Lipizzan - History - Foundation Horses

Foundation Horses

Today, a maximum of eight foundation lines for Lipizzans are recognized by various registries, which refer to them as "dynasties." They are divided into two groups. Six trace to classical foundation stallions used in the 18th and 19th centuries by the Lipizza stud, and two additional lines were not used at Lipzza but were used by other studs within the historic boundaries of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The six "classical dynasties" are:

• Pluto: a gray Spanish stallion from the Royal Danish Stud, foaled in 1765
• Conversano: a black Neapolitan stallion, foaled in 1767
• Maestoso: a gray stallion from the Kladrub stud with a Spanish dam, foaled 1773, descendants today all trace via Maestoso X, foaled in Hungary in 1819.
• Favory: a dun stallion from the Kladrub stud, foaled in 1779
• Neapolitano: a bay Neapolitan stallion from the Polesine, foaled in 1790
• Siglavy: a gray Arabian stallion, originally from Syria, foaled in 1810

There are two additional stallion lines found in Croatia, Hungary, and other eastern European countries as well as in North America. They are accepted as equal to the 6 classical lines by Lipizzan International Federation (LIF). These are:

• Tulipan: A black stallion of Baroque type and Spanish pedigree foaled about 1800 from the Croatian stud farm of Terezovac, owned by Count Janković-Bésán.
• Incitato: A stallion of Spanish lines foaled 1802, bred in Transylvania by Count Bethlen, and sold to the Hungarian stud farm Mezőhegyes.

There are several other stallion lines that have died out over the years, but were used in the early breeding of the horses. In addition to the foundation stallion lines, there were 20 "classic" mare lines, fourteen of which exist today. However, there are up to 35 mare lines recognized by various Lipizzan organizations.

There are traditional naming patterns for both stallions and mares, required by Lipizzan breed registries. Stallions traditionally are given two names, with the first being the line of the sire and the second being the name of the dam. For example, "Maestoso Austria" is a horse sired by Maestoso Trompeta out of a mare named Austria. The horse's sire line tracing to the foundation sire Maestoso. The names of mares are taken from the maternal line in the pedigree. Names from the sixth and eighth generation back in the mare's pedigree chart are reviewed. Out of those two generations the name is chosen. Thus, in Lipizzan breeding, names come back periodically and there are names for each mare family line.