Leaping Lipizzaners put on airs

By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- With classical music and sharply uniformed riders, the World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions made for an unusual, even elegant, evening.
The intelligent and majestic white horses enthralled a modest crowd Tuesday night at Chevrolet Centre. The show will be repeated at 7:30 tonight.
The interaction between rider and animal was a far cry from the weekend's professional bull-riding shows at the arena. Unlike the rampaging bulls, the stallions are of a single mind with their riders.
Nine stallions performed in the two-hour show, which is divided into two parts. Basic maneuvers, starting with "Steps of Two" set to Mozart's Symphony No. 40, constituted the first half. The balletlike abilities of the horses were saved for the second half.
Who was there
The soothing show brought out families as well as the savvy equestrian types. Seated on the floor near the riding area -- close enough to see the slobber -- were horse lovers Julie McKnight of Austintown; and Lisa Costello of Niles and her mother, Janet Williams of Austintown.
Costello, a former horse owner who still rides, assured that the slobber is really OK. "It means they are working the bit," she said.
Williams also saw past the drool, declaring the Lipizzaners to be "magnificent."
It was the dressage, or relationship between horse and rider, that most impressed Costello. "You don't notice any movement or instruction by the rider to the horse," she said. "It's perfect."
For McKnight, who boards a horse at a farm in Fowler, Tuesday's show was the second time she has seen the Lipizzaners. "I saw them at a fair in Pennsylvania, years ago," she said.
The Lipizzaners have done shows in the Valley before.
Show details
Narrator Troy Tinker offered enlightening facts about the breed and their maneuvers throughout the show.
Drawing the most applause were the iconic "Airs Above the Ground" maneuvers: the levade and the capriole.
In the levade, the horse rears up on its hind legs. Tinker noted that the move was originally used during battle to keep the rider safe from an attacking foot soldier.
Most famous is the capriole, in which the horse takes a leap, tucking in its front legs and kicking out its rear legs, creating a Pegasus, or flying-horse effect. Head rider Redha Gharsa performed the move several times.