South African Lipizzaners
Encyclopedia
Riding academy
A riding academy or riding center is a school for instruction in equestrianism, or for hiring of horses for pleasure riding.At the time of the Napoleonic Wars large buildings were constructed for them, like Moscow Manege, Mikhailovsky and Konnogvardeisky maneges in St Petersburg....
that operates according to the classical model
Classical dressage
Classical dressage evolved from cavalry movements and training for the battlefield, and has since developed into the competitive dressage seen today...
in Kyalami
Kyalami
Kyalami is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng province, South Africa. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has hosted the South African Grand Prix many times. In recent years, the area surrounding the circuit has developed into a residential and...
, Midrand (Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
), South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. In contrast to other classical riding schools, only women ride and train the 40 Lipizzan
Lipizzan
The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner , is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the finest representatives demonstrate the haute école or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements...
er stallions. Public performances take place every week on Sundays. There is also an affiliated stud farm
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
that provides horses for the academy as well as preserving a valuable genetic outcross pool for European studs.
The roots of the South African Lipizzaners trace to two individuals, both immigrants to South Africa who were each born in Eastern Europe: Horse breeder Count Elemér Janković-Bésán de Pribér-Vuchin of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and horse trainer Major George Iwanowski of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Janković-Bésán
The Janković-Bésán family was long known as influential breeders of Lipizzan horses. The animals they bred included Tulipan, founder of the foundation bloodlineFoundation bloodstock
Foundation bloodstock or foundation stock are horses that are the progenitor, or foundation, of a new horse breed or a given bloodline within a breed. The term is also used in a similar manner when discussing purebred dogs...
of the same name. They also preserved an important branch of the Pluto bloodline. About 1890, the family stud farm
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
at Terezovac
Suhopolje
Suhopolje is a settlement and an eponymous municipality in Slavonia, Croatia, located on the northern slopes of the Bilogora mountain in the region of Podravina, 10 km southeast of Virovitica; elevation 118 m...
(now in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
), an part of the Janković-Bésán estate, was split up because of an inheritance issue. As a result, a second stud was founded in Cabuna
Suhopolje
Suhopolje is a settlement and an eponymous municipality in Slavonia, Croatia, located on the northern slopes of the Bilogora mountain in the region of Podravina, 10 km southeast of Virovitica; elevation 118 m...
, not far from Terezovac. After the resolution of yet another dispute over the Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
n property of the Janković-Bésáns in the late 1920s, the horse breeding operation then moved to Öreglak
Öreglak
Öreglak is a village in Somogy county, Hungary.- External links :*...
in Hungary. In 1944, the owner of the stud, Count Janković-Bésán, was forced to flee Hungary due to the advance of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. He left with eight Lipizzans: six mares and two stallions. He first went to Sünching
Sünching
Sünching is a municipality in Germany. It is located in Bavaria, Oberpfalz . It borders in the south to Niederbayern.-Geography:...
, Germany, where his parents' stud farm was located, and then he fled with his horses to Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England, arriving at Christmas 1946 at the property of Lord Digby. Then, in December, 1948, Janković-Bésán brought the horses to South Africa where he setteled in Mooi River in KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
.
Iwanowski
Major George Iwanowski (born 13. March 1907, died 28. May 2008), a former Polish cavalry officer, set up the tradition of classical horsemanship in South Africa on his own. Iwanowski was born on the property of his family in LebiodkaLida
Lida is a city in western Belarus in Hrodna Voblast, situated 160 km west of Minsk. It is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus.- Etymology :...
, Poland (today Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
). He earned a degree at the College of Agriculture in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In his dissertation, he wrote about horse breeding
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
. After two years as an assistant manager of the Polish National Stud in Bogusławice, he finished cavalry school and went into the army. After the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he took over Gestüt Lauvenburg in Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
for two years. Then he went to South Africa. He and Josy Hicks founded Centaur Stables in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. This later became the first home of the South African Lipizzaners.
The academy and breeding program
The relationship between Janković-Bésán's horses and the training talents of Iwanowski began in 1951, when the two men met at the Royal Agricultural Show in PietermaritzburgPietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
. Janković-Bésán then invited Iwanowski to his farm in Mooi River, and offered Iwanowski the Lipizzan stallion Maestoso Erdem for training. Iwanowski trained the stallion up to the Haute ecole
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...
level.
Later Janković-Bésán had to sell his herd, which then consisted of 6 stallions, 9 mares and 3 fillies
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
, for financial reasons. They were purchased by Jack and Angela Irvin. About 1972, the Irvins went to Vienna and imported the stallion Maestoso Palmira to add new blood to the herd in order to prevent inbreeding
Inbreeding
Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents. Inbreeding results in increased homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is...
. They later imported another stallion to use as an outcross, Siglavy Savona. However, the Lipizzan stallions and mares in South Africa are still direct descendants of the original six mares and two stallions. The stud now has up to 20 broodmares, and has become a genetic outcross pool for European studs, because these bloodlines were cut off for several generations from the rest of the world.
Jack Irvin was also the head of the company National Chemical Products, which became the first sponsor of the South African Lipizzaners, and the company continued its sponsorship until 1978.
In the mid-1950s, George Iwanowski met Colonel Hans Handler, who at the time was second in command at the Spanish Riding School
Spanish Riding School
The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg...
. Handler began to travel to South Africa once a year to help Iwanowski with the planning, the choreography and the training for the performance. The first public performances of the South African Lipizzaners was in 1957. There were 4 riders. Other than Iwanowski, all riders at the academy were women. Some riders of the first graduating class were Mietie of Hartesveldt, Margie Widman, Ann Sutton, Lynn Jarmen, Gill Meyer, Anne Webb, Ania Glintenkamp, Eva Sydow, Carol Kretszchmar, Maureen Quinn, Helen Dalgliesh and Valerie Welsh.
Other staff of the Spanish Riding School continued to travel to South Africa to further develop the program. Chief Rider Ignaz Lauscha’s first trip to teach in South Africa was in January 1976, later on Rider Ernst Bachinger, Chief Rider Hubert Eichinger and Chief Rider Andreas Hausberger helped to train the stallions and riders.