Spanish Riding School

This morning we had tickets to see a performance of Spanish Riding School.

The Lipizzaner breed of horse is Europe's oldest domesticated horse breed. In real life they are spectacular.

In 1580, Archduke Charles II founded the imperial stud in the Karst close to the village of Lipica (today's Slovenia). The Habsburg emperors then proceeded to raise a breed of horses best suited to classical horsemanship.

The best stallions that are bred are selected to go to horse school in Vienna and be trained up for performances.

Today's performance started with some younger members of the school. Stallions between 4-6 years old who are still in training and at times could be a bit giddy and rebellious. Then came the more mature stallions showing off some fantastic footwork and tricks.

Part of me was in awe at what I was seeing as they are the most beautiful horses I have ever seen and can do some amazing things, but the other part found it a little cruel to see them performing for the pleasure of humans.