Tempel Lipizzans Announces New Performances

OLD MILL CREEK, Ill., June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tempel Farms has announced its 2013 schedule featuring the internationally-recognized Lipizzan Stallions. The venue has added more shows, new segments and foals to its programs.

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Matinee and Evening Performances take place on select Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday afternoons and evenings, beginning Saturday, June 15, 6 – 8 p.m.  All shows are held at Tempel Farms in Old Mill Creek, Ill., where the rare Tempel Lipizzan horses are bred, trained and perform. After each show, stable tours for children are offered with kid-friendly facts and information about their equine performers. 

Often described as "equine ballet," the performances feature dramatic leaps and lifts known as "Airs Above the Ground" the difficult "high school" dressage movements made famous by the breed, which were originally trained for medieval battle maneuvers for royal armies. Lipizzans are one of very few breeds that possess the combination of physical power and suppleness to perform these seemingly gravity-defying moves.

Changes to this year's shows include two foals who will be exhibited with their mothers at the start of each performance, an elegant, long rein segment in which the trainer guides the horse through the highest levels of dressage from the ground and a Pas De Deux, a two horse ballet.  

"With our Pas De Deux, we are making a link between the horses that are trained for just a year to those who are reaching the height of their training at 10 to 12 years old," says Esther Buonanno, program director, Tempel Farms.

Conrad Schumacher consulted on choreography and dressage training.   Schumacher is one of the world's most foremost dressage trainers, having trained many students to international Olympic and World Championship levels.  Also joining Tempel Farms is Trainer Antonio Joao Garcia Soares, of Portugal, known worldwide for his training in dressage and expertise with the Airs Above the Ground.      

Tempel Farms is a 50-minute drive from Chicago or Milwaukee.  Ticket costs are $25 for adults; $20 for active military/veterans and $15 for children.  For a list of performance dates and times and to purchase tickets, visit www.tempelfarms.com or call (847) 623-7272.  In case of inclement weather, performances are held indoors.  Parking is free.

The Tempel Lipizzans began in 1958 when the late Tempel and Esther Smith imported 20 Lipizzans from the Austrian stud farm in Piber and started what became the largest privately owned herd of Lipizzans in the world. Their prestigious appearances include several Presidential Inaugurals and special exhibitions at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Taste of Chicago, Ravinia Festival, Arlington Racecourse and Madison Square Garden.  In 1997, the President of Austria presented the Smith family with the Officer's cross, Grand Declaration of Honour for Service to the Republic of Austria. Tempel Farms is the only place in the United States where these rare white horses are bred, trained and perform on the same property.

SOURCE Tempel Farms