(pardon the most annoying announcer) but very interesting history explaining the purpose of these silly moves with the Lipizzaner stallions. they are especially interesting when you consider yourself for a moment, as a soldier, in the old times when a sword, a horse, and your skill were all you had to go to the battle. sort of like my heroes, the Samarias. no night vision goggles, smart bombs, F-18’s, or helicopter cover.

“The Lipizzaner breed is a very compact and muscular breed, with very powerful hindquarters. These magnificent white horses were named after a tiny Slovenian village and stud farm called Lipica only a stone’s throw from the Adriatic coast. Most Lipizzans measure between 15 and 16 hands high. They exhibit a long head, the jaw is rather pronounced, the ears small, the eyes large and the nostrils are flared. Most always, they are gray. Like all gray horses, they have black skin, dark eyes and as an adult, a white hair coat. They are generally associated with the Spanish Riding School, home of the World Famous “Lipizzaner Stallions”. Today, though found in many nations throughout Europe and North America, the breed is relatively rare, with only about 3,000 horses registered worldwide. The number of foals born each year is small, and breeders take extreme care to preserve the purity of the breed. Lipizzan horses tend to mature slowly. However, they live and are active longer than many other breeds, with horses performing the difficult exercises of the Spanish Riding School well into their 20’s and living into their 30’s.” by dd