Lipica

This past weekend at a Concours de Dressage Internationale (CDI) competition in Lipica, in the southern corner of Slovenia.  What a beautiful spot for such an event.  The stud farm at Lipica was founded in 1580, and is the birth place for the renown Lipizzaner horses, known for their spectacular movements.

Now the farm has over 400 Lipizzaners, most of them kept at the farm, some for a riding school, some for carriage competitions, few for sales.

It's not a bad life for these horses, with over 1000 acres of fields.  The foals are kept in an open barn (not stalled) and expansive fields with their mothers, until weaned. Then they are separated by sex and turn out until they are four years old.  In the pasture, they can practice all the moves they are famous for, and later they will learn how to do them on command.

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Here is the Romanesque arena where the competition takes place.  The final day concludes with the Dressage to Music, a spectacular event to watch.  You can see all the flags of the competitors:  Switzerland took first place, followed by Estonia, and then Russia.  Excellent riding all around.






Here I am at the entrance ~ what an afternoon....I couldn't get my video clips of the competition to load, but here's a taste, for those of you who have never watched such a performance ~