Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth were gifted with great white Lipizzaner stallions. Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger own a Spanish Andalusian, the forefather of the Lipizzan.
| When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Everett Events Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett Tickets: $17.50 to $26.50 Information: 866-332-8499 |
But it’s Gary Lashinsky, 65, who brings the Lipizzans, a horse once reserved for royalty, to the general public.
“I wanted to produce a show with Lipizzaner horses as stars for those who wouldn’t see the (Spanish Riding School) show,” he said during a call from Orlando, Fla.
Lashinsky shares his appreciation of the horses with Everett audiences on Saturday and Sunday when the 35th anniversary “World Famous” Lipizzaner Stallion world tour comes to the Everett Events Center for three shows.
Since first seeing the horses in 1964 at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria, Lashinsky wanted to expose people to the stark white stallions that are born black or brown.
Approximately 150 horses escaped extinction when Gen. George S. Patton rescued them near the end of World War II. This tour coincides with Patton’s rescue efforts 60 years ago.
The show features narration of history, choreography and music, and a segment called “Airs Above the Ground,” in which horses perform leaps and maneuvers once used by riders in saddle to protect and defend themselves on the battlefield.
“We maintain a tradition that’s been around for over 400 years,” Lashinsky said.
Referred to as “horse ballet,” some acrobatic moves Lipizzans perform are called “caprioles,” “courbettes” and “levades.” These leaps and kicks are performed with or without riders, but take six to eight years to develop, he said. He added that trained Lipizzans can waltz on command.
“Everything these horses do is all natural,” he said. “We just develop those movements, with the help of a trainer, and present them properly in the show.”
Lashinsky handpicked 50 of the horses purchased for $20,000 to $25,000 from Piber Federal Stud, the riding school’s breeding farm. Each show features 12 to 14 trained horses. His other horses return to the stables in Orlando for well-deserved breaks. Others are at the stables for training to become the next generation show horses.
Lashinsky said there are approximately 3,300 of the breed in the world, with 700 to 750 in the United States.
The man who introduced America to the athletic dancers of the horse world is not a stranger to producing big shows.
Lashinsky produced concert tours for major rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Neil Diamond and The Rolling Stones. In 1969, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison allegedly exposed himself during a Miami concert on a tour that was then quickly cancelled. Lashinsky produced that tour, but said it was one reason he decided to start the Lipizzaner show.
Lashinsky’s fascination with speed, power and beauty culminates in his love of fast cars and airplanes. A multi-engine, instrument-rated pilot since 1977, he races Dodge Vipers in his spare time. He owns one race car and three street cars. He is the former president of the Dodge Viper Club of America and a former owner of a NASCAR track in West Virginia.
With no signs of slowing down, Lashinsky said he didn’t anticipate 35 years of tours and plans to run with the horses a while longer.
Although horses and horsepower rule his life, he added, “You don’t have to be a horse lover to appreciate the Lipizzaner stallions.”
A Lipizzan executes a move called a “Courbette.”
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