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The Spanish Riding School of Vienna
Spanish Riding School Insights

The Vienna Performance:
The Quadrille – Introduction
by John D'Addamio

The program notes refer to the Quadrille as a "classic horse ballet" and say, that at 20 minutes, it is the "longest of its kind in the world." I would say it is the standard to which all other group performances are measured! I have never seen anything that comes close to the beauty and precision of this Quadrille!

Can you imagine a 20 minute Grand Prix Freestyle with eight horses? That's the nature of the Quadrille. And remember, a Spanish Riding School eleve (trainee) must learn to ride the Quadrille on a trained horse before he or she can be promoted to Assistant Rider. Only after completing the three year training program do they attempt riding the Quadrille or starting a young stallion under saddle. When eleves complete all three requirements, they can be promoted to the rank of Assistant Rider.

In order to give you a sense of the complexity of the Quadrille, I will outline its choreography. At times, I will give a fairly detailed description but, at other times, I will be brief. Either way, I assure you that my words cannot describe the beauty of the School's Quadrille. It must be seen to be truly appreciated.

Although there are no letters marking the walls of the Winter Riding Hall, I will use competition arena letters as familiar reference points. Of course, all eight horses cannot be at the same letter at once. At some points, each horse will execute the movement at the same spot as they come to the letter. At other points, all horses execute the movement at the same time. To denote the difference, I will say "At C" when I mean that each horse does the movement when he is at C and I will say something such as "Last horse at E, all do something" when I mean that all horses do the movement simultaneously. A few quick definitions:

1. Volte – According to Podhajsky's book "The Complete Training of Horse and Rider", a volte is a small circle of 6 meters (USEF rulebook allows it to be 8 or even 10 meters). Col. Alois Podhajsky was Director of the Spanish Riding School from 1939 to 1965.

2. Passade – Although its name looks similar to one of the airs above the ground (pesade), a passade is a small circle executed with the haunches making a smaller circle than the forehand. It is often used as preparation for pirouettes at the walk and canter. The size of a passade varies with the gait and the horse's stage of training but should never be more than 6 meters. In the long performance, the School shows a 1.5 meter passade at the walk and a 4.5 to 5 meter passade in canter.

3. Second Track – The second track is approximately 1.5 meters from the wall. This is where a rider on the right rein would ride to pass to the inside of a rider on the left rein as riding hall etiquette gives the left rein the right of way. Many riders routinely work on the second track to make sure that their horse does not depend on the wall to maintain straightness.

4. The pillars are posts set in the arena floor. They are positioned 1.45 meters apart on a line between B and E and centered at X. So each pillar line is about three-quarters of a meter from the center line and runs parallel to the center line. Riding on the pillar lines occurs in several parts of the Quadrille.

Because the Quadrille is so long, I decided to use a three part article (Introduction, Entry and Trot Work, Canter Work and Finale) to make it more readable.

Next Time: The Entry and Trot Work

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