Lipizzaners!!!!!

When I was a little girl, and first in love with horses, I could tell you all about the "famous white stallions"... how they were rescued during World War II by General George Patton and his Calvary, I must have watched the Disney movie of that a "million" times..... I have never been to the Spanish Riding school to see them in real life.... but I have had the good fortune of seeing their "american cousins" twice, once when the girls were quite small and again this past Sunday evening.

They are, for sure, a beautiful breed of horse, and have a long and interesting history. If any of my "readers" are interested, you can find out all about them at www.lipizzaner.com. and if you ever have the chance to see their show, it is worth going to. The riding and music are amazing, and the horses are just wonderful to gaze upon.

They do perform some of the "Airs Above the Ground" which is a series of maneuvers developed when the horses were used in battle. According to what we were taught, only the stallions can perform these moves, because their center of gravity permits it.... mares can not do them, because their center is different due to the fact that they have the foals.... I never knew that..... and another interesting fact... is there are only six bloodlines on the sire's side (father) that all Lipizzaners stem from, even to this very day.

Some of the horses that we saw on Sunday, were from Europe and carry a different series of branding, so that it's plain to see (when you know where and how to look for it) which horses are from where. But, aside from all that..... just to watch the show, and see the work and training that have gone into it, to see these animals do moves that you wonder how they ever could... it's just the coolest thing.

Alot of the work is dressage... which is the same schooling that I am working Tonka in.... not that I ever expect him to fly threw the air (in fact, I would rather he never did !!!) but certainly some of the steps are the same, and it was fun to watch them being done in a perfect manner. Ed kept asking thru the performance... "can Tonka do that???"... and mostly I answered... "sort of !!!!" I think I got some pretty good pictures, and hope that you all enjoy them.

By the way... I understand I have two more "readers of the blog!!" Hello to Alex and Cindi!!!!!!!