page_title: Lipizzan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lipizzan / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Lipizzaner stallion, performance Schönbrunn Palace, ridden by Chief Rider Andreas Hausberger Deutsch: Lipizzanerhengst, Vorführung vor dem Schloß Schönbrunn
context_page_description: The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner, is a horse breed named for the Lipizza Stud of the Habsburg monarchy. The breed is closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the horses demonstrate the haute école or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements known as the "airs above the ground." The horses at the Spanish Riding School are trained using traditional methods that date back hundreds of years, based on the principles of classical dressage.
  The Lipizzan breed dates back to the 16th century. Its name derives from one of the earliest stud farms established, which was located near Lipica, a village in present-day Slovenia. The breed has been endangered numerous times by warfare sweeping Europe, including during the War of the First Coalition, World War I, and World War II. The rescue of the Lipizzans during World War II by American troops was made famous by the Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions. The breed has also starred or played supporting roles in many movies, TV shows, books, and other media.
context_section_description: The ancestors of the Lipizzan can be traced to around 800 AD. The earliest predecessors of the Lipizzan originated in the seventh century when Barb horses were brought into Spain by the Moors and crossed on native Spanish stock. The result was the Andalusian horse and other Iberian horse breeds.
  By the 16th century, when the Habsburgs ruled both Spain and Austria, a powerful but agile horse was desired both for military uses and for use in the fashionable and rapidly growing riding schools for the nobility of central Europe. Therefore, in 1562, the Habsburg Emperor Maximillian II brought the Spanish Andalusian horse to Austria and founded the court stud at Kladrub. In 1580, his brother, Archduke Charles II, ruler of Inner Austria, established a similar stud at Lipizza (now Lipica), located in modern-day Slovenia, from which the breed obtained its name. When the stud farm was established, Lipizza was located within the municipal limits of Trieste, an autonomous city under Habsburg sovereignty. The name of the village itself derives from the Slovene word lipa, meaning "linden tree."
  Spanish, Barb, and Arabian stock were crossed at Lipizza, and succeeding generations were crossed with the now-extinct Neapolitan breed from Italy and other Baroque horses of Spanish descent obtained from Germany and Denmark.  While breeding stock was exchanged between the two studs, Kladrub specialized in producing heavy carriage horses, while riding and light carriage horses came from the Lipizza stud.
  Beginning in 1920, the Piber Federal Stud, near Graz, Austria, became the main stud for the horses used in Vienna. Breeding became very selective, only allowing stallions that had proved themselves at the Riding School to stand at stud, and only breeding mares that had passed rigorous performance testing.
caption: Lipizzan stallion, Schönbrunn Palace
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