Classical horsemanship and the High School of the Spanish Riding School Vienna

Name: Classical horsemanship and the High School of the Spanish Riding School Vienna
Uploaded: 2026-05-25T20:40:00.225Z
Duration: 3 min 1 s
Channel: Horse Riding

Horse Riding

8 Video Views·May 25, 2026

Description: Classical horsemanship at the Spanish Riding School Vienna is the traditional art and practice of breeding, keeping, training and riding Lipizzaner horses. The School’s social practices, ceremonies and rituals are based on the long-lasting relationships between breeders, grooms, craftspeople, riders and horses. Knowledge of horse husbandry and use of equipment is transmitted to cadets by grooms and experienced riders. The tradition gives communities within the School a sense of identity and ensures the safeguarding of techniques on horse husbandry.

For the breathtaking horses at the Spanish Riding School, an average workday starts much the same way as most of ours should, with the morning exercise. Only the finest Lipizzanistallions are selected to showcase their skills here. For more than 450 years, the Spanish Riding School has both practiced and cultivated the art of the jotecol, or high school movements of classical dressage. It's a truly living tradition. If you want to see for yourself what these amazing Lipizzana horses can do, you can visit both regular and special performances. You can also watch their morning exercises and even take a look behind the scenes on a guided tour. Tickets are in great demand, so be sure to book early. You can reach the Spanish Riding School by either taking the subway U1 to Steffensplatz or the U3 to Heringasse. The Lipizzan are an extremely special breed of horses. Most people know the stallions for being white, but actually they're all born dark and it takes about 10 years or so for them to become white. And in every one out of 100 horses, one of them will remain brown. These horses are considered good luck because the story here at the Spanish Riding School goes that as long as there's at least one brown stallion in the Spanish Riding School, then the school will carry on. How many indoor horse riding arenas can you soak up this kind of atmosphere in? Really, the Spanish Riding School is absolutely unique. It's sort of this mix between old-school Viennese charm where you can also see these stunning, highly trained horses. And you have to remember, it's directly in the middle of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. It's actually a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We're now in the Spanish Riding School stables and we've come to check out exactly how and where these horses are fed, groomed and cared for, but I'm willing to guess that it's only the best for these exquisite stallions. The horses are looked after in the stables by their grooms, a group of 18 men and women caring for them. The grooms each have their own grooming kit and keep it carefully under lock and key when they're not there. The Spanish Riding School is an active testament to long-standing traditions and that even includes the gender of the riders. It wasn't until 2016 that they introduced their first female rider. Better late than never, if you ask me.