Ye olde days when knights in shining armor fearlessly rode their beautiful white horses to rescue damsels in distress are relegated to a spot in folklore. Alas, the heavily metaled knights and faint-hearted maidens are resurrected only occasionally during summer renaissance fairs and the like. The beautiful white horses, however, are a far different story.
For centuries, European royalty chose the Lipizzan as the favorite form of court entertainment. Even today, the ”imperial horse” represents the upper echelon of the equestrian world. Four centuries ago, Lipizzans elevated classical riding to an art form, an art form still practiced today at Tempel Farms in Old Mill Creek.
”The first time I came to Tempel Farms 25 years ago, I thought I`d died and gone to heaven,” said Roberta Williams, director of program development at Tempel Farms. Williams, along with husband George, director of training, have lived and worked at Tempel Farms for the past four years.
Just as it was when it began, Tempel Farms is home to the largest privately owned herd of Lipizzans in the nation. At its height in the early 1980s, the herd numbered slightly fewer than 500. Today that number stands at about 100, a ”more manageable herd,” according to Roberta.
Tempel Farms, the agricultural entity, and Tempel Lipizzans occupy one of the few remaining large parcels of countryside in Lake County. Tempel Lipizzans sits on nearly 500 acres and is easily marked by the white frame house and stables with evergreen trim. Pastures and paddocks surround the outdoor performance arena, the cross-country jumping course, steeplechase course, and three competitive jumping arenas landscaped into the hillside.
Part of the old stable has been adapted into an office that, like the Lipizzans, is all white. Pen and ink drawings of European lords parading their horses line the wall of the waiting room, and ribbons proclaiming the American Horse Shows Association Horse of the Year are proudly displayed. Ceramic plaques, silver platters, trophies and mugs all relate the prize-winning history of the Tempel Lipizzans. The hallway boasts two harnesses converted into mirrors, and in the show tack room, a working chandelier hangs, adorned with horse whips and stirrups.
The Lipizzan performances have garnered fame for Tempel Farms, which has been featured on ”Good Morning America” and ”The Today Show.” The horses also have attracted visitors from as far away as Alaska, who saw them showcased on Cable News Network. At the heart of the Tempel Farms operations, though, is the training. ”All horses here are in training,” Roberta said. The 16-member staff concentrates not only on the Lipizzans but on horses boarded by outside owners. Training, along with horse sales, performances and private benefits, help keep the farm in business, Roberta said.
True to their elite standing in the horse society, the Lipizzans lead a laid-back lifestyle.
”They mature very slowly,” Roberta said, explaining why training never begins until the horses are 4 years old. ”It`s amazing to think that a racehorse`s career is over when they`re 3,” she added.
”Even though economic times have changed, we still spoil them,” Roberta said. The Lipizzans might be able to subsist on hay, but shipments of carrots are still delivered twice weekly, and one horse prefers to snack on Twinkies. A tour through the luxurious-looking-and very clean-stables reveals stalls with stallion after stallion. Tradition demands that only males are trained to perform, while the mares are reserved as breeding machines. The stallions are separated from the mares once training begins.
Tradition also demands strict attention to the rules for naming the horses. The sire`s name, or family name, is first, the generation is represented by a roman numeral, and the mother`s name is last. This pattern results in such names as Maestoso III Sabrina, Pluto II Amerita and Siglavy II Gabriella. Due to the scores of horses with the same family name, many stallions are labeld with feminine names, such as Primrose.
Surprisingly, not all the horses are white. Many are spotted with gray, brown and near black. Like people, Roberta explained, Lipizzans gray with age and achieve their characteristic whiteness between 7 and 10 years of age.
Lipizzans have made their name known for their graceful and acrobatic movements and flying leaps, known as airs above the ground.
Alf Athenstaedt, a German trainer at Tempel, joked about how the Lipizzans originally got their start in the royal show business. ”They didn`t know what else to do with them,” he said. Athenstaedt has been training horses at Tempel for a quarter of a century. ”I`m trying to forget that,” he joked.
Athenstaedt and George Williams both agree that while Lipizzans may be best known for their airs above the ground, it`s only one piece of the pie.
”They`re only a small part of their progressive training,” Athenstaedt said. ”Airs above the ground are what really separate Lipizzans from other dressage breeds,” George said. But not even all Lipizzans can do them.
Instead of trying to get all the horses to perform airs, George and Athenstaedt devote most of their training time to classical and competitive dressage techniques. Dressage is an art form that dictates precise movements for both horse and rider. While aptitude, talent and chemistry between horse and rider all contribute to the time it takes a horse to master dressage techniques, Athenstaedt said, ”it`s safe to say a horse can be brought up to the highest level in a four-year period.”
The principles and theory for dressage have not changed in centuries, according to George, and breeders continually strive to maintain the established standards. ”If a horse has a natural talent for a certain movement, you try to pass it on.” To this day, the gene pool for Lipizzans remains relatively small. There are ”definitely under 10,000 Lipizzans worldwide,” George said.
The staff at Tempel not only shows off the flashy nature of the horses but their skillful, competitive side as well. ”We do compete with our horses,” George said. ”We`re not insulated from the outside world.” Their efforts have paid off. One of the Tempel Lipizzans was recently chosen for the Pan American games. ”For a Lipizzan to do that, it`s pretty nifty,” Roberta said. ”They`re not regarded highly by the competitive world. They`re thought of more as museum pieces.”
For many of the staff, some who reside on the farm, Tempel Farms is not just a workplace but a home. ”We`re really just like a big family here,”
Roberta said, speaking of the Lipizzan staff. The crew has a strong international flavor, of which Athenstaedt is only one member. Amit Aprik of Israel and Camilla Hed of Sweden are two of three working students who help with the horses in exchange for a place to live and riding and training experience. There is also Karl Mikolka, who spent 14 years at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, many of them as the chief rider.
”At any point, you don`t know what language might be going on in the arena,” Roberta said. Most commands for the horses are non-verbal, though, so language isn`t a problem.
Roberta and George stand at the head of the Tempel family. Strangely enough, they were not brought together by horses. Though Roberta studied art in Vienna and George was at the Spanish Riding School there, they actually met on a blind date. A friend had told Roberta she would introduce her to George, but she was dead set against it. Unwittingly, she went to the friend`s for dinner one night, and George showed up. ”I`d been there a half-hour and he drove up. I knew it was him,” she said.
For months, the pair did not discuss horses. ”I had a jumper background, no dressage,” she said. That was 10 years ago. Roberta and George have now been married for six of them.
Their 3-year-old daughter, Noel, will never want for a pony; she is surrounded by horses. ”She was 5 days old when she sat on her first horse,” Roberta said.
Home may be Lake County, but like any performance group, the Lipizzans go on tour, featuring their talents across the country. They have appeared in several presidential inaugurals and perform at events such as the Castle Hill Music Festival in Massachusetts. Every year they also journey to Belmont Park in New York, best known for hosting the third leg of racing`s Triple Crown, but also home to the Belmont Horse Fair.
Last year when the Lipizzans performed at Belmont, subway cars across New York City were blanketed with posters announcing the horses` arrival. Subway crime took on a whole new meaning, as most of the posters were stolen. This problem had never occurred before, Roberta was told.
The late Tempel and Esther Smith are responsible for making Tempel Lipizzans a reality. After a visit to Austria in the 1950s and subsequently seeing the Lipizzans in Vienna, they ”thought the U.S. should have something as beautiful,” Roberta said.
”They were just astounded. They had a great reverence for art and felt very strongly this cultural phenomenon should be in the United States.”
Smith was not a horseman. Undaunted by this fact, he imported 20 Lipizzans from Austria in 1958, marking the beginning of Tempel Farms.
”I suspect they wanted to start something similar in philosophy to the Spanish Riding School. It`s not possible to duplicate something with a 400-year history. But they wanted a place where it could flourish in the same manner,” Roberta said.
Unlike many other Lipizzan performance groups, Tempel Farms tries to duplicate the traditions of the renowned Spanish Riding School.
The acclaimed school was founded in 1583 after Austria`s Archduke Karl imported Spanish stallions to improve the local breed of horses. Because horses were losing their importance as a military vehicle, Roberta said, breeders wanted to develop more refined riding animals. While other European cities staked their claims in the artistic, musical and architectural fields, Vienna became the capital for the equestrian world.
One way in which Tempel Lipizzans deviates from the Spanish Riding School is the costuming. Riders still wear doe-skin breeches and jackboots, or over- the-knee boots. But unlike the brown wool coats with tails worn by riders at the Spanish Riding School, Tempel riders follow a patriotic pattern chosen by the Smiths. Red, white and blue colors adorn a uniform whose styling dates to the Jeffersonian years.
To this day, Tempel Farms and Tempel Lipizzans remain in the Smith family.
Twice a year the Lipizzan performances are overshadowed by competitions. In mid-August, Tempel Farms will host the North American Young Riders Championship for the third consecutive year. North American is a somewhat deceptive title, as riders hail from countries in Central and South America as well as Bermuda and other island nations. Competing at a level only slightly below the Olympics, riders 16 to 21 participate in a marathon of dressage and jumping events. Last season the tournament required more than 200 volunteers and close to $120,000 in funds.
In 1990, Tempel Farms held the tournament at the request of Canada, the designated host. ”To be able to host something like this on one site is pretty amazing,” Roberta said. ”This is truly an international event.”
Later in October, the American Horse Shows Association National Dressage Finals will piggyback with the Millers/U.S. Equestrian Team Qualifying competition for the 1992 Olympic Games. The winners will go on to Barcelona, Spain. ”It`s an incredible honor to be asked to do a selection final,”
Roberta said. ”It puts a lot of focus on us.”
The 1991 performance schedule will run through Aug. 30, with shows at 10:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Friday. Two special Sunday performances have been added, at 1 p.m. next Sunday and Aug. 25. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Groups of 15 or larger may call ahead to arrange special rates. Tempel Farms is about a mile and a half west of Ill. Hwy. 41 on Wadsworth Road, near the Wisconsin border.
