The School’s Ten Years in Exile

By John D’Addamio

The Disney movie The Miracle of the White Stallions leaves out the events between the return of the breeding herd to Austria and the Spanish Riding School’s return to Vienna in 1955. This article will explain why the Spanish Riding School remained in Upper Austria for 10 years and outline the events that occurred during that decade.

The Russians pressured Podhajsky to return to Vienna in 1945. Podhajsky says that a Russian official promised him that, if the School returned to Vienna, “the school could function undisturbed once it had sent a few horses to Moscow and only now and again would any of the generals come to ride.”¹  Podhajsky rejected that proposal and got the support of the American headquarters which categorically stated that all the horses and the Spanish Riding School staff were to remain in the American Zone.²  Since Vienna was not in the American Zone, that put an end to the Russian demands.

Schloß St. Martin had been a refuge for the end of the war. But, it’s covered arena was too small to allow the School to function normally, especially during bad weather. It was too small to keep all the trained horses in good shape much less train young stallions.

So, Podhajsky looked for larger quarters. During the latter part of winter, he learned that the barracks of the 4^th Dragoon Regiment in Wels (dragoons were heavily armed cavalry who generally rode to the battle and then fought on foot as infantry) was no longer being used as a refugee center.  It had been heavily damaged and vandalized so the stables, staff accommodations, and the riding school had to be repaired before the School could move in. That took until late April 1946 and, even then, only the horses used for the shows were moved. Repairs and painting continued until May 7^th when the School gave a performance for the American High Commissioner, General Clark, on the anniversary of first performance for Patton and the surrender. Further repairs were made and the rest of the School’s horses were moved from Schloß St. Martin to Wels in October 1946.³

Throughout the remainder of 1946, 1947, and 1948, the School gave public performances in Wels in addition to performances for dignitaries. ⁴

Beginning in 1948, the School resumed international tours as they had done before the war. In 1948, they performed gratuitously in Switzerland in appreciation of the help the Swiss had given Austrian children during the war.

Also in 1948, Podhajsky competed in the Olympics (London) with his personal horse, Teja. His eighth place finish with Teja was a surprise and a huge blow to his pride. It shook him to his core and made him think perhaps he had been on the wrong track after all. The press and other experts in the audience disagreed with this placing. In fact, although the event was won by a Swiss rider, Podhajsky quotes a Swiss newspaper as saying “Apart from a few uneven steps in the walk his programme was very elegant, and nothing astonished us more than to learn at the close that he had been placed only eighth, with 437 points. There must have been some mistake.”

The next day Podhajsky was asked to give an exhibition with Neapolitano Africa by the British Horse Society as a recognition of his ability. He did a difficult program which contained “everything that could be asked.” At the end of the exhibition, the crowd erupted and clapped and cheered more than during the competition itself. Podhajsky received congratulations and gave autographs for over an hour. The Daily Telegraph wrote “This was a faultless performance, emphasizing very clearly the elementary standard on the competitions we had witnessed earlier.” The exhibition was so successful that he was asked to do an encore after the jumping event. He was invited to do exhibitions in Switzerland with both horses on his way home to Austria. They were very successful.

In May 1949, the School travelled to Italy. In July, Podhajsky travelled to London again with Teja, Neapolitano Africa, and Pluto Theodorosta to do exhibitions at the International Horse Show. On his return to Austria, the School did performances and demonstrations in the Austrian Vorarlberg province. In November 1949, the School returned to Switzerland, performing in Zürich and Geneva. In late April 1950, Podhajsky travelled to Ireland with Teja and Pluto Theodorosta to do demonstrations at the Royal Dublin Society’s Spring Show in May. In June 1950, the School made its first postwar trip to Germany performing in Frankfurt and Hamburg. Also in 1950, the School began performing in the Salzburg Festival which they continued to do until their return to Vienna in 1955. ⁵

The year 1950 also saw the School’s first trip to North America, performing in Harrisburg PA (which was then the site of the International Horse Show), New York NY, and Toronto, Canada. Podhajsky notes that after 4 weeks break in training for travel and rest, the stallions were very high spirited and had forgotten “all their schooling and made it difficult for their riders to avoid kissing American soil quite against their will” but after two days they settled down to work. At the November 4^th performance, Mrs. Patton attended and, just before the School was to enter the arena, a general informed Podhajsky that Mrs. Patton was in the audience and asked him to welcome her.  Podhajsky lead the School into the arena in single file and halted 10 paces from Mrs. Patton. He writes that he sprang from Pluto Theodorosta to greet Mrs. Patton. Since it was improvised, the lighting crew had no idea this would happen but quickly put a spot light on Podhajsky as he said “I am very happy to be able to show you the horses that General Patton, a great American soldier, saved for Austria.” To which he says Mrs. Patton, who had been given a bouquet of roses, replied “I would give anything if only my husband could be standing here instead of me, for he loved the Lipizzaner so much. In nearly every letter he wrote enthusiastically about the white horses from Austria. I should so much like to give you a rose. May I?” He put the rose in the buttonhole of his coat and the crowd went wild! Everywhere they performed, the School received incredible ovations and fantastic response from experts and in the press. ⁶

In 1951, the School appeared in scenes of two feature films. They also toured for eight weeks in Copenhagen Denmark, Cologne Germany, and Rotterdam Holland. Pluto Theodorosta became so popular with the public that he began to get fan mail!

In August 1952, the School traveled to Stockholm Sweden to perform. Podhajsky writes that he left early to attend the Helsinki Olympic Games as a spectator and recounts a story that began a year earlier in Copenhagen.

When the School was on tour in 1951, the famous Danish dressage rider, Lis Hartel, asked Podhajsky to ride her mare, Jubilee, and give her his opinion on her readiness for the 1952 Olympics. [Historical Note: the 1952 Olympics were the first Olympics in which dressage events were open to civilians. Previously, they were restricted to military officers.] He thought the mare was very talented and only lacked consistency in her piaffe which he felt could be improved in time for the Olympics. He monitored Jubilee’s progress and setbacks by correspondence.

When he was judging the 1952 Whitsun Show in Wiesbaden, he got a message from Hartel saying that her efforts to improve the piaffe had failed so she had decided against going to the Olympics.  As he had just seen the competition she would face, he encouraged her to go to Helsinki. She went but, when she met with Podhajsky there, she told him that Jubilee could not piaffe at all. Hartel had received lots of contradictory advice in the days leading to the Olympics and both she and Jubilee were confused.

Podhajsky coached Hartel the day before she was to ride and says that he concentrated on calming her and restoring her confidence. On competition day, he writes that he and many other experts considered that Hartel had the best overall performance even though she and Jubilee were placed only second by the judges.  Although Podhajsky  thought no one had seen him coaching Hartel, at least one person had for Podhajsky includes a quotation from the Hamburg newspaper, Die Welt, which says “Those piaffes and passages, with the help on the previous day of the Austrian Podhajsky, were superbly executed.”

After the Olympics, Podhajsky rejoined the School for the trip to Stockholm. During one performance, he was asked to ride alone into the arena after his solo on Pluto Theodorosta for a special award. He rode into the arena under a spotlight and halted. A brightly lit helicopter flew over the arena and started descending to the ground. Pluto Theodorosta was terrified and thought about fleeing the scene. Podhajsky wrote that he thought he was about to suffer the biggest disgrace of his life but he tightened his reins and increased his leg pressure and obedience won out over terror! Theodorosta stood still and trembled as the helicopter landed. If you’ve ever ridden in a helicopter, you know how noisy they are and how strong the down draft from the rotors is! If you haven’t, I don’t know how to describe it sufficiently. Podhajsky asked the trembling Theodorosta for passage and then to approach the helicopter and the two children presenting the award. When they halted near the helicopter, the children gave Podhajsky a huge bouquet and a large Swedish lucky horse which he described as a large a full sized Poodle! Then, they withdrew leaving him alone in the spotlight. How was he to get out of the arena with his hands full of “trophies” and still use his reins to control a terrified horse? He adjusted his burdens and put Theodorosta into a collected canter and headed for the exit to applause and cheers. Outside the arena, he was surrounded by cavalry officers and other expert riders who praised Pluto Theodorosta lavishly.⁷

In October 1952, the School performed in Paris (where Podhajsky had to smuggle his dachshund in and out of the hotel under his coat) and Brussels.⁸ In 1953, they went to the Coronation Horse Show in England. Later in the year, they went to Dortmund and Aachen (Germany). In the fall of 1953, they made a long tour of Spain and Portugal. In the inscription on one of the photos from Spain, one finds the only mention of Podhajsky’s wife by name in his entire autobiography!⁹  Podhajsky’s autobiography has entire chapters on the School’s visits to England, where Queen Elizabeth rode Pluto Theodorosta¹⁰, and the trip to Spain¹¹. They’re interesting chapters but I have had to summarize 10 years in this article so I encourage you to find a copy of Podhajsky’s book and read about all the events of that decade in exile.

So, between May 1945 and November 1953, the Spanish Riding School had done everything; except return home! Austria was still occupied by the Allies and the School and the breeding herd remained in Upper Austria.

Next time: The Breeding Herd in Exile

Footnotes:

1.    Podhajsky, "My Dancing White Horses", New York, Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1965, 302p, page 150

2.    Podhajsky, page 150

3.    Podhajsky, pages 150 – 155

4.    Podhajsky, pages 155 – 169

5.    Podhajsky, Chapter 12, The White Dancers conquer the World ,pages 170 – 205

6.    Podhajsky, Chapter 13, The Lipizzaner captivate America ,pages 206 – 228

7.    Podhajsky, Chapter 14, The White horses dance again in Europe, pages 229 – 244

8.    Podhajsky, Chapter 14, The White horses dance again in Europe, pages 229 – 244

9.    Podhajsky, Illustration # 44, Photo inscribed by the Duke of Pinohermoso to Podhajsky’s first wife, Verene, who died after his autobiography was published in 1960 and before he met his second wife, Eva.

10. Podhajsky, Chapter 15, The Lipizzaner charm Queen Elizabeth II, pages 245 – 255

11. Podhajsky, Chapter 16, The Land of their Forefathers - Spain, pages 256 – 273