Spanish Riding School: what the morning exercise is actually like

I have been trying to attend the Spanish Riding School’s morning exercise for three Vienna visits. On the first visit, I didn’t know it existed. On the second, I arrived on a Saturday when a full performance was scheduled and the morning exercise was cancelled. On the third — a November Thursday — I was there at 9:45 with a ticket and the Winter Riding Hall mostly to myself.

This is an account of what I found, with honest comparisons to the full performance (which I attended the following day).

What the morning exercise is

The morning exercise (Morgenarbeit) is the daily training session of the Spanish Riding School’s Lipizzaner stallions, open to visitors on most weekday mornings when no formal performance is scheduled. It is not a performance. There is no choreography, no formal music programme, no audience protocol. It is horses and riders at work.

What that means in practice: riders in their work uniforms (pale jodhpurs, brown coats, not the ceremonial white and brown of the performances) moving their horses through training exercises at various levels of refinement. Some horses are young and still learning; some are veterans performing the airs above the ground (the levade, the capriole) as part of daily maintenance rather than for an audience.

The Winter Riding Hall (built 1729, by Fischer von Erlach the Younger) is the same for the morning exercise as for the full performance — white walls, gilded imperial decorations, the royal box at the east end, the classical friezes. It has 600 years of equestrian history in its walls and this is visible from wherever you sit.

Logistics

Tickets: Vienna: Spanish Riding School 2-hour morning exercise (t42136) — book in advance, particularly for October–May when performances and exercises both run regularly. Price: approximately 15–25 €.

Schedule: Morning exercises typically run Tuesday through Saturday on non-performance mornings, from 10:00 until approximately 12:00. Exact days vary; always check the official Spanish Riding School website for the current week’s schedule.

Not available: July and August — the Lipizzaners are at the Piber stud farm in Styria. This applies to both performances and morning exercises.

What I saw

I sat in the first-floor gallery above the arena — the correct position, giving a direct view down into the riding area. The arena below had six horses in work when I arrived, with trainers in the center giving corrections (voice and gesture, not dramatic) and the head rider observing from the gallery at the east end.

The training levels visible in those two hours:

• Two young horses (maybe four or five years old, still building the foundation work) doing basic trot and canter transitions
• Three horses in more advanced work — passage (a slower, elevated trot with longer suspension), piaffe (trot in place, the most demanding of the classical gaits)
• One stallion, clearly senior, performing a levade (standing on the hind legs at a 45-degree angle, balancing) and what appeared to be the beginning work for a capriole (the full leap from the ground with a kick backward)

The capriole attempt — three times, one successful — is the moment I keep returning to. The horse rose from the ground in the levade position, leapt forward, and at the height of the leap drove its hind legs horizontal behind it. It lasted perhaps two seconds. It has taken years of daily training to produce those two seconds.

Morning exercise vs. full performance

I attended the full Lipizzaner performance the following day (Saturday) for comparison.

The full performance is more beautiful — the ceremonial uniforms, the formal music (Baroque works, well-chosen), the choreography of multiple horses moving together, the audience applause, the formal structure. It is the art form at its finished and most polished.

The morning exercise shows how the art is made. The corrections, the repeated attempts, the gradual refinement — none of this is visible in the performance. The trainers’ patient voice commands, the horse’s small resistances and adjustments, the relationship between animal and rider built over years of daily practice — this is the morning exercise.

They are different experiences that complement each other. If I had to choose one, I would choose the full performance for a first visit (it delivers the complete art form). I would choose the morning exercise for a return visit or for anyone interested in the craft rather than just the product.

The early closure problem

The most common Spanish Riding School planning error: planning a Vienna trip around the performance schedule and arriving in July or August. The school is closed both months. The summer closure is absolute — no performances, no morning exercises, nothing. Check the schedule before buying flights.

The Spanish Riding School worth it guide covers the honest verdict on both formats. For most visitors: yes, it is worth it, at either level.