Piber Federal Stud

[1] One of Piber’s major objectives is "to uphold a substantial part of Austria’s cultural heritage and to preserve one of the best and most beautiful horse breeds in its original form.

[3] In 1915, at the beginning of World War I, the Lipizzan horses from the Court Stud at Lipica (today located in Slovenia) were evacuated and placed at Laxenburg and Kladrub.

Thus, the animals were divided up between several different studs in the new postwar nations of Austria, Italy, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslovia.

[3] During World War II, the high command of Nazi Germany transferred most of Europe's Lipizzan breeding stock to Hostau, Czechoslovakia.

[3] By spring of 1945, the horses at Hostau were in danger from the advancing Soviet army, which may have slaughtered the animals for horsemeat had it captured the facility.

"Operation Cowboy," as the rescue was known, resulted in the recovery of 1,200 horses, including 375 Lipizzans,[5] General George S. Patton learned of the raid, and arranged for the director of the Spanish Riding School, Alois Podhajsky to fly to Hostau.

[7] In 2001, the Spanish Riding School and the Piber Federal Stud were spun off from government support and together became a public company.

Visitors can watch training sessions with the horses in the riding arena, visit the stables, and take part in special programs for children.

To avoid inbreeding, Piber works in cooperation with other Lipizzan stud farms in Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania, to periodically exchange breeding stock.

This current summer stable will be expanded into a new year-round facility to provide additional capacity for training more young Lipizzaner stallions in the Haute Ecole of Classical Dressage than has been possible in the past.