Famed Lipizzan horses set for weekend shows
Horse lovers and history buffs alike can appreciate the Original Herrmann's Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Austria.
This Old World troupe features the same family of riders who helped save the coveted Lipizzan horse breed in World War II -- with help from the U.S. Army.
Centuries ago, Lipizzan horses learned to leap, kick, rear and strike at enemies on battlefields. Today their supple, powerful moves illustrate a sort of living, lost art.
Proceeds from their shows this weekend in Cranberry will benefit two nonprofit programs: Hog Heaven Rescue Farm in Crawford County, and Paradise Equine Adoption and Youth Ministry in Cranberry Township.
The Cranberry organization takes in neglected horses and ponies, and uses the animals to help similarly neglected youths. The group dedicates itself to "rehabilitating at-risk horses and youth."
The visiting Lipizzan stallions -- ages 4 to 23 -- perform under the direction of retired Austrian Col. Ottomar Herrmann, son of the late Austrian Col. Ottomar Herrmann Sr.
In 1945, both Herrmanns assisted the Lipizzan horses' liberation from Russian-held territory under U.S. Army protection ordered by Gen. George Patton. Walt Disney later portrayed the mission in the 1963 film "Miracle of the White Stallions," starring Robert Taylor.
Patton represented the United States at an equestrian event at the 1912 Olympics.
"My late father knew Gen. Patton as a horseman," says Herrmann Jr. "Gen. Patton was a horseman all the way. A first-class rider ... and a good general."
Herrmann Jr., now a white-haired grandfather, was 17 during the 1945 rescue.
"We never lost one horse," says Herrmann Jr. "We loaded close to 100 horses."
Now in his 70s, Herrmann Jr. emcees all of his family's exhibitions and still speaks with a heavy Austrian accent. Ages ago, his forebears cared for the Lipizzan horses bred and kept by Austria's ruling Hapsburg family.
In Cranberry, spectators can visit with more a dozen Lipizzan stallions and speak with their riders before and after the horses' 90-minute performances. The horses perform at close range, allowing viewers a more intimate experience that similar exhibitions in sports arenas.
"What we're trying to do is maintain the art," says head rider and trainer Gabriella Herrmann, daughter of Col. Ottomar Herrmann Jr. "Our stables are always open to the public."
The Herrmanns annually tour the United States from April to October. Home is a 200-acre breeding farm in Myakka City, Fla.
Lipizzan horses are named after the historic Lipizza imperial Austrian stud farm near Trieste, Italy. The breed resulted from crossing Spanish Andalusian mares with Arabian stallions, says Herrmann Jr. Only royals bred Lipizzan horses, however, revolutions repeatedly endangered the breed.
"When Napoleon Bonaparte took over Europe, he needed our horses, especially our stallions. ... He needed them for his officers," says Herrmann Jr., recalling how the French emperor later returned the steeds to Austria.
"Napoleon, he was a gentleman," says Herrmann Jr. "He gave all our horses back. He said, 'The Lipizzan is a diamond in the Austrian crown. You should keep it.'"
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Herrmann's Original Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Austria
