Lipizzaner

Lipizzaner Horses, world famous crossbreed of horses, usually white, on rare occasions brown or black; the foals are black or brown. They are usually about 15 hands high (155-158 cm) and weigh 450-520 kg. Short, thick neck, long back, powerful hindquarters, relatively short, slender legs, wideset eyes, head usually has a Roman nose. Late maturing, long-lived animals, do not attain their true colour until they are about 10 years old. The name originates from the Austrian imperial stud established in 1580 by Archduke Karl II at Lipizza in what is now Slovenia. The breed can be traced back to around 800 A.D. Originally, the Lipizzaner horses were bred to supply the Habsburgs with horses befitting their imperial station, as the breed's build and colour corresponded to the Baroque ideal of a magnificent horse. The breed was originally a cross between the small but hardy Barb and the high-stepping Andalusian horse. In 1826 an Arabian thoroughbred stallion was used for breeding. During the First World War, the Lipizzaner were moved first to Laxenburg (Lower Austria) and in 1920 to the state stud at Piber (Styria), where they have since been bred for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Lipizzaner are ideal horses for learning to ride and for leisure purposes, but are also suitable as light wagon horses. There are six separate strains, each breed being traceable to one particular stallion at the end of the 18^th and beginning of the 19^th centuries. Since 1997 there has been a Lippizaner museum in the imperial stables (Stallburg) of the Imperial Winter Palace in Vienna.