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The Spanish Riding School of Vienna

How are the Stallions Chosen for the Spanish Riding School?
by John D'Addamio

A previous article described how the human trainees are chosen for the Spanish Riding School. But, how are the stallions for the Spanish Riding School chosen from the 40 or 50 or 70 foals bred at the Piber stud farm? This article will describe that long and arduous process. It will also describe the horses' management at the stud farm.

The mares foal in a special barn at the farm with an experienced person attending them. There is a small veterinary facility at the farm and a veterinarian on staff. The foals are born early in the year, usually between mid January and the end of April. The foals are brown, bay or occasionally chestnut at birth. They turn gray and later white as they age. Most will turn white by age 11 or 12.

Stallions and young mares in training are housed in stables built around an oval outdoor arena. We have seen mares exercised in groups there. They trot and canter around the perimeter of the arena while a stud employee stands in the middle with a longe whip. We saw him crack the whip once or twice to encourage them but mostly the mares exercised themselves.

There is also an indoor arena that is used for training and an enclosed "hot walker" for exercise in bad weather. Another large outdoor arena is used for presentations as well as exercise.

The mares with foals are housed in a large "open barn" which means it has no stalls. The barn is actually two attached barns. The mares with fillies are in one barn. The mares with colts are housed in the other. Each of the two barns is large enough to house at least 20 mares and their foals. When they are in the barn, the mares are haltered and tied to rings in the wall so that they can be individually fed and groomed. There are plaques above the rings with the mare's name, birth year, and lineage. The foals run loose! When the doors are open in summer, there is only a 2"x4" rail blocking the exit but the foals stay close to mama and their young friends.

On all of our visits to Piber, the mares and foals were turned out to pastures near their barn about 9:30 in the morning. Again, they are separated by the gender of their foals. There were two stud employees with them. The horses are kept near the front of the pasture for an hour or so that the tour groups can see them. Then, the mares and foals are herded over the hill into a more remote part of the pasture.

In the fall of each year, the annual Musterung (Inspection) is held. A few years ago, we were fortunate enough to visit Piber on a day when the Inspection took place. At this Inspection, the farm manager and other experts including senior riders evaluate the horses. If you have ever seen a sport horse evaluation, the process is similar. The primary difference between a sport horse evaluation and the Inspection process is that the horses do not get scores. It is simply a "keep or sell" decision. When we were there, the inspection was held in the sand arena in front of the barn which houses broodmares with foals. The inspectors stood at a table in the middle of the long side nearest the barn. The stallions and mares without foals were brought in opposite the table, then walked diagonally to the left and then up to the table. They were halted in front of the table for a short time and then trotted straight to the short side of the arena and then diagonally back to where they came in. The mares with foals were walked out of the barn and up to the table and then the procedure was the same.

After the Musterung the foals are weaned. They spend the winter at the main Piber facility or one of the outlying farms. The following spring, they will go to the summer pastures in the mountains. Actually, they are walked the 15 miles (25 KM) from Piber to Gaberl Mountain at an altitude of about 5300 feet (1600 M). They spend the summer playing and grazing in the mountains. In September, they return to the stud. They are evaluated again soon after they come down from the mountains. This cycle is repeated until the fall after they have turned three years old.

That inspection after they are three is a crucial one. The mares that are "good enough" are kept for breeding. They receive a year or two of basic training under saddle and driving hitched to a carriage. Those that passed the inspection and did well in their training will be bred. Those that were not "good enough", are brown, or did not do well in training are sold.

From the three year old stallions that were "good enough", a small number usually four to six, will be sent to the Spanish Riding School for training. When they arrive at the School, the horses spend a few months getting used to the environment before they begin training.

In the past, the three year old stallions that were not selected to go to Vienna were sold. This year, a new procedure is being tried. Four additional young stallions were held at Piber as a reserve. Those stallions will be started under saddle by stud personnel under the direction of Chief Riders travelling from Vienna. (It is a little over a two hour drive, if you travel near the speed limit. But, most of the trip is on the A2 Autobahn and practically no one drives that slowly on the Autobahn!) After their initial training, all 8 young stallions will be reevaluated and those selected will complete their training at the School.

The four stallions selected in the fall of 2007 were presented to the Austrian press for the first time in January 2008. These four will be started at the School:

Pluto Malina – sire: Pluto Servola (1986) – dam: 62 Malina (who has another son at the School)

Favory Duba – sire: Favory Graina (1994)

Maestoso Bellamira – sire: Maestoso Stornella (1977)

Neapolitano Madera - sire: Neapolitano Nima I (1979)

All four of those young stallions are sired by current or former stars at the School. For example, Maestoso Stornella was a long rein solo horse. My wife and I saw Favory Graina in All Steps and Movements in 2007, Neapolitano Nima I doing levade under saddle and Pluto Servola doing levade in-hand in 1997 performances. Nima and Servola also did airs above the ground on the USA tour in 2005. Of course, all these stallions probably appeared in other portions of the program in other years but that is what they were doing when we saw them.

The Austrian press posted at least two video clips of the young stallions selected in 2007:

1. http://video.vienna.at/members.stadtreporter/20080108_spanische.mov/viewer.html - This one has a brief interview with Chief Rider Hausberger in which he explains to the interviewer that the young horses will be handled and lunged for a few months before they begin to work with them under saddle.

2. http://www.kleinezeitung.at/allgemein/video/oesterreich/702442/index.do - This one shows the young stallions as they first come into the Winter Riding Hall and shows their gorgeous movement quite clearly. This one has "sound bites" saying that the horses are allowed to run free for about 30 to 40 minutes in the baroque Winter Riding Hall daily for a few weeks. Oberstallmeister (Senior Stable Master or Senior Equerry) Hannes Hamminger says "Then they will be longed, in order to get used to bridle and saddle, and "gymnasticize" them to carry the rider's weight". It also quotes Managing Director Elisabeth Gürtler saying "Tradition is important, but it alone is not a recipe for success. Rather, it is true that we must preserve the good old ways and bind them with the new ones. Why should not the music accompanying the performances be played by a small live orchestra, rather than allowing the loudspeaker to accompany them?"

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