuilding. In 1816 the Arab Stallion, Siglavy became the progenitor of the Lipizzaner and Arab line Siglavy and later in 1852 another Arab Stallion Gazlan become the progenitor of the Gazlan and Gazal line.

Once again owing to war events in 1915 the herd left Lipika and transferred to Laxenburg near Vienna, whilst the foals were included into the Austrian Stud of Kladrub. In 1918 part of the Lipika herd was taken to establish the Piber Stud in Austria and foals taken to the Topolcianky Stud in Czechoslovakia.

The glorious Lipika Stud which had completely fallen into decay was in 1982 repaired and functioning again. But again in 1991 owing to the Yugoslavia Serbia Croatia War, horses were destroyed or moved, buildings badly damaged and the herd was drastically decreased.

It was said that during this period when Croatia was at war and subject to much destruction as part of the culture, the Lipica Stud was bombed with Napalm and some of the horses were massacred, even burned alive. Out of 117 horses, 27 were killed and those surviving transported to Serbia. The Lipizzaner is one of the oldest and noblest breed and Croatia was one of the largest breeders in the world. The horses that were taken from Lipica Stud in 1991 are ageing and some dying in old age, others have been sold to Italy and yet others have been sold back to Croatia, the original owners of the horses. On October 13th 2007 at around two o'clock in the morning, a convoy of five trucks with 66 horses arrived to Donji Caglic, a little village near the entrance of Lipik. Lipik's horses came back down the same road they were taken away in 1991. This convoy of hope travelled the streets to the sounds of sirens and lights. People left their houses and stood at their windows. When the convoy arrived in Lipik people cried watching the comeback of their horses that were emerging out of fog and the darkness that took them and prisoned them in 1991. Sixty six horses had been brought back to Lipik, but only eight were the originals kidnapped in 1991, while the rest of them were the offspring of the kidnapped horses. Croatian Mr. Sc. Mato Cacic said at the time "Now that we know that our horses are sleeping under the same sky as we are, everything seems easier, somehow it is easier to fight, because, if our horses survived waiting for so long to come back, than nobody of us has the right to give up of Lipik. Now that the soul of Lipik has been returned, life showed us that everything gets its meaning eventually, but also that all of the dreams really become truth."

Lipica Stud has now been declared a Public Institution for the Republic of Slovenia and has been recognised as a breeding organisation holding the original studbooks of the Lipizzaner breed. Today the stud is home to around 400 horses and through its chequered history can recognise nearly 430 years of upheaval. As a breed The Lipizzaner stands between 15 and 16.1hh. They have a characteristically long head with a pronounced jaw, small ears, large eyes and flared nostrils. Sturdy, arched neck and low, broad muscular withers, deep chest and muscular shoulder. They carry their tails high; have strong muscular legs, small feet and well-defined tendons. Lipizzaners mature slower than other breeds some living well into their 20s and 30s. A Lipizzaner is born dark, usually bay or black. Between birth and the age of six or up to ten, they lighten gradually to become gray. They cannot be classed as true white, as a white horse is born white with pink skin and more often than not blue eyes.

In the early days of the Lipizzaner breed their coats often ranged from Chestnut to Coloured but as grey was the colour sought by the Austrian Royal Family at the time it became the overriding gene to create The Lipizzaner of today. Long standing tradition in the Spanish Riding School dictates they keep at least one black or bay Lipizzaner in residence.

The Spanish Riding School is well known for its High School Dressage or the famous "Airs above the Ground" as the exercises are also known. They are made up of The Levade, the beautiful but difficult pose of the horse standing on its hind legs at a 30 degree angle or the Pesade which is slightly less difficult but more upright at 45 degree angle. The Capriole, a leap in the air with forelegs tucked under and hind legs kicked out at the highest point of the jump. The Courbette which is essentially a hop; The Croupade where fore and hind legs tuck under the body at the highest point of elevation. The Ballotade as in the Courbette but the shoes of the hind feet are visible when viewed from the rear.

Most of the Stallions used at the Spanish Riding School are from the Piber Stud and are taken at about four-years-old. They are paired individually with their own riding partners and slowly and carefully trained in classical dressage when the rider sits in a natural position for straight riding. Elementary dressage entails riding a collected horse in all gaits and manoeuvres while keeping perfect balance. The last discipline is Haute Ecole, very difficult and works by riding in an upright position, curving the haunches and keeping finesse in all natural gaits, dressage movements and leaps all carried out to a high degree of perfection. Training of this nature takes approximately six years at which stage the horse and rider would then have to master the School Quadrille in order to perform at the Spanish Riding School.

Of all the breeds the Lipizzaner has to have the most chequered and romantic history of war and passion and identity with its people. It is no wonder that this horse will endure and work tirelessly and faithfully with its rider to form the unbreakable bond and kinship that we all desire.

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