Веналық Липицзан аты: Испандық мінезді мектептің жылқысы

Horse breed noted for use in the Spanish Riding School in Vienna

The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner (, , Lipizzaner, Lipicai, , , ) is a European breed of riding horse developed in the Habsburg Empire in the sixteenth century. It is of Baroque type, and is powerful, slow to mature and long lived; the coat is usually gray. The name of the breed derives from that of the village of Lipica , which was part of the Habsburg empire at the time the breed was developed, now in Slovenia, one of the earliest stud farms established; the stud farm there is still active. The breed has been endangered numerous times by warfare sweeping Europe, including during the War of the First Coalition, World War I, and World War II. The rescue of the Lipizzans during World War II by American troops was made famous by the Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions. The Lipizzaner is closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the horses demonstrate the haute école or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements known as the "airs above the ground". These horses are mostly bred at the Piber Federal Stud, near Graz, Austria, and are trained using traditional methods of classical dressage that date back hundreds of years. Eight stallions are recognized as the classic foundation bloodstock of the breed, all foaled in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. All modern Lipizzans trace their bloodlines to these eight stallions, and all breeding stallions have included in their name the name of the foundation sire of their bloodline. Also classic mare lines are known, with up to 35 recognized by various breed registries. The majority of horses are registered through the member organizations of the Lipizzan International Federation, which covers almost 11,000 horses in 19 countries and at 9 state studs in Europe. Most Lipizzans reside in Europe, with smaller numbers in the Americas, South Africa, and Australia. Lipizzan horse breeding traditions are recognized by UNESCO and inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Most adult Lipizzans measure between Lipizzans have a long head, with a straight or slightly convex profile. The jaw is deep, the ears small, the eyes large and expressive, and the nostrils flared. They have a neck that is sturdy, yet arched and withers that are low, muscular, and broad. They are a Baroque horse, with a wide, deep chest, broad croup, and muscular shoulder. The tail is carried high and well set. The legs are well muscled and strong, with broad joints and well defined tendons. The feet tend to be small, but are tough. 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 20s and living into their 30s. Until the eighteenth century, Lipizzans had other coat colors, including dun, bay, chestnut, black, piebald, and skewbald. However, it is a long standing tradition for the Spanish Riding School to have at least one bay Lipizzan stallion in residence, and this tradition is continued through the present day.

The ancestors of the Lipizzan can be traced to around 800 AD. The earliest predecessors of the Lipizzan originated in the seventh century when Barb horses were brought into Spain by the Moors and crossed on native Spanish stock. The result was the Andalusian horse and other Iberian horse breeds. By the sixteenth century, when the Habsburgs ruled both Spain and Austria, a powerful but agile horse was desired both for military uses and for use in the fashionable and rapidly growing riding schools for the nobility of central Europe. Therefore, in 1562, the Habsburg Emperor Maximillian II brought the Spanish Andalusian horse to Austria and founded the court stud at Kladrub. In 1580, his brother, Archduke Charles II, ruler of Inner Austria, established a similar stud at Lipizza (now Lipica), located in modern day Slovenia, from which the breed obtained its name. Spanish, Barb, and Arabian stock were crossed at Lipizza, and succeeding generations were crossed with the now extinct Neapolitan breed from Italy and other Baroque horses of Spanish descent obtained from Germany and Denmark. While breeding stock was exchanged between the two studs, Kladrub specialized in producing heavy carriage horses, while riding and light carriage horses came from the Lipizza stud.

Today, eight foundation lines for Lipizzans are recognized by various registries, which refer to them as "dynasties". They are divided into two groups. Six trace to classical foundation stallions used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Lipizza stud, and two additional lines were not used at Lipizza, but were used by other studs within the historic boundaries of the Habsburg Empire. Two additional stallion lines are found in Croatia, Hungary, and other eastern European countries, as well as in North America. Incitato: A stallion of Spanish lines foaled 1802, bred in Transylvania by Count Bethlen, and sold to the Hungarian stud farm Mezőhegyes In addition to the foundation stallion lines, there were 20 "classic" mare lines, 14 of which exist today. However, up to 35 mare lines are recognized by various Lipizzan organizations.

The world famous Spanish Riding School uses highly trained Lipizzan stallions in public performances that demonstrate classical dressage movements and training. In 1572, the first Spanish riding hall was built, during the Austrian Empire, and is the oldest of its kind in the world. The Spanish Riding School, though located in Vienna, Austria, takes its name from the original Spanish heritage of its horses. In 1729, Charles VI commissioned the building of the Winter Riding School in Vienna and in 1735, the building was completed that remains the home of the Spanish Riding School today.

The Lipizzans endured several wartime relocations throughout their history, each of which saved the breed from extinction. The first was in March 1797 during the War of the First Coalition, when the horses were evacuated from Lipica. During the journey, 16 mares gave birth to foals. In November 1797, the horses returned to Lipica, but the stables were in ruins. They were rebuilt, but in 1805, the horses were evacuated again when Napoleon invaded Austria. They were being taken care of in Đakovo Stud. They remained away from the stud for two years, returning April 1, 1807, but then, following the Treaty of Schönbrunn in 1809, the horses were evacuated three more times during the unsettled period that followed, resulting in the loss of many horses and the destruction of the written studbooks that documented bloodlines of horses prior to 1700. The horses finally returned to Lipica for good in 1815, where they remained for the rest of the nineteenth century. The first evacuation of the twentieth century occurred in 1915 when the horses were evacuated from Lipica due to World War I and placed at Laxenburg and Kladrub. Following the war, the Austro Hungarian Empire was broken up, with Lipica becoming part of Italy. Thus, the animals were divided between several different studs in the new postwar nations of Austria, Italy, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The nation of Austria kept the stallions of the Spanish Riding School and some breeding stock. During World War II, the high command of Nazi Germany transferred most of Europe's Lipizzan breeding stock to Hostau, Czechoslovakia. The rescue of the Lipizzans by the United States Army, made famous by the Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions, occurred in two parts: The Third United States Army, under the command of General George S. Patton, was near St. Martins in the spring of 1945 and learned that the Lipizzan stallions were in the area. Patton himself was a horseman, and like Podhajsky, had competed in the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the Third Army's United States Second Cavalry, a tank unit under the command of Colonel Charles Reed, had discovered the horses at Hostau, where 400 Allied prisoners of war were also being kept, and had occupied it on April 28, 1945. "Operation Cowboy", as the rescue was known, resulted in the recovery of 1,200 horses, including 375 Lipizzans. On May 12, American soldiers began riding, trucking, and herding the horses 35 miles across the border into Kotztinz, Germany. In 2005, the Spanish Riding School celebrated the 60th anniversary of Patton's rescue by touring the United States. During the Croatian War of Independence, from 1991 to 1995, the horses at the Lipik stable in Croatia were taken by the Serbs to Novi Sad, Serbia. The horses remained there until 2007, when calls began to be made for them to be returned to their country of origin. In October 2007, 60 horses were returned to Croatia.

The Lipizzan breed suffered a setback to its population when a viral epidemic hit the Piber Stud in 1983. Forty horses and 8% of the expected foal crop were lost. Since then, the population at the stud increased. By 1994, 100 mares were at the stud farm and a foal crop of 56 was born in 1993. In 1994, the rate of successful pregnancy and birth of foals increased from 27 to 82%; the result of a new veterinary center. In 1996, a study funded by the European Union Indo Copernicus Project assessed 586 Lipizzan horses from eight stud farms in Europe, with the goal of developing a "scientifically based description of the Lipizzan horse". The Lipizzan International Federation (LIF) is the international governing organization for the breed, composed of many national and private organizations representing the Lipizzan. The organizations work together under the banner of the LIF to promote the breed and maintain standards. As of 2012, almost 11,000 Lipizzans were registered with the LIF; residing with private breeders in 19 countries and at nine state studs in Europe. The largest number are in Europe, with almost 9,000 registered horses, followed by the Americas, with just over 1,700, then Africa and Australia with around 100 horses each. The nine state studs that are part of the LIF represent almost one quarter of the horses in Europe. Sâmbăta de Jos, in Romania, has the greatest number of horses, with 400, followed by Piber in Austria (360), Lipica in Slovenia (358), Szilvásvárad in Hungary (262), Monterotondo in Italy (230), Đakovo Lipik in Croatia (220), and Topoľčianky in Slovakia (200). The other two studs are smaller, with stud Vučijak in Bosnia near Prnjavor having 130 horses and Karađorđevo in Serbia having just 30. Educational programs have been developed to promote the breed and foster adherence to traditional breeding objectives. Mounted regiments of Carabinieri police in Italy also employ the Lipizzan as one of their mounts. In October 2008, during a visit to Slovenia, a Lipizzan at Lipica, named 085 Favory Canissa XXII, was given to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. She decided to leave the animal in the care of the stud farm.

Lipizzans have starred or played supporting roles in many movies, TV shows, books, and other media. The 1940 film Florian stars two Lipizzan stallions. It was based on a 1934 novel written by Felix Salten. The wife of the film's producer owned the only Lipizzans in the US at the time the movie was made. The rescue during World War II of the Lipizzan stallions is depicted in the 1963 Walt Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions. The movie was the only live action, relatively realistic film set against a World War II backdrop that Disney has ever produced. Television programs featuring the Lipizzans include The White Horses, a 1965 children's television series co produced by RTV Ljubljana (now RTV Slovenija) of Yugoslavia and BR TV of Germany, rebroadcast in the United Kingdom. It followed the adventures of a teenaged girl who visits a farm where Lipizzan horses are raised.