The breed can be traced back to AD 800 and by the 16th century the ancestors of today's Lipizzans were highly sought after as war horses and horses of prestige for the rich and powerful. There is a long history of how this breed was nearly destroyed many times over the centuries but there was always someone there to rescue them. The latest rescue happened during WWII. "Operation Cowboy" was a rescue mission performed by the American army. They rescued 1200 horses, including 375 Lipizzaners and 400 Allied POW's from behind enemy lines. General Patton arranged for the horses to be moved to safety and this was the basis for the Walt Disney movie "Miracle of the White Stallions".
Colonel Herrmann and his father were part of that rescue. After the war he created a 200 acre ranch near Myakka City, Florida where he bred, raised and trained Lipizzans. His descendents still run this ranch. In the winter they invite the public to come and watch the training and to get up close and personal with these beautiful animals. In the summer they travel and perform across the country. When the horses are too old to perform anymore they "retire" on the ranch and live the rest of their lives just taking things easy.
They start to train the stallions in the ring alone on the long lead. Stallions by nature will fight other stallions for dominance.
Then they train them in tandem with another stallion. Lipizzans are born black and as they age they turn white. This young stallion is about 7 years old and still has the dark mane and tail. Eventually he will be pure white.
They train them with a rider.
And without. Lipizzans have a history as war horses. They would raise up on their hind legs so their riders could see into the distance for the enemy.
They were trained to kick and were used as the weapons before rifles were invented. Since they have to train the horses to not kick while working with people it is interesting to see how they then have to teach the proper signal that will allow them to kick.
This fellow above is all four feet off the ground. He is totally airborne when he performs his kick.
And this fellow is giving us a bow in thanks for the applause.
After the show we headed into the pasture to see the mares and then into the stable to visit the stallions.Bella is actually a male - he is retired now after a long working life including time with Ringling Circus and Barnum and Bailey. The average life span for these horses is 31 years.
John got this picture of me having a long chat with Bella. I could not keep my hands off these horses. They are so beautiful.
What an amazing story behind this breed and what amazing horses.!! Wish my little Karmen was here to see this. She would be in her glory - my horse loving Grand!!. If you love horses check out their website http://www.hlipizzans.com/. The price was right - just a donation.
Until next time - safe travels.
No comments:
Post a Comment