So You Want to Buy a Lipizzan

First of an ongoing series of Lipizzan Q&A. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments. I'll be happy to answer them here. :)

And now, our first question, which I hear very frequently indeed:

Q: I'm 5'7" and long-legged.  I need a horse at least 16 hands tall, or I look ridiculous.  Is there any such thing as a 17-hand Lipizzan?

A: Yes, occasionally, but you probably don't want him.  He's either got the turning radius of the Queen Mary, or nine-tenths of his height is legs.

So do you have to give up your dream of owning a dancing white horse?

Not at all.  Yes, the breed standard calls for a horse between 14.2 and 15.2 hands, and strongly discourages horses over 15.3 from being bred—the reason being, according to the experts from Austria, that over that height, the horses begin to lose piaffe and the Airs.  But the reason for that is also the reason why you don't have to worry.  A Lipizzan over 15.3 is a big, massive horse.  I have a personal formula that seems to work for any but the most refined Lipizzan: to calculate the relative body mass of a Lipizzan versus a horse of most other riding-horse breeds, add 4-6 inches to the measured height of the horse. 

Here I am on my 16.1-hand mare. I'm 5'4" and not short-legged.

Lipizzans are deep-bodied and short-legged, with well-sprung ribcages.  Many of them are also quite scopey movers, with a long stride for their height.  I have known 14.2-hand Lipizzans who took up more of the rider's leg than a well-built, 16-hand Thoroughbred, and wore a bigger blanket, too.  My 14.2-hand mare, for example, is a solid 80, and takes a Large Horse halter.  My 14.3-hand, somewhat long-backed mare needs an extra six inches or so in spacing for ground poles, because the average spacing is too short for her.  She can use the same saddle—including the same girth—as my former trainer's 16.2-hand Hannoverian longe horse.  And she's fairly lightly built, for a Lipizzan. 

Lipizzans are big little horses.  They've been carrying full-grown Austrian men without looking either stunted or absurd for over four centuries now, and one can hope they'll be doing so for another four hundred years.  Personally I find it delightful to have a horse who moves with the suspension and scope of a Warmblood, but who is short enough that I can see over his back when I groom him.  The ride is as big as you could want—and with your height and inseam, if he's a good, deep-bodied 15 hands or so, you won't look silly on him, either.  He'll take up that long leg, balance it with a good length of neck and body, and even give you that tiny-rider-on-huge-horse look that is so much in fashion for dressage these days.

Hey, look at me working on some Serious Forward Never MIND The Head For Now with my stallion who at 14.2 is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Beeg Girl:

He may be short, but there's plenty of horse there. Rides like a warp-assisted dream. That's a Lipizzan.