Customer Reviews

White Stallion of Lipizza

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ah, what can I say about such an important book in my life?

Hans is a poor boy who dreams of riding dressage with the Spanish Riding School of his native Vienna. He attains his goal through hard work and perseverance, by his own merit and against the odds. The book is beautifully written with a flowing narrative style, engaging for both adults and children. The illustrations are the best I have seen from Dennis, at times humorous, at times scholarly, and always precise.

I did my senior thesis on the birth of dressage in the Renaissance, but without this book I would never have even heard of Xenophon, or the passage, or known that the Ancient Greeks rode without stirrups. I illustrated it with my own copies of Wesley Dennis's drawings from this book.

Also highly recommended as horsey history, "Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio" by the same writer/illustrator team.

If you would like to find out more about Classical dressage please check out Laura Camins's "Glorious Horsemen" and Walter Leitdke's "Royal Horse and Rider," both of which deal with the birth of dressage in the Renaissance according to modern scholarship, and by extension the noble equestrian ballets of which the Spanish Riding school is the last still extant. Did you know that the Louvre's great central courtyard was designed to accommodate horse ballets exactly like those in this book?

When I first read this book, when I was about seven years old, I owned a Lipizzan mare of my own. She was for me what Borina was to Hans, my schoolmaster. She was small and gray, with a wide girth, branded, and very long lived. She would do caprioles as we galloped through the field, I kid you not. Were it not for this book I would not have the words to describe her, to remember her like this, and so I am indebted Marguerite Henry.

To bring one spark of beauty into the world is worth a life's dedication, is it not? Certainly mine.

Read the book and you will understand.

If you have any doubts about purchasing this book, forget them and buy it now. I was given this book when I was a child (20 years ago) and it thrills to me to this day. Ms. Henry writes with such imagery that you find yourself caught up as Hans, the young boy who is captivated by the stallions. Not only is the writing terrific, but so is the artwork. This story is one of my all-time favorites.

Wonderful story of a poor boy that is a son of a baker in Austria. He longs to see the Lippian horses perform their beautiful dressage ballet movements. He teaches his old cart mare to carry herself with pride and gets notice by the Spanish Riding School that trains the Lippizanners. He gets a job there doing exactly what he loves-riding for a living. This book teaches that hard work and passion for your work pays off. It also teaches that dreams can come true. It teaches horsemanship down to the smallest detail. I highly recommend this book. I can not believe that it is out of print-I wanted to carry on the tradition and buy it for my daughter now that we have a horse. Good Reading!

This book is great! I loved the wonderful drawing of the Lipizaners and more.It is a sweet story about a boy named Hans and his horse Rosie. This book shows how if you really want something and work for it you could probably get it. (P.S. you have *got* to read it!)

when hans' father dies hans has to find work. and he loves lippizans, they mystify him. so he gets a job at the riding school in vienna as an apprentice. he goes through grueling work for five years, and learns the secrets of lippizans. he learns the courbette, and does something no one had done with borina in nearly a decade! gets five courbettes! soon hans becames a full fledged riding master, and lives out borina's days.

This is the story of Hans, a young Austrian boy that wishes more than anything to work with the "Dancing White Horses," the Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna. In the story he is accepted to the Spanish Riding School, the finest riding school in the world, and then the work begins. Teamed with his patient instructors, one two-legged and one four-legged, Hans sets out to achieve his dream and prove to everyone that any goal is possible with dedication. This is my all-time favorite horse story; the characters are believeable, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the story is timeless.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It didn't take long at all to finish it. I love horses and if you are a horse lover you should really read this book. Marguerite Henry makes me want to read more.

Hans, a young boy, comes from a family of bakers. Nonetheless, he dreams of working with the handsome Lippizan stallions of Vienna.

How this unlikely dream comes true is an encouraging and challenging story for young readers. It's a reminder that goals can be achieved.

This is a handsome book with the march of the stallions around the arena decorating the front and back fly leaves. Wesley Dennis's inspired black and white sketches which appear throughout are treasures in themselves.

I always enjoyed Ms Henry's books growing up, and this one was one of my favorites. It's about a boy who goes from working for his father's bakery to becoming a rider and performing with the school in Vienna. For the young reader, it has some humor in it, but you also learn a lot about the dancing white horses and their history. Older readers would enjoy the memories. It's funny because I purchsed the book for a friend for Christmas so She can do just that.

A must for beginner horse lovers! And for mothers who tire of reading second rate horse books to little girls (and big girls; and boys too)!
The is a first rate read aloud story for any horse lovers or for anyone who loves a good book. I had forgotten how lovely it was - it is the sort of book where Mum has to pause because she is too choked up to read any further...a story of hope and following dreams, even when life is tough! You learn a lot about the real world of the beautiful Lipizza horses too. You cannot get better than this in the imaginary world of horses and in a child's world of figuring out life!