The Tempel Lipizzan stallions spring into action as their summer performance season begins on June 17, 2009. Guests will get a sneak peek at Chicago’s selected venue for the 2016 Olympic equestrian events. Tempel Farms, home of the Tempel .jpg)
Lipizzans, in far north suburban Old Mill Creek, Ill., is one of few places in the world where rare Lipizzan horses are bred, trained and perform.
Every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., June 17 – August 30 and Sept. 6, the Tempel Lipizzans will perform their signature “horse ballets,” a classical demonstration of competitive dressage, one of the three Olympic equestrian disciplines.
The Tempel Lipizzan program follows in the tradition of the famed Spanish Riding School of Vienna. From the youngest foals frolicking freely in the arena to the graceful precision of the well-trained Quadrille stallions, the performance guides viewers through the horses’ training progression. Among highlights of the hour and 20-minute Tempel Lipizzan performance are dramatic Pegasus-like leaps and lifts known as “Airs Above the Ground.” Lipizzans are one of very few breeds that possess the combination of physical power and suppleness to perform these seemingly gravity-defying moves.
With the excitement surrounding the 2016 Olympic bid, the Tempel Lipizzans are adding a new performance segment on Sundays this summer. This segment will feature a popular phase of the Olympic dressage competition – the musical freestyle or Kür. In the Kür, the horse and rider present the movements that are in the standard dressage competition to their own musical selection with original choreography.
Following each performance, guests will be invited to take a self-guided walking tour of the grounds that includes Tempel Farms’ current competitive arenas, as well as mapped locales and renderings of the proposed 18,000-seat stadium and more than 30 additional equestrian complex buildings covered in Chicago’s Olympic bid.
2016 would not be the first time that Tempel Farms would host a large multi-faced equestrian competition. In recent years, Tempel Farms has hosted the North American Young Riders Competition, a junior Olympic event for North and South American countries, more than 15 times, the most of any single venue. In this event, young riders are judged by the some of the same international judges as those in the World Equestrian Games and the Olympic Games.
Tempel Farms is located in northern Lake County, Illnois, about a 50-minute drive from Chicago or Milwaukee. The farm is in the Gurnee area, near Great America. Tickets, available at the gate, are priced at $18 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and $10 for children, ages 4 to 14. Veterans and active military personnel with identification receive half-priced admission. In case of inclement weather, performances are held indoors. Parking is free. Lunch is available in the Farms’ outdoor café. For more information, visit www.tempelfarms.com or call (847) 623-7272.
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