I uploaded pictures to the Bratislava and Vienna entries, so you can go back and look at those if you want. I think I'll have to wait until I get back to Edinburgh to put pictures on facebook. Oh well.
Another dreary day in Austria. This is really the only city that I've had bad weather the whole time. Oh well.
The morning workout at the Vienna Riding School this morning was AWESOME. It was soooo great. I got there early so I could get a good seat, and I was right in the middle of the arena on the bottom level so I could see everything. Basically it was exactly what it sounds like, the morning workout. They had 5 stallions and riders out at a time, each group for half an hour. They each did their own thing, so it was like watching 5 dressage rides going on at once. Those horses and riders are incredible, it was so cool. We got to see the famous lipizzan "airs" too (google image "lipizzan capriole"). We weren't allowed to take pictures during the workout but I got a few before and after. The arena was spectacular. It's known as the finest riding arena in the world. It was so cool to be able to see that. There was classical music playing in the background too, which was nice.
Spanish Riding School of Vienna:
So that was really, really awesome. After that I met up with Emily again (she went to a museum while I was at the riding school) and we got lunch. Then we went to an internet cafe for a bit to upload some pictures, then I went back to the riding school for a tour!
The tour was, again, AWESOME. Definitely one of the highlights of this spring break. I really, really enjoyed it. We started off in the stables, which are in an incredibly beautiful building, lavishly decorated and just overall incredible. There are 72 stallions in those stables. The stallions come from the school's stud farm, which currently has about 280 horses. I forget where that is, I think the guide said it's a few hours outside of the city. I would have paid money just to stand in the stable (I haven't ridden in a few weeks... it's getting to me), but the information was great too. The horses are so beautiful. There are grooms at the stables 24 hours a day, and manure is removed from each stall once an hour (to keep the horses white), so with 72 stalls the grooms are constantly moving from stall to stall.
Next we moved into the tack room. I know you all don't get as excited as I do about tack rooms, but man what a sight. Decorated, organized, beautiful.
Next we went back to the riding arena, which I saw during the morning exercises. There we learned all about the riders. You can become a rider when you finish school, so at around 16 or 17 years old. You have to be a certain height, with a certain leg to upper body ratio in order to fit the size of the horses (which is very specific) and in order to be able to do certain movements. It takes something like 20 years before you're a full-fledged rider, but they get a really great salary once they become one. One thing that I thought was incredible was that each stallion is only ever ridden by one person. Each rider trains a certain horse, and they form an incredible bond. Each rider has several horses though. Awesome. They said that the drop-out rate is, understandably, pretty high, but one reason is because guys join at 16 when they're the right height, but then they grow and have to drop out! How sad!
Then we saw the outdoor ring and the hot walker, and that was the end. I wish I was allowed to take pictures, it was so cool!
After the tour I went in to the gift shop. I had enjoyed the stables and the riding so much that I really wanted a souvenir specifically from the riding school, but everything was so expensive. I had been in the gift shop 4 times over the last 2 days and every time I wanted to buy a mug, but they're really overpriced. So I was debating for the final time over this mug, and was about to do the practical thing and not buy it, but then Emily came in to meet me. I said I wanted a souvenir but didn't know what to get and the first thing she said was "How about this mug?". So that settled it. I'm glad I bought that overpriced mug- now whenever I use it I can remember how awesome that place is! My next tour of Europe (when I'm wealthy, of course) will include a lipizzan performance (and good weather).
The tour was, again, AWESOME. Definitely one of the highlights of this spring break. I really, really enjoyed it. We started off in the stables, which are in an incredibly beautiful building, lavishly decorated and just overall incredible. There are 72 stallions in those stables. The stallions come from the school's stud farm, which currently has about 280 horses. I forget where that is, I think the guide said it's a few hours outside of the city. I would have paid money just to stand in the stable (I haven't ridden in a few weeks... it's getting to me), but the information was great too. The horses are so beautiful. There are grooms at the stables 24 hours a day, and manure is removed from each stall once an hour (to keep the horses white), so with 72 stalls the grooms are constantly moving from stall to stall.
Next we moved into the tack room. I know you all don't get as excited as I do about tack rooms, but man what a sight. Decorated, organized, beautiful.
Next we went back to the riding arena, which I saw during the morning exercises. There we learned all about the riders. You can become a rider when you finish school, so at around 16 or 17 years old. You have to be a certain height, with a certain leg to upper body ratio in order to fit the size of the horses (which is very specific) and in order to be able to do certain movements. It takes something like 20 years before you're a full-fledged rider, but they get a really great salary once they become one. One thing that I thought was incredible was that each stallion is only ever ridden by one person. Each rider trains a certain horse, and they form an incredible bond. Each rider has several horses though. Awesome. They said that the drop-out rate is, understandably, pretty high, but one reason is because guys join at 16 when they're the right height, but then they grow and have to drop out! How sad!
Then we saw the outdoor ring and the hot walker, and that was the end. I wish I was allowed to take pictures, it was so cool!
After the tour I went in to the gift shop. I had enjoyed the stables and the riding so much that I really wanted a souvenir specifically from the riding school, but everything was so expensive. I had been in the gift shop 4 times over the last 2 days and every time I wanted to buy a mug, but they're really overpriced. So I was debating for the final time over this mug, and was about to do the practical thing and not buy it, but then Emily came in to meet me. I said I wanted a souvenir but didn't know what to get and the first thing she said was "How about this mug?". So that settled it. I'm glad I bought that overpriced mug- now whenever I use it I can remember how awesome that place is! My next tour of Europe (when I'm wealthy, of course) will include a lipizzan performance (and good weather).
The train ride to Munich was an hour late so that was a pain, but everything else worked out fine. Last day of spring break!
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