22 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
BySuzieHaynesHallé
I
magine a span of 440 years… it’s a long time for something
to endure. Yet, day by day in Vienna, Austria, a wealth of
classical trainingknowledgehasendured, passed fromChief
Rider to pupil with patience and expertise for centuries. At the
SpanishRidingSchool (SRS), theoldest institutionof itskind in the
world, horsesand ridersare trained toexecuteall themovements
of the Grand Prix, and then some. With patience and skill, over
many years, instructors bring their stallions to perfection.
Authors have written volumes about what it takes to reach
mastery in anything, and how achieving it requires not only
thousands of hours of deep practice but also having a rich
understanding of the theory upon which the discipline is built. At
the SRS, all the riders and horses are on the road to mastery,
whereperformingbecomes soharmonious it transforms the sport
intoart.
GettingToAustria
But howexactly do they do it?Have youever wonderedwhat it
would be like to be a student there? In fall 2013, I had a chance
to go. As the first person inNorthAmerica to be awarded, and to
attend theoretical training at the Spanish Riding School (thanks
to the Heldenberg Fund from The Dressage Foundation and the
RalphDreitzler familywhoestablished thegrant), I’mable toshare
with you some of what I learned at the amazingSRS.
I traveled by car to Piber, where the mares, foals and young
horses live, to the Heldenberg training center and to the Vienna
The SpanishRidingSchool:
Where SportBecomesArt
e
MyStory
TheViennaRidingHall where the
public canwatch the stallions training
and their performances.
Continued onpage 24
SuzieHaynesHalléand her DutchgeldingTennyson-ISF before
a competition inColorado.
PhotobyKathleenBryan
