Last night Jess and I braved a horrible storm to go check out the World Famous Lipizzaner Horses down at the Qwest Center, and let me tell you… totally worth it.
For those of you who don’t know about the Lipizzaners, here is a quick history of their rescue (click the link for their full info):
World War II presented perhaps the greatest threat ever faced by the Lipizzan breed. The breeding stock was taken by the Nazis from Piber to a German-run stud farm at Hostau, in what today is the Czech Republic. Threatened by bombing raids, the stallions later evacuated Vienna for St. Martin’s, in upper Austria. Under the leadership of Alois Podhajsky, then the director of the Spanish Riding School, both the stallions and the equestrian traditions were preserved. However, there were still harsh challenges; while safe from aerial attacks, there was little food for human or animals, and starving refugees sometimes attempted to steal the horses, viewing them as a source of meat.
In 1945, the United States Army took control of St. Martins. General George S. Patton, of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Group, had been a fellow equestrian competitor with Podhajsky in the Olympic Games prior to the war. The two men renewed their acquaintance, and after an impressive performance by the remaining horses and riders of the school in front of Patton and Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson, the Americans agreed to place the stallions under the protection of the United States until they could safely be returned to the people of Austria after the war.
When Hostau fell behind Soviet lines, captured German officers, under interrogation by U.S. Army Captain Ferdinand Sperl, reported the Lipizzans’ location and asked the Americans to rescue the horses before they fell into Soviet hands, because it was feared they would be slaughtered for horsemeat. Patton issued orders, and on April 28, 1945, Colonel Charles H. Reed, Sperl’s superior officer, with members of Troops A, C and F of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, conducted a raid behind Soviet lines and accepted the surrender of the Germans at Hostau. Reed later said that the surrender was “more a fiesta than a military operation, as the German troops drew up an honor guard and saluted the American troops as they came in.” Although only 250 Lipizzans survived the war, the breed was saved.
Wow… they must be an awesome breed of horse, no? Well, I’ll tell you, watching them was incredible. I was originally not sure I’d like the show as it’s considered “horse ballet”, but it’s really much more. They pull off military maneuvers as well as tell the history of the breed and how they’re selected. Very interesting. The show itself was about 90 minutes (including the 15 min intermission) and featured about 8 different horses (all but 2 were Lipizzaners, the other 2 were Andalusian). Here are a few pics I took:
Not bad for my old camera! The seats we were in didn’t hurt, either. Jessica is completely enthralled with the horses now and odds are we’ll be going back the next time they’re in town… and I don’t think I’ll mind at all!
