Spanish Riding School, Finances

The Spanish Riding School of Vienna

Privatization of the School and Consequent Changes
by John D'Addamio

In a previous article, I explained that the privatization of the Spanish Riding School in 2001 was a consequence of Austria joining the European Union. This simply means that the Austrian government formed a company which runs the Spanish Riding School and the Federal Stud Piber (the Lipizzan stud farm at Piber). The goal is to get the company to be self supporting so that the government does not have to financially support the School or Piber. From a press release on January 30 2008, it is clear that the government knew that "the first years would generate a loss" and made it clear to the public that "both the Spanish Riding School and the Federal Stud Piber are cultural establishments which certainly have the potential for improvements, however, generating profits is not a priority…" Getting the School on a good financial footing may be a painful process but, in the long run, it will insure the stability of the School. Privatization and EU laws have made a lot of changes at the School. First, let's look at the changes in management structure. Until 2001, the Spanish Riding School and Federal Stud Piber were part of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture. At some times, the School and Stud had separate management which reported to the Minister of Agriculture. At other times, the School's Director reported to the Minister of Agriculture and also managed Piber.

Since privatization, the company that combines the Spanish Riding School and Federal Stud Piber has had a Managing Director. The company still reports to the Ministry of Agriculture as the School did before 2001. The first two Managing Directors did not do enough to get the School on a sound financial footing, so each has been replaced in turn.

In December 2007, the management structure became a little more complicated. Elisabeth Gürtler was named Managing Director. Mrs. Gürtler has a lot of knowledge about tourism and business; both of which are sorely needed at the School. But, she currently manages the Hotel Sacher in Vienna and the Sacher in Salzburg. So, Erwin Klissenbauer was appointed Business Manager to assist Mrs. Gürtler. He will be making the financial plans and dealing with daily administration.

Dr. Max Dobretsberger, who has been managing Federal Stud Piber since 2006, remains in that post. The manager of the Federal Stud Piber reports to the Managing Director.

Since 2006, former Rider Ernst Bachinger has held the title of Head of the Spanish Riding School. He makes the decisions about the training of horses and riders, promotions, and which horses and riders perform for the public. The Head of the Spanish Riding School used to be assisted by the First Chief Rider. In times when the Head of the School was not a rider, the First Chief Rider made most of those decisions. In 2007, this role was formalized as Deputy Head of the Spanish Riding School. This title is currently held by Chief Rider Riegler. Although his name is still listed on the School's website, the School has not had a First Chief Rider since the retirement of First Chief Rider Krzisch in August 2007.

There have been some changes in requirements to apply to become a trainee at the School. For over 400 years, the Spanish Riding School has had an all male staff of Riders. Since World War II, the requirements included Austrian citizenship. Both of those requirements have been changed so that all citizens of any EU country can apply if they meet the minimum age. The minimum age is set to be the age when Austrians finish their required secondary education. That age is 15 or 16 depending on the month in which the applicant was born. The applicants are interviewed and auditioned on a horse. Typically, only one applicant a year becomes a trainee because only one is needed. No, they have not had a female trainee yet but they have had female applicants.

The various Managing Directors that the School has had in the past six years have made many positive changes to improve the experience of visiting the School and Piber. Here are those that I can remember:

1. Visitors' Center – the area that was the School's office suite was remodeled into a Visitors' Center which contains a ticket counter, a souvenir shop, and a coffee shop. The coffee shop has a patio where you can sit and watch horses being exercised in the Summer Riding School, an outdoor arena with trees on the quarter lines; yes, I do mean inside the arena! The whole Visitors' Center is quite modern and very appealing. There is some nice artwork on the walls featuring the horses. There is also a video screen showing portions of one of the performances from the USA tour in 2005. The entrance to Morning Training sessions is now through the Visitors' Center. Previously, the queue for Morning Training tickets and entrance was outdoors in Josefsplatz (a square containing a statue of Emperor Joseph II). This new arrangement is much better, especially in bad weather. Of course, the souvenir shop and the coffee shop are intended to be additional sources of income as well as making a nice environment for visitors.

2. Morning Training Sessions – Morning Training has always been open to the public. But, they have added one extra day a week with public Morning Training sessions. Morning Training is currently Tuesdays – Saturdays between 10 AM and Noon. It is advisable to get there long before 10 AM. By 9:30 AM, the line is practically out to the street.

3. Stable Tours – The stables of the Spanish Riding School are in the Stallburg which is across a narrow street from the School's Winter Riding Hall. For many years, the stables had been off limits to visitors. They have recently opened the stables to guided tours of about 20 people at a time.

4. Privatissimum – A public demonstration of their training methods for horses and riders. A full article on this demonstration is planned later in the series.

5. Piber – For many years, Piber has had guided tours but they usually attracted only a few people, often horse people or a school field trip. More recently, they have added stud parades for the public on Saturday afternoons. Piber has also opened its grounds for competitions. In the spring of 2006, Piber also opened Lipizzaner World which is oriented a lot more toward the general public. There are numerous demonstrations (horseshoeing, riding, driving, etc.) and informational talks, films for children, and an educational walk. There's even a coach ride around the stud, a carriage driving simulator, and some opportunity for "hands on" experiences with the horses! It is expected that the exhibits will draw "an increasing number of families, horse lovers and visitors from all over the world." If you want more information about Lipizzaner World, go the Spanish Riding School website (http://www.spanische-reitschule.com/), click the word English in the upper right hand corner. The web page offers you three choices: Spanish Riding School, Federal Stud Piber, and Lipizzaner World Piber. Click the Federal Stud Piber tab. On the Piber page, expand the Programme tab and click the Lipizzanerwelt - Programme item. This will display information in English and you can also download a PDF file with timetables and maps etc. Do not click the Lipizzaner World Piber link unless you speak German! It is only available in German. The only thing of value to those who don't speak German is that you can download photos of Lipizzaner horses at the stud farm to use as wallpaper on your computer. This link to the wallpaper download page http://www.lipizzanerwelt.at/wallpaper.php will bring up a page with six photos. The photos are available in formats to suit three different screen resolutions.

In order to become financially sound, the School has to become more appealing to the proverbial "man in the street." According to the Austrian Court of Auditors which is quoted as seeing a "significant improvement", they are on the right path. As we have seen, there have been many positive changes at the School and Piber since privatization. We can expect more changes until the School is financially sound. The changes will not affect the School's tradition of classical horsemanship. That would be unthinkable to the people of Austria.

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