Spanish Riding School Vienna The Performance

Order tickets
November 2021 Next
Mo
Tu
We
Th
Fr
Sa
Su

 

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practiced for over 430 years and continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the haute école.

The objective of classical equitation is to study the way the horse naturally moves and to cultivate the highest levels of haute école elegance the horse is capable of through systematic training. The result creates an unparalleled harmony between rider and horse, as only Vienna's Spanish Riding School achieves.

Opening Hours

Visitor Centre at Michaelerplatz:

Monday to Sunday 09:00 to 16:00 hrs
Fridays when ther is a performance 09:00 to 19:00 hrs

 

PERFORMANCES & Guided Tours

 

Experience the High School of Horsemanship

 

The Ballet of the White Stallions

The performances of the famous snowy white Lipizzaner stallions and their riders in the baroque Winter Riding School built by Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach in the years 1729 to 1735 are some of the most moving and beautiful impressions for horse lovers and bear living testimony to European culture.

During these performances the visitor witnesses the spectacular perfection of the “High School of Classical Horsemanship” with the Pas de Deux, Work in Hand and on the Long Rein and the School Quadrille which is shown with eight stallions. The Levade, Courbette and Capriole are the highlights of the “Schools above the Ground”.

Performances at the Spanish Riding School were originally only presented to guests of the Court, and then when they were finally opened to the general population at the turn of the century, it was only for special occasions. However, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the school opened up regular performances to the general public to help pay for its upkeep.

The original performances were quite short, with the chief riders presenting stallions in the High School movements, airs above the ground, work in-hand and exercises on the long rein, and then a Pas de Deux (two horses in mirror image) and a four-rider Quadrille would finish the performance.

The program today has expanded. It begins with the "Young Stallions" which have recently arrived from the stud farm at Piber. They demonstrate the first phase of training, in which the horse moves forward and accepts the aids. The next section is the "All Steps and Movements of the High School" where four fully trained stallions perform each of the movements seen in the Olympic Grand Prix Dressage test, including the flying change, passage, pirouette, and piaffe. The horses are ridden in double bridle, to demonstrate their high level of training. The "Pas De Deux" is then shown, with two horses demonstrating High School movements in mirror image.

The next section is the "Work in Hand", to show how the horses are trained for the school jumps levade, courbette, and capriole, all in-hand. This demonstration includes work on the diagonal, on the wall and between the pillars. All stallions wear a snaffle bridle, cavesson, side reins, some on short hand rein, some with a short back longe. All carry the traditional white saddle of the school. Then one stallion is then worked "On the Long Rein", in which a fully trained Lipizzan performs all the movements it would be asked to do under saddle. In this section, the horse wears a red snaffle bridle and a red shabrack (saddlecloth) with the golden coat of arms of the Austrian Empire.

The performance finishes with the "School Quadrille", consisting of 8 riders working in formation at the walk, trot, and canter, with flying changes, pirouettes, the half pass and the passage. The ride is performed to classical music. Lasting 20 minutes, the School Quadrille of the Spanish Riding School is the longest and most difficult in the world.

 

 

Program and cast

Photo gallery

Spanish Riding School Vienna

Visitor Centre

Michaelerplatz 1, A-1010 Wien
Tel: +43 1 533 90 31

Hofburg Vienna - Main Entrance Michaelerkuppel
Michaelerplatz 1, A-1010 Vienna
Tel: +43 1 533 90 31

How to get there by public transport:

Tramway:

1, 2, D, get off at Karlsplatz/Oper or Burgtor
62, 65, get off at Karlsplatz/Oper

Underground:

U1, U2, U4, get off at Karlsplatz/Oper or Stephansplatz; U3, get off at Herrengasse

Bus:

2A, get off at Michaelerplatz; 3A, get off at Habsburgergasse

Școala Spaniolă de Echitație din Viena
CC BY-SA 3.0
©
Related events