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The Spanish Riding School
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The
True Miracle
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The
Performance for Patton, May 7, 1945 On May 3, 1945, the American Twentieth Corps moved into St. Martin and its Chief of Staff, General Collier set up his headquarters in Schloß St. Martin. Collier had no idea who Podhajsky was or what the Spanish Riding School was. 1 While Collier was examining the castle’s accommodations for his headquarters, one of the Riders came to tell Podhajsky that an American officer, Major Allard, was asking for him. 2 Major Allard saw Podhajsky ride in the 1936 Olympic Games where the then Captain Podhajsky and Nero won the Bronze Medal in dressage. Podhajsky writes that Major Allard was excited to have found Nero with the School. Podhajsky and Allard were still chatting when General Collier and Corps Commander General Walker appeared. Allard explained to the generals what the Spanish Riding School was and that Podhajsky was a well known competition rider.3 Ignoring the name changes from the real people to movie characters, the Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions depicts this sequence of events fairly accurately. The movie simply used one general to tell the story and omits the fact that Podhajsky’s personal horse was also in the stables. The movie then begins to deviate from reality. In the movie, it was the American major’s idea for the School to give a performance for Patton and it took a long conversation between the major and the Corps Commander to come up with the idea to give a performance in a few days. Podhajsky writes that when Major Allard introduced him to Corps Commander General Walker, Walker asked him to arrange a performance for the next day, May 4th, and said that he intended to invite General Patton. Podhajsky agreed and started to make arrangements.4 However, Patton was delayed for a few days and Podhajsky used the time to retrieve the School’s hidden material so that the horses and riders could be dressed in their traditional manner and the covered school could be decorated with their precious art work and saddle cloths.5 On May 7 1945, General Patton arrived at St Martin. Podhajsky writes that Patton flew to St Martin from Frankfurt am Main in Germany and that he saluted Secretary of War Patterson who had also flown from Germany and then lead Mr. Patterson and a group of officers into the arena. 7 The Disney movie ignores the presence of Mr. Patterson. Furthermore, the movie portrays a stone-faced Patton watching the performance looking bored or annoyed at times. After the Podhajsky character delivers his address at the end of the performance, the Patton character simply says “Thank you for a fine performance” and then orders Podhajsky to accompany him on a tour of the stables. During the tour, Podhajsky again implores Patton to get the breeding herd but Patton remains indifferent. The movie then shows Patton withdrawing with his staff and deciding to buck orders and send a regiment to rescue the horses under the guise of liberating a group of POW's in Hostau. Podhajsky's description of the performance and related events is very different. Podhajsky wrote that Patton watched the performance intently and somewhat indifferently at first but with obvious and growing enthusiasm as the performance progressed. Podhajsky wrote that his wife and the Countess were watching the performance from a vantage point opposite the guests. His wife came over to Podhajsky between sections of the performance and told him that Patton had watched with great interest and had paid particularly close attention to Podhajsky himself. After the Long Rein solo and Airs above the Ground, Podhajsky rode Neapolitano Africa in a one-handed solo and writes that Patton was fascinated and obviously excited by the solo. Podhajsky wrote that Patton stood as a gesture of respect when Podhajsky made his address at the end of his solo. He also wrote that Patton seemed disconcerted by Podhajsky's appeal for U.S. Army protection and that Patton had a whispered conversation with Secretary of War Patterson. Immediately after his conversation with Patterson, Patton placed the Spanish Riding School under protection of the U.S. Army. Podhajsky wrote that this was far more than he had dreamed so he was emboldened to then invite the dignitaries to tour the stables and had his riders arranged by the arena as an honor guard. Podhajsky wrote that, during the stable tour, Patton showed great interest in the horses, examined tack and asked many questions about details of equipment and training methods. Apparently, Patton thought that the horses were geldings because Podhajsky wrote that Patton asked whether stallions were ever trained for haute ècole. Podhajsky explained they used only stallions and that this was why he asked for Patton’s help recovering the breeding herd. Patton listened to Podhajsky’s explanations and asked Podhajsky to show him Hostau on a map. After a short consultation, Patton promised to see what he could do about the breeding herd. Podhajsky wrote that he was later told that Patton had issued strict orders to insure the safety of the Lipizzaner at all costs. 8 The reality reported by Podhajsky is significantly different from the movie and the gap will widen when we talk about the rescue of the breeding herd. Next time: The Rescue of the Breeding Herd. Footnotes: 1. Podhajsky, "My Dancing White Horses", New York, Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1965, 302p,1965, page 116 2. Podhajsky, "Das Grosse Buch der Spanischen Hofreitschule", München, Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, 1978, English and German text 112p. (German 1-70, English 73-112) & 90 plates, page 85 3. Podhajsky, "My Dancing White Horses", page 116 4. Podhajsky, "My Dancing White Horses", page 116 5. Podhajsky, "Das Grosse Buch der Spanischen Hofreitschule", page 86 6. Podhajsky, "My Dancing White Horses", page 117 7. Podhajsky, "Das Grosse Buch der Spanischen Hofreitschule", page 86 8. Podhajsky, "My Dancing White Horses", page 118 - 121
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