Local Lipizzan

Every few years, the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions perform in Spokane before thousands of fans of these elegant white horses.

Sigrid Shearn puts her Lipizzaners through their paces every day at her 21-acre Cheney farm. Shearn trains horses, including Lipizzaners, in dressage, a form of riding in which the horse goes through a series of difficult steps and gaits.

“I had four Lipizzans but sold two recently,” Shearn said.

She has the papers that chart the lineage of the Lipizzaners back through the generations. Regardless of how the dispute in Europe over the rights to the name Lipizzan turns out, it won’t affect her horses, Shearn said.

Shearn and other breeders diligently keep records of breeding lines of their horses. “The White Horse Vail (a ranch) in Goldendale, Wash., brings in a representative from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna to look at their Lipizzans,” Shearn said. “Their horses have gotten the highest rating; last time he was here he said they couldn’t do a better job.”

The Royal Lipizzaner Stallions last performed in Spokane in June 1998.