Kip Mistral
Cultivating legacy and posterity for classical horsemanship and traditions

Order in the Time of Chaos – Thoughts On the Beauty of Balance

Order in the Time of Chaos – Thoughts On the Beauty of Balance

(© Kip Mistral 2020. Painting by Alexander Pock 1940, Spanish Riding School Levade.)

When as a child I first read Marguerite Henry’s wonderful book about the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, titled “The White Stallion of Lipizza,” equally wonderfully illustrated by her creative partner Wesley Dennis, I was fascinated with the idea of a supremely orderly program of learning and teaching a venerable and highly cultivated horsemanship.

This was no haphazard affair like the way my friends and I learned to ride…we were told to get on, kick to go, pull back on the reins to stop and neck rein. Then off we tore with our kind-hearted and forbearing mounts, all asses and elbows for too long as we learned the hard way.

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Book Review: “Fragments from the Writings of Max Ritter von Weyrother, Austrian Imperial and Royal Oberbereiter” Vienna 1836

Book Review: “Fragments from the Writings of Max Ritter von Weyrother, Austrian Imperial and Royal Oberbereiter” Vienna 1836

(© Kip Mistral 2019. “Fragments from the Writings of Max Ritter von Weyrother, Austrian Imperial and Royal Oberbereiter,” published by Xenophon Press, 2017. Images and quotations from within are used with permission of the publisher. Image detail from Courbette by Ludwig Koch 1866-1934)

Maximillian Ritter von Weyrother (1783–1833) was Chief Rider of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna from 1813, and Director from 1814 to 1833. And why should we care to read a book of his writing fragments, you might ask. Is he just one more riding master in the cavalcade of horses and riders through time who codified his personal embrace of equestrian art? The answer would be no.

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“Dressage for No Country”: Paul Belasik on ‘The Spanish Riding School’

“Dressage for No Country”: Paul Belasik on ‘The Spanish Riding School’

(This excerpt from “Dressage for No Country” by Paul Belasik–available April 15, 2019–has been made available by its publisher, Trafalgar Square Books. The excerpt describes Belasik’s visit to the Spanish Riding School in the 1990’s.)

I would not be late, so I planned to arrive in Vienna early the day before I was to meet with Kottas. The plane connections all went smoothly. Kottas had arranged for a room, as he said, in a pension near the Spanish Riding School, nestled in the heart of the historic city, and after I settled in, I went out to wander. Vienna was beautiful in the fall, already cold enough to warrant a coat. The city looked palatial. I walked over to the school so I would know where to go the next day. It was headed toward evening, and the city glowed in a warm yellow light; the majestic buildings, the shops with perfect pastries, the whole place felt like classical music. It was imposing but somehow not martial. That night I had a hard time sleeping. I thought I was coming down with something: I had cold sweats and chills like a fever. I called my wife, and she calmed me down. By morning I was fine—it was all nerves.

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Book Review – Austrian Art of Riding: Five Centuries By Dr. Werner Poscharnigg

Book Review – Austrian Art of Riding: Five Centuries By Dr. Werner Poscharnigg

(© 2015 Xenophon Press with permission of the publisher. Review © 2018 Kip Mistral. Feature image by Ignace Duvivier, 1780, (de) Mohrenstechen in der spanischen Hofreitschule – https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/15502/GG_2699.html. Kunsthistorisches Museum – http://www.khm.at/de/objektdb/detail/630/. CC BY-NC-SA – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ )

Not one, but an amazing three forewords penned by luminaries of modern classical riding greet the reader who picks up Austrian Art of Riding: Five Centuries”; Karl Mikolka, Charles DeKunffy and Sylvia Loch all give their stamps of approval for the publication of this English translation of Dr. Werner Poscharnigg’s fascinating work.

Fanciers of the Lipizzan horse, the Spanish Riding School, classical riding, fine horsemanship and equestrian history will be thrilled to sit down with this behind-the-scenes look at a cavalcade of famous personalities—both human and horse—who had a critical influence on the development of Austro-Hungarian equitation.

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