The Imperial Stables in Vienna (nowadays the "Museumsquartier", across the "Kulturhistorisches & Naturhistorisches Museum"), kept almost 600 horses for the daily use of the imperial court. Here the famous grey and black Kladruber stallions for the official ceremonies were stabled. But also hundreds of Lipizzaners for daily luxury carriages. And brown Kladrubian crossbreds for common transportation, and Noriker for heavy transports.
Also the riding horses of the imperial court were stabled and trained here, including the riding horses for the noble ladies. And who trained those horses for side saddle...? Right, the male riding staff ! (Leader of this riding staff was a Oberbereiter of the SRS)
Please find some unique pictures, which I found in the archives of the Federal Stud of Piber, Austria
Wow. Incredible photos! Of course, this makes sense, but ... I really do not know what to say! ;-)
AntwortenLöschenIn the 70s there where a couple of performances including the "Ladies Carousel". The stallions for the Ladies were trained by the male riders in side saddle.
AntwortenLöschenAnd the ladies trained separately, in "normal" seat. I have a picture of that training too... All ladies with "melone" (bowler hat) ;-)
AntwortenLöschenI am extremely impressed at the depth and breadth of knowlege of the history of riding that is in this group! I'm glad I joined....grateful to be learning about all this!jo
AntwortenLöschenThis is just incrediable! I do remember the Ladies Carousel. But I never thought that the men trained the horses! To see these photos is a first for me. Fantastic find!
AntwortenLöschenI wonder if the men got teased for riding side saddle...
AntwortenLöschenWell, the gentlemen look even a sort of proud on those pictures.... An honorable and responsible job, I would say: training the riding horse of Her Imperial Highness... ;-)
AntwortenLöschenYou are so right Atjan, imagine what would have happened if one of those horses spooked or bucked and Her Royal Highness came of.
AntwortenLöschenI would imagine, that as the ladies also went hunting on these horses, the men would have ridden the horses out in the field and hunting in side saddle as well as in the menage. A great responsibility to have your Empress on a horse of your training.
AntwortenLöschenRomy
Atjan,
AntwortenLöschenMany thanks for this post! As far as I know in the French tradition, any time a horse was trained ("dressed") to be a well-rounded mount for a lady, they were trained in sidesaddle by male riders. But your photos are the first Austrian photos I have seen of this. Many thanks for posting these.
E
I didn't realize that all horses have side saddles.
AntwortenLöschenAm I right in thinking the mounted man is using the wrap he has on his legs to accustom the horse to a ladies riding habit being there on his side? The men in these foto's, are they riders from the school or are they from the stud?
AntwortenLöschen{{kisses}}
Romy
You are right with the wrap.
AntwortenLöschenDon't know who the riders are.....
All riders on those pictures were (anonymous) employees of the imperial equerry in Vienna (the so called "Oberststallmeisteramt"). This department of the imperial household was responsible for the transportation needs of the court in a wide sense.
AntwortenLöschenThis meant that not only the enormous imperial stables in Vienna (nowadays "Museumsquartier") were part of this (appr. 600 horses and 400 employees, living in the complex with their families!), but also the driving and riding department of the Schönbrunn-palace (nowadays the Wagenburg-museum), and the famous Spanish stables and court riding school in the center of Vienna (nowadays the Spanish Ridingschool).
But also the imperial studs of Kladrub, Lippiza, Koptschan, Enyed and Halbturn, beside several smaller dependences with all imperial palaces et cetera were part of this huge organisation during history.
Not only the Kladruber stallions for gala-coaches and riding- and drivinghorses for the highest nobility for parades, war and daily transport were trained by the riders and drivers of the "Oberststallmeisteramt", but also all other horses for daily transport purposes at all level. Finally the horses for the imperial mail (inter-court mail distribution) were provided by this department.
The leader of this enormous organization, the Oberststallmeister, was always a member of the highest nobility of the Austro-Hungarian empire. And a prominent member of the inner court of the Emperor.
On those pictures you see the riding personnel of the central imperial stables in Vienna. There were several ranks among this personnel. From stable-boys and pupils, to the Unterbereiter and Bereiter, up to the leading "Oberbereiter". The ridingschool of this "Hofmarstall" (court stables) had a large outdoor-arena in the inner courtyard, and a very beautiful indoor riding hall with the same distinction as the "Winterreitschule" of the SRS. The level of the riding went up to the needs of daily practice, which was called "Campagne-Schule". The leading man of this riding department was somebody in the rank of a Oberbereiter. Most of the times this man was also "Oberbereiter" in the city ridingschool of the court: the Spanish Ridingschool. Only here the best of the best horses (about 25-30) and riders were employed.
In the national archives in Vienna, the bookkeeping of the "Oberststallmeisteramt" remained. Only there you can get a real impression of the enormous size of this organization in ancient times. It was a "company" on itself, with perhaps more than 1,000 employees !
Thank you so much for the information! I had not realized how large the Oberststallmeisteramt was. The function of this piece of the royal court was indepensible, truly only some one of the highest nobility would have been able to achieve such a monumental task. Every other branch of the court depended on them for essential transportation and supply, as well as recreation and shows of Imperial splendor. An extremely heavy responsibility!
AntwortenLöschen{{kisses}}
Romy
Atjan,
AntwortenLöschenYou see? The fact that you are able to give this info to us shows why you need to write your book. The knowledge you possess is very precious! In the past, such knowledge was often lost because it was known to very few and was not compiled, published and shared. Your audience is, I think, much larger than you imagine.
In the same way, I truly feel Andreas should be preparing his knowledge to write a book on long reining, on the proper training of a horse from the beginning, on the proper instruction of a rider from the beginning and also on teaching Piaffe and Passage. The knowledge contained in his head of the proper training of classical dressage for horse and rider is precious beyond words and is irreplaceable.
So many of us are desperately hungry for all the information, knowledge and wisdom people like the two of you have. You can see it here, on H&D, people want to know and they want to have correct knowledge. Who else will preserve and share such knowledge if you don't?
Romy
I couldn't agree more with Romy's last post!!
AntwortenLöschen