After 436 years, the girls arrive
October 17th 2008 09:57
Two women have passed the entrance exam for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. They are the first women to have done so in the 436-year history of the school.
It comes one year after Elisabeth Guertler became the school's first female director.
The Spanish Riding School, so-called because its famous Lippizzaner horses are descended from Spanish horses used when the school opened in 1572, has never formally excluded women riders. Rather, the exclusively male culture has arisen from the school's long-time connections with the military.
Yes, well, stand aside boys and let the real world in. Hannah Zeitlhofer is a 21-year-old Austrian and Sojourner Morrell is a 17-year-old Briton. They will now spend five years cleaning stables and grooming horses in a traditional apprenticeship. If they last the distance, they get to ride the stunning, white horses which are trained to perform complictaed moves including the iconic spring off their hind legs.
All the horses, by the way, are stallions. The doors of equality are still not fully open at the Spanish Riding School.
reuters.com, wikipedia.org
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Comment by Wilson Pon
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Way to go, Hannah and Sojourner because you two have made the women proud!
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