During Medieval times, a horse’s main job was to carry men into battle during wartime and to pull carriages during times of peace. If you had good horses, you had everything you needed during both war and peace.
In the mid-1500s, Austrian Archduke Charles II, ruler of Inner Austria, sought to create a special breed of horse. He imported Andalusian horses, Berbers, and Barbs from Spain and crossed them with a now-extinct breed called the Karst, a rugged, high-stepping, light gray horse native to Austria. Charles’ brother, Maximilian II, the Holy Roman Emperor, also founded a stud at Kladrub in Austria (which is now part of the Czech Republic) with the same goal, and used Spanish breeds crossed with local horses. The elegant and powerful horses that resulted—eventually called Lipizzans— became heavy carriage horses at the Kladruby stud, and riding and light carriage horses at the Lipizza Stud of the Hapsburg monarchy.
The brothers exchanged breeding stock at times, crossing the lines to create aristocratic animals that were more than just war and work horses; they were partners in what had become the highly revered art of classical riding, which combined maneuvers used in battle with exercises that emphasized the horse’s athletic ability and obedience to the rider.
The Lipizzan is bestknown for its quadrille performances at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
SPARRE/CREATIVE COMMONS
ACCEPTFOTO/ADOBE STOCK