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The Spanish Riding School of Vienna
Spanish Riding School Insights

The Vienna Performance:
The Quadrille – the Entry and Trot Work
by John D'Addamio

Ernst Bachinger, Head of the Spanish Riding School, is the first Head in at least 30 years who is also a Rider trained at the School. He was a Rider at the School for over 20 years. In all the 2007 performances we saw, he led the Quadrille on Neapolitano Pastime. I saw a souvenir program from the 1970's, it showed that Rider Ernst Bachinger's horses performed in the Work in Hand section, the Long Rein solo, Courbette in the Airs above the Ground section, and, of course, the Quadrille. That should give you an idea of his level of expertise.

Entry, Salute

The Entry

Eight stallions and riders enter single file at the walk from "A" and the riders salute. Ernst Bachinger was riding in position #1. In two of the performances, Christian Bachinger, his son and a third generation SRS Rider, was riding in position #8. In the third performance we saw, Assistant Rider Nowotny, rode in the #8 position with his "Bereiter horse", Favory Bartonia, which earned him promotion to Rider in October 2007. At C, odd numbers turn left and even numbers turn right. Last horses at B and E, half pass to center line. On the center line, all trot.

The Trot Work Section

At A, turn right. At K, half pass zigzag the width of the arena, approximately K to P, P to E, and E to R. At R, left rein.

Shoulder-In

At H, shoulder-in left. When the last horse is at E, all horses do a passade in walk and then a trot half pass back to the wall and renvers along the wall. At H, straight ahead on the right rein. At M, shoulder-in right. When the last horse is at B, passade in walk, trot half pass back to the wall and renvers. At M, left rein. At C, turn onto the center line.

[Passade – Although its name looks similar to one of the airs above the ground (pesade), a passade is a small circle executed with the haunches making a smaller circle than the forehand. It is often used as preparation for pirouettes at the walk and canter. The size of a passade varies with the gait and the horse's stage of training but should never be more than 6 meters. In the long performance, the School shows a 1.5 meter passade at the walk and a 4.5 to 5 meter passade in canter.]

First horse at X, odd numbers make a half pass right and even numbers half pass left. At A, turn down the center line.

At X, odd numbers do shoulder-in left, even numbers do shoulder-in right. At C, odd numbers go left and even numbers go right. From M and H, half pass to the closest pillar. At the pillar, change rein and make three voltes between the pillar and the second track. They finish the last volte at the pillars and odd numbers half pass right and even numbers half pass left back to the wall.

Approaching A, each group turns down a "pillar line".

[The pillars are posts set in the arena floor. They are positioned 1.45 meters (5.74 feet) apart on a line between B and E and centered at X. So each pillar line is about three-quarters of a meter from the center line and runs parallel to the center line. Riding on the pillar lines occurs in several parts of the Quadrille.]

On the pillar lines, they begin a trot zigzag half pass. This zigzag goes from the pillar line to the wall, back to the pillar line, back to the wall and back to the pillar line. From the pillar line, each group turns toward the closest corner and goes down the long wall.

At B and E, full arena half pass to the wall at S and R respectively so that the groups cross on the center line. They follow the wall. The two groups pass at A with the odd numbers on the wall and the even numbers on the second track. They follow the wall to the half school (B-E).

When half of the horses have passed the B-E half school line, all turn across the arena and split into four groups of two by having the first two riders in each group change rein while the second two riders remain on their current rein.

As the four groups approach A and C, they turn down the pillar lines. At this point, the odd number riders are coming at each other on the same pillar line but numbers 1 and 3 are on the left rein from C and 5 and 7 are on the right rein from A. Similarly, the even numbered riders are on the other pillar line with numbers 2 and 4 on the right rein from C (parallel to the 1 – 3 pair) and 6 and 8 on the left from A (parallel to the 5-7 pair).

At about I and L, each pair does shoulder-in; 1 and 3 shoulder-in left; 2 and 4 shoulder-in right; 5 and 7 shoulder-in right and 6 and 8 shoulder-in left. At the pillars, each pair turns toward the wall and, at the wall, turns to stay on the same rein. Each pair does shoulder-in from the half school to the corner.

Approaching A and C, each pair turns down the pillar lines and does half pass to the wall at the S-R and V-P lines. Approaching the half school (B-E), each pair makes a half circle onto a pillar line, rides down the pillar line and through the short end, and does shoulder-in on the long wall. From shoulder-in at the trot, each pair does a half walk pirouette at the half school and then trots back to the short end. From C and A, the pairs turn onto the pillar lines. Each pair makes a half passade at the half school and proceeds in renvers on the quarter line back to the short end.

At the short end, they do a half passade from the quarter line to the long wall and go down the long wall. On the long wall near the half school, all riders make a simultaneous turn across the arena and then, at the opposite wall, all turn toward C. This last turn rejoins the four pairs into two groups of odd number riders and even numbered riders again.

They ride through the short end and, at the half school on the opposite wall, all riders half pass to the center line and make a transition to walk. This movement rejoins the two groups of four into a single group again.

Next time: The Quadrille - Canter Work and Finale

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