Get me some Lippie action !

I have a ticket for the Spanish Riding School show today at 11am.
I'm so excited ... another bucket list item.  I made my way to the 'Palace' where they are stabled and perform and I'm ushered to my seat.  Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures during the performances so as not to startle the horses (I'm sure some dufus would leave his flash on).
The first group out were the 'in training' youngish group.  These horses are approximately 8 years old and having been broke at 4 years of age, have been in training for basic dressage training for 4 years.  They on do flat work but they do it very, very well.  These stallions are still very young and do not have their full white coats yet.  They look like grey roans at this stage.  They can be quite naughtly in the ring and often test their riders by spooking at things that aren't there (sounds familiar :D).
The next group in the ring are the mature stallions showcasing their full dressage abilities.  There are no 'above ground' movements for this group.  These horses have been honing their movements for a full 6-8 years at this point.
The next group in the ring was the 'Above Ground' manuever stallions.  Not all stallions are capable of these manuevers and of the stallions that are ... each stallion only learns one manuever in his lifetime (it's his specialty).  This part of the show as the most impressive ... all the grace and power you expect is there.
The next showing is called 'the ballet of the white horses' in which 10 stallions complete a musical ridge in unison and nose to tail.  So well behaved !
The last performance is a 'pas de deux' for 2 stallions in which the horses and riders mirror each others movements on opposite sides of the arena.  This was amazing to see.
After the performance was over, I was booked to tour the stables .. but had 45 minutes to wait so decided to have a coffee on the patio of the Lippizaner Cafe
Ordered my coffee and sat outside ... right where the hotwalker is.  The horses that I had just witnessed where out there cooling down.  The hotwalker is huge and encircles the entire sandring in the middle.
On the stable tour, we were asked not to take any close up pictures of the horses, feed them or touch them.  The pictures you see were taken from the ramp where we were allowed to take pictures from.  The lineage of the stallions was explained to us as is the naming convention.  Each stallion has his sire's name first and his dam's name second ... so the boys all have girl names.  If there are more from the same pairing then a Roman numeral is added after the name.
We were allowed into the tack room to see the white leather saddles and gold plated performance bridles ... soooo nice !
After the tour it was on to the shop to load up on booty ... I may have overdone it ... oops.
Off to get some dinner and have a nice leisurely walk back to the flat.
Tomorrow I'm off to Salzburg !