Tag: Lipizzan

By Ginger Bowles Meet Cielo, my dressage horse. Cielo is a kill pen rescue. He was adopted out of a Louisiana kill pen by a woman...

From inspiring stories of underdog horse-and-rider duos finding success in the dressage arena, to informative horse and rider health features, articles highlighting unique and...

I met Maestoso at a riding clinic 12 years ago. I asked the owner if I could simply just sit on him. To me, that was the equivalent of shaking hands with a rock star! She said, “Why don't you ride him in a session?” I was so overcome with excitement that I was quickly reduced to a child that was barely able to ride! He was magnificent! I could only own a horse like that in my dreams.

The stunning Lipizzan! We are celebrating them as our September Breed of the Month on YourDressage! Dressage riders who choose Lipizzans as their mounts are...

The stunning Lipizzan! We are celebrating them as our September Breed of the Month on YourDressage! Dressage riders who choose Lipizzans as their mounts are eligible...

As the Lead Photographer for the Tempel Lipizzans, I am familiar with this view. May at Tempel Farms has always been time for our annual marketing shoot. I have loved this magical place since the first day I set foot here in June of 2013. I used to live a mere 20 minutes away and spent many hours and days here. This is where I first heard the word, “dressage”. This is where I learned how to properly photograph moving horses. Over the ensuing years, I have traveled with them, photographed the clinics they hosted, and was welcomed into the Tempel Farms fold.

There are certain memories from my childhood that stand out. From my earliest moments in life, I remember being totally obsessed with horses. By the time I came along, my parents had started to build a farm in South Carolina with some acreage, raised cows, and procured a couple of pasture puff horses that were mostly feral. I rode every chance I could. My mind was constantly daydreaming of a certain racing Arabian black stallion (thanks Walter Farley) and numerous dancing grey Lipizzaners in formation from Miracle of the White Stallions!

The stunning Lipizzan! We are celebrating them as our September Breed of the Month on YourDressage! Dressage riders who choose Lipizzans as their mounts are eligible...

As we built our partnership, we accumulated a number of accomplishments, but I would have to say our greatest accomplishment was obtaining all six USDF Rider Medals and USDF Freestyle Bars together - all before I turned 21. We are one of only a small number of US riders to accomplish this feat in general, let alone an even smaller group to do so at such a young age and all on one horse.

Back in 2008, a Florida breeder of Lipizzans for 40 years welcomed a bay colt into their Lipizzan family. He was the only non-gray Lipizzan foal born to this breeder, and he was promptly named Chester. Tradition requires male Lipizzans be named in a certain way for the registry, so Chester’s fancy name was Siglavy Presciana II-II (Siglavy Aga x Presciana II).   He was backed at five-and-a-half-years-old, and when I met him in 2015 at 7, he was a recently-gelded, sassy, but beautifully started 15.1 hand powerhouse.  It was love at first sight, and I had to buy him.