The underground metro was a short walk from our Vienna apartment. We had a 72 hours Vienna pass which gave us access to all bus's, trams, underground with 10% discount on activities for 18 Euro. The trains are very efficient with hardly a wait at all.
A short ride and we were at the National History museum. I wanted to find the Spanish Riding School and photograph all the horse statues so we agreed to meet back in front of the museum.
Within 10 minutes Carole had found me as her art museum across the street was closed for the day. Amazingly around the next corner was the SRS. The building is the same but since I was here last in 1977 they have modernized themselves. at the entrance two large flat screen monitors play their latest DVDs show casing the stallions and their performances. Just inside the main entrance is a lovely store to browse through. SRS logo shirts, hats, saddle pads and polo wraps. DVDs, music Cd's. chalenders, porcelain figures, books, posters, matted photo's, and numerous horse trinkets. John Lassetter says this store is where apartments were previously.
There is a cafe which overlooks the summer riding school. In this area there is a new exercise type walker which is covered and boarders this riding arena. This new exercise track required special permission to be built but is a great addition. It is not round, the straight lines enable the horse to be straight. You can see riders warming up prior to entering the indoor arena.
On the day appointed for our morning exercise tour I had been anxious awaiting the day and could not sleep. When everyone was up at 7 I just could not possibly sit through breakfast thus I headed out to the metro. I thought I could find my way w/o Sascha's help but when I got downstairs I could not find my way. I asked the information guy he said up the stairs and 500 meters or 10 minute straight ahead. OK off I went! There it was, really close to our Apt. Carole and Margrit arrived an hour later. Into the riding hall we went. Second story almost in the middle. In 77' I had not been able to go in here as it was summer and we could only watch the horses walk across the street every morning from their stables.
"The most beautiful riding hall in the world" is just about right. An architectural marvel in its day for having a huge free span ceiling. Chandeliers hang at intervals as Mozart and Strauss softly emanates and relaxes. There she is, 23 yo Hannah Zeitlhofer, the only Eleve who is a female. The first 2 females in SRS history arrived in 2008. One was from England decided to leave after a year for college. This rider is from Austria and is riding a well trained stallion under the watchful eye of the director Ernst Bachinger. Piaffe, Passage and she dismounts. Soon 6 riders enter doffing their tricorn hats to the Emperor Charles VI who founded the hall. Some youngster's who have a little grey and older trained horses are put through their paces. There is some very good riding and some surprisingly not so subtle riding on the part of one or two riders. I am quite frankly shocked. This hallowed institution of classical riding passed down orally through the century's. The pinnacle of dressage. I wonder why someone is not monitoring and correcting the riders during this 2.5 hour morning workout. There are 20 riders for 70+ stallions. 4 eleves in training who spend 2 years on the lunge. They are then assigned a young 4 yo. When they have trained this horse to Grand Prix in 4-6 years is when they will first take part in the SRS performances. Ms Zeitlhofes young horse's name is starting with a B Bonvello?? is the horses name?
The rider line up at the end of the ride by seniority and dismount. Grooms (20 of them) come in with halters and lead the stallions back to the stable. another group of riders enters from the small outdoor when they have been warming up. This time there is a large bay ridden by a chief rider. The Bay is usually a good luck stallion. Our guide explains due to the poor economy they have 2 bays in the stable as everyone needs as much luck as possible now days. He is marvelously ridden for his 17 +hand size. Some horses come in on long lines and do caprioles. A few stallions do some levade. 2 more rounds of horse and rider and then comes in primarily youngsters. One youngster is clearly full of himself. His rider smartly sends him off into canter in great laps around the arena. It is just what he needs. The female rider returns. We are told we are quite lucky to see her ride. Indeed she is a fabulous rider. Impeccable seat. She is riding very smartly doing shallow loops down the long side, something we had not seen. Serpentines and other arena figures while her counterparts are circling in 20 meter circles. They cut her off within inches so she has to slam on the brakes. Ahh our impression is that it is not easy to break into an all male domain. She has to be clearly better than the other riders and she is. In reading articles on the web she says the men have been very nice to her. I would like to return in 6 years for her first performance.
There is a large banner hung on the outside of the riding hall depicting the riders standing in a line before their director who holds a box of sugar behind his back. A clever advertising strategy which I hope provides income for the SRS.
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