Alois Podhajsky

Alois Podhajsky (24 February 1898 – 23 May 1973) was an Austrian military officer, Olympic rider, and long-serving director of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. He is known for his work in classical horsemanship and for his role in maintaining the Lipizzan breed and the traditions of haute école. Podhajsky wrote several books on dressage and training, and during the Second World War he oversaw efforts to protect the Spanish Riding School and its horses.

Career

Podhajsky was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was an officer in the Austrian Army, rising to the rank of colonel. In 1939, Podhajsky became chief of the Academy of Classical Horsemanship, better known as the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. Founded in 1572, the school's main focus was the training of Lipizzan horses in the art of classical dressage. Podhajsky competed in dressage at the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 1948 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 1936. Podhajsky was director of the school throughout World War II and continued in the position until his retirement in 1965. Following his retirement, he continued to teach classical horsemanship, and wrote a number of books on the topic. Podhajsky died following a stroke in 1973, in Vienna, Austria. A number of mares from the Piber Federal Stud, the breeding farm that supplied horses for the school, were also evacuated. As American General George Patton was leading his troops through Austria, he was alerted to the presence of the Lipizzans in Sankt Martin im Innkreis. Patton and Podhajsky had each competed in equestrian events at the Olympic Games. The two men renewed their acquaintance, and after Podhajsky orchestrated an impressive performance by the remaining horses and riders of the school in front of Patton (a lifelong horseman) and Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson, the Americans agreed to place the stallions under the protection of the United States for the duration of the war.

Legacy

Podhajsky is remembered most for saving the Lipizzans, preserving their history following the war, as well as for his dedication to the advancement of classical dressage, and his contributions to the Spanish Riding School.

We must live for the school. Offer our lives to it. Then, perhaps, little by little, the light will grow from the tiny candle we keep lit here, and the great art—of the haute école—will not be snuffed out. |Alois Podhajsky

Walt Disney make a 1963 moive Miracle of the White Stallions about Alois Podhajsky.

Works