Slovenia – The Lipizzan horse and the Vienna high school

The history of the Lipizzan horse, a breed that takes its name from the town of Lipica , in Slovenia , where the breeding was founded, is closely linked to the history of the Habsburgs, who reigned in much of Europe during the Baroque age for 650 years. At that time, horses represented a resource of strategic importance and, as we have already seen, in those years the perfect warhorse was considered the Andalusian ( read the article here) . Thus the Lipizzan horse was created by mixing Spanish stallions with Caucasian and Italian mares. Habsburgs always paid great attention to these animals and precisely because of the remarkable similarities between the Karst and Spain, from an environmental and climatic point of view, the Archduke Charles decided to place the breeding of horses for his court in Lipica. In 1578 he chose the abandoned Lipica castle, which belonged to the bishops of Trieste, as a place to set up the Lipica stud farm for the breeding of horses for the imperial court. On May 19, 1580, Archduke Charles signs the purchase agreement for the purchase of the property in Lipica. The kennel became famous because the Vienna Riding School, founded by Charles VI in 1729, drew exclusively from stallions of this breed for its wonderful shows.

This elegant horse with a gray coat is born black or dark bay and gradually whitens over the course of 7-10 years. Discover now all our trips, tours, holidays and horse trekking in Slovenia. Today it is possible to stay in Lipica and spend a week or even a few days dedicating yourself to dressage and basic exercises of the Spanish high school, mounting the imposing gray stallions followed by great professionals : watch our exclusive journey by clicking here !