This November 18, the pluricentennial ballet of the Lipizzaners continues its imperturbable course. Coming out of their stable at the Hofburg, the imperial palace of the Habsburgs, right in the center of Vienna, the white-robed stallions slowly cross the covered alley that separates them from the merry-go-round, under the protection of an employee in a cape who seems to have come straight out of the hall. XIXe century. “Are you a journalist?” I read the scandal in the press, but I am not aware of anything ”, evacuates an employee before slipping away.
Not easy to bring out of silence the famous Spanish School of Vienna, which is proud to be, at 450 years old, “The oldest in the world” and “The only one which preserves and cultivates, without transforming it, the classical equestrian art of the high school from the Renaissance to the present day”. Tourists from all over the world are ready to pay up to 225 euros to admire the choreographies at the step of its 72 Lipizzans, under the order of a dozen preparation riders wearing bicorns and handpicked.
Narrowness of the imperial stables
No member of management is willing to receive M The magazine of the world. At the end of October, the Austrian Court of Auditors nevertheless formulated, in a report, several criticisms which shake this institution inherited from the Habsburgs and still under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. “Horse breeding does not meet current animal welfare requirements. They lack space to move freely ”, judge the magistrates, describing the narrowness of the imperial stables and “A ventilation system out of service for years”.
From the stables to the merry-go-round, the horses only cover a few meters each day, apart from their thirty-minute walk on weekdays, in the magnificent, but small, palace garden, the Burggarten. In a statement, the current director, Sonja Klima, defended herself by ensuring that she “Reinforced measures for the welfare of horses”, since his appointment, in 2019. The Lipizzaners also “work” on an eight-week service, between which they can cheer themselves up in their “Summer quarters” from Heldenberg, 50 kilometers from the Austrian capital.
“But, of course, when they’re in Vienna, they can’t really gallop”, recognizes Maximilian Dobrets-berger, who was for a long time the director of the “l’Espagnole” stud farm, as he always affectionately calls the school. “We are in a protected area, with historic buildings, we are not going to remodel everything to make room”, he also asserts, noting that “The Court of Auditors does not say what we could do best”. The magistrates note, however, that the pressure has increased on the horses, while the institution, in chronic deficit, must increase equestrian shows.
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