Lipizzaner Horse show Vienna

You might want to consider catching a morning workout as an alternative. They run from 10:00 am to noon on Tuesday-Friday (see current schedule; 14 Euros entrance fee). First come-first served seating, so if you get there early you can get a good seat. They typically run 4 sets of horses to exercise (about one set every 30 minutes). We have caught this the last three times we were in Vienna, the most recent being 8 days ago.

We just did the morning exercise for 14 euros each (there were no shows while we were in Vienna) and it was amazing. I would highly recommend going. I would say 23 euros for the full performance is a good deal; if the seats are where I think they are, they are standing but should still give you a fair view.

someone I met on the Wachau boat yesterday told me the Lippizaner workout was not worth doing -- he said they only walk and trot and were the greys i.e. the performing horses were not showcased and the more interesting moves were not practiced. Is that not true? Or did he just have bet luck in his choice of days?

Not true, at least for the three times I have attended the morning exercises. Sure, there are lots of young (grey) horses being trained, but also lots of older (white) horses. As I mentioned above, when we attended a morning exercise two weeks ago, four sets of horses were exercised, with at least two different horses being trained to do the famous "airs above the ground" move. Of course, if you can see a show, it would be more entertaining, but if you watch the horses and their riders closely, there is a lot going on in the morning exercises.

I was at the warm-up session 10am-noon about three weeks ago. This is the first time I have seen them. You see one set of 4-5 horses one hours and another set the second hour. It may been dull for some. The riders do not have the horses do too much at these warmups which is what I would call them, not practices. Don't forget about the senior discount.

We did the morning rehearsal because there weren't any shows while we were in Vienna. Yes, the horses are warming up, but we still felt it was well worth the visit! The horses are beautiful and it is fun to get a glimpse of their performance.