Tucked away, in a few small, rural towns of the Pacific Northwest are some of the finest Lipizzan horses in the world.  A handful of breeders have acquired and cultivated these rare horses with amazing success.  This is their story:

Lipizzans are an old breed, made famous primarily via the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria.  The school was established in 1572, and initially used only Spanish horses for its parades, celebrations and displays of classical horsemanship.  When Spanish horses from Andalusia became difficult to purchase, the Austrian Archduke Charles set up his own stud farm in Lipizza.  There, he bred Spanish horses to the sturdy, native Karst horses and to a few select Italian horses.  His stud began to produce an agile, easily collected mount, capable of the most intricate military maneuvers.  Eventually, these Lipizzaners became the only mounts used at the Spanish Riding School, the oldest classical riding school in the world.

Lipizzans are a rare breed.  Today there are only about 4,500 of these horses in the world.  In the 1900s a few wealthy American industrialists, heiresses and educated European riders began to import them to the U.S.

Evelyn Driezler of Snohomish, Washington was the first individual to import Lipizzans to the Pacific Northwest.  A wealthy heiress, she traveled abroad and studied for weeks at a time at the Spanish Riding School.  In the days after World War II, the school was in dire need of funds to repair its stables and grounds.  As a result, they took in paying students.  Evelyn, through her connections, was able to purchase three shipments of Piber-bred horses (the present-day stud farm of the Spanish Riding School) in the 1960’s.  She established her breeding program and called it Raflyn Farms.

An independent and colorful figure, Evelyn rode, showed, bred and promoted the breed for 15 years.  She carefully selected her mares and stallions, all from Piber, Austria, and bred many fine foals.  Her health began to fail in her late forties, but she continued to struggle on.  Then, in December of 1975, a disaster struck from which she would not recover.

For Juni Garre Greenough, daughter of a Viennese psychiatrist, and a young friend of Evelyn Driezler, that day 31 years ago is forever etched in her memory.  On December 3rd she woke with the first light of dawn as usual, to ride Evelyn’s stallions, Maestoso Africa and Pluto Calcedona before going to work at her music store.  When she glanced out the window of her small, hilltop house what she saw horrified her.  The homes, farms, ranches-—including Raflyn—were covered by a dark, churning lake.  Juni could just make out the roof of Raflyn’s arena above the swirling water.

Juni pulled on her clothes and ran to her car.  She knew of a back way to reach a nearby Arabian farm, on higher ground, where she might be able to get closer to Raflyn and the Lipizzans.  The mares and foals were in the fields, but the stallions were locked in the barn.  Only one employee lived at the farm and Evelyn was in the hospital again, battling her illness.

Juni Garre Greenough had only known Evelyn for about eight months.  Fascinated by the Lipizzans she went to the farm one day and found love at first sight, when her eyes met those of a young Maestoso Africa.  He was a just-started five year-old Lipizzan stallion—not a common mount for a novice rider.  But a relationship bloomed between Juni and the owner of Raflyn Farms.  Evelyn was only 53 years old and dying.  Fifteen years of importing and breeding Lipizzans was nearing its end.  Hospital bills mounting, and her ability to attend to her horses fading, the once proud farm was disintegrating.  Evelyn let Juni into her crumbling world, and Juni became dedicated to the two stallions.

As Juni wound around the rural dirt roads, she saw several people in a boat.  Vince, a young man from a neighboring farm, shouted to her, “French Creek Dam broke last night!” The water from its reservoirs had flooded the valley.  Vince promised he’d make two more trips to rescue people and then he’d row her to Raflyn and see if they could rescue the horses.

By the time he returned, the task seemed impossible.  It was snowing.  Bodies of dead farm animals floated in nearly five feet of water.  Juni saw no sign of the mares and foals.  When they reached Raflyn’s stallion barn, they could barely open the huge sliding doors, against the pressure of the water.  The stallions were locked in their stalls, up to their necks in water.  Juni had to dive under water to get the Dutch doors open.  But the horses wouldn’t leave!  Panicked, they huddled in their stalls, afraid to leave the safety they had always trusted, to swim out into the dark water in the corridor.  What to do?  Juni led Tekla, Evelyn’s Grand Prix black Lipizzan mare through the water to a spot of high ground—only to watch the old mare tremble and collapse of a heart attack before her eyes.

There was no time to waste.  Juni called her stallions and finally they responded and swam out to her.  She saw in the distance a mound of high ground, near the railway tracks.  She got the older stallion Pluto Calcedona to swim to the tracks and left him there while she went back for Maestoso Africa.  With Vince rowing, and Maestoso Africa’s head cradled in the back of the boat, and a mare named Lot’s o Lovin resting her head on the stallion’s rump to keep above water, they made their way to a nearby farm that had not flooded.  It was over a mile, through rough currents.  Juni tried to remember where the buildings and fences were, but it was impossible to know.  Maestoso Africa got his legs tangled in a submerged wire fence but he didn’t panic and broke free.  Finally, they reached the ranch and the stallion and mare were taken to dry stalls and blanketed.

It was far from over.  Vince got a larger boat and they went back to get Pluto Calcedona.  Juni decided to lead him the seven miles on the railroad tracks, rather than try to swim the increasingly dangerous current.  When she reached the stallion, she haltered him and, soaked to the bone, they both walked down the tracks.  On the ground were small bunnies and other little animals, which had fled to escape the flood.  Pluto Calcedona carefully stepped over them as he walked.

By the time Juni and the older stallion reached the safety of a vet’s horse van, it was nearly dark.  Juni was wet and exhausted.  Friends insisted she come to their home to dry off and rest.  She had eaten nothing all day.  Employees of Raflyn told her that they would save the rest of the horses, but only a few survived.  Evelyn’s saddlebreds, with their heavy shoes and tied up tails, couldn’t swim and all died.  The Lipizzan mares and foals in the fields also perished.  The two stallions Juni had rescued were the only survivors.

In gratitude for her valiant efforts, Evelyn Dreisler gave Juni Garre Greenough her stallion, Maestoso Africa.  Evelyn died a year later.  Maestoso Africa never again left the care of Juni and was her companion and dressage horse for 20 years until his death.  Maestoso Africa went on to sire about 12 foals.  Today, Juni Garre Greenough rides his daughter, Madeline.

Pluto Calcedona died a year after the flood.  Fortunately, despite the loss of so many horses, the results of Evelyn’s careful breeding program were not completely lost.  One stallion, Pluto Famosa, out of Pluto Calcedona, and four mares (Alea, Dalea, Deja and Europa) out of another Raflyn imported Piber stallion, Maestoso Brezova II, had been sold before the flood, to El Capitan Ranch in California.

Another stallion, Pluto Bona III (out of Pluto Calcedona) and a Pluto Calcedona mare, Gaeta, were sold to Rogelio Sada of Monterey, Mexico.  Some of the offspring of these horses, especially through the mare, Dalea, eventually came back to Oregon and Washington.  Pluto Bona II, a Raflyn-bred stallion owned by Carole Gauger, sired many foals—some of these horses and their offspring are here in the Northwest, as well.  Raflyn bloodlines, and Evelyn’s work have lived on after her death.

After 1975, there were no purebred Lipizzan breeders in Oregon and Washington for 10 years.  Juni Garre Greenough was a young musician and not a wealthy woman.  But, she, her stallion, and a Dutch horse trader, were principal factors in the next chapter of Lipizzan breeding.

In Canada, Lipizzans had caught the attention of several horse fanciers.  In the 1970s, Ian P. Munroe of Stouffville, Ontario imported a stallion, Maestoso Gradita 40, and four mares who were in foal to Piber stallions.  In 1976, Windrush Farms of Calgary, Alberta purchased the horses imported and bred by Ian Munroe but sold them all a few months later to Paul Boel of Castlegar, British Columbia.  He continued the breeding program and the herd grew to 25 horses.

Paul Boel died in the summer of 1984, leaving his estate in financial difficulties.  The estate searched for a horse trader to take all of the horses immediately.  Fortunately for the Pacific Northwest, they found a Dutch horse trader, John van Dongen, who bought the entire stock of 18 mares and seven stallions.  Van Dongen decided to sell the whole lot at the 1985 winter sale at Hermiston, Oregon.  It was no easy feat to get the horses transported, since many had never been in a trailer.  Van Dongen, a third generation horseman, was the man for the job.  He transported the mares to Hermiston to winter over until the sale.  He brought the stallions later.

In the meantime, Juni Garre Greenough and Maestoso Africa had turned some heads.  In the late 1970s Cele and Tony Noble became friends with Juni.  During some hard times, Juni and her stallion went to live with the Nobles and Juni bred Maestoso Africa to one of their mares.  This Lipizzan crossbred, Knight Cap, went on to perform superbly for Cele and Tony’s daughter.  Cele was intrigued.  But there were no purebred Lipizzans for sale.  They were still too rare in the U.S.

In Goldendale, Washington, June and Leonard Boardman, both teachers, also became interested in Lipizzans after study and a trip to Vienna to see the stallions at the Spanish Riding School.  They met Juni and bred one of their Crabbit Arab mares to Maestoso Africa.  Although they wanted to breed Lipizzans, again there were none for sale.

Connie Micheletti’s interest in Lipizzans began when she was hired as a young woman to ride with the Royal Lipizzan Stallion show in Virginia.  The review starred primarily Lipizzans and Andalusian horses.  In those days, girls weren’t allowed to ride the stallions—the owner hired accomplished European men to ride the stallions.  Connie and the other young women rode Morgans in musical freestyle, wearing colorful costumes and carrying flags.  “It was a hoot!,” Connie said of her traveling days with the troupe.  But, being around a high caliber of riders and the magnificent stallions left a lasting impression.

Some years later, in 1976, Connie heard that one of these very stallions was for sale: Conversano Primavera.  Connie remembered the horse well and rushed to buy him.   “I talked a friend into going in on him with me, and it took every penny in both our savings accounts to buy him.”

By 1985, Conversano Primavera was aging.  Connie was beginning to think she would have to breed her own stallion.  Again, the question was—where to buy the stock?

Margaret Gill of Oregon and her husband purchased the Lipizzan stallion, Siglavy Sagana, in the early 1980s.  This stallion was out of a Piber mare, Sagana, imported by El Capitan Ranch in California, the same stud farm that had bought some of the Raflyn horses.  Siglavy Sagana had been sold to a circus trainer, Don McLennon, who trained all sorts of exotic animals.  When Don suffered several heart attacks, he sold this well trained stallion to the Gills.  Siglavy Sagana was a favorite of children because he could bow and do tricks.  He excelled in eventing, western riding, and English pleasure.  Siglavy Sagana lived to the age of 31 and sired his last foal the last year of his life.  In total, he produced 10 foals for the Gills.  They sold all but one, the stallion they have today: Siglavy Tamara.  (But this was all to come. In 1985 the Gills had no Lipizzan mares, only this stallion.)

These four couples, the Boardmans, Nobles, Michelettis and Gills, became connected with Juni Garre Greenough.  Between them there were three Lipizzan stallions (Maestoso Africa, Siglavy Sagana, and Conversano Primavera) and no mares.  When Juni found out about the sale in Hermiston, she immediately notified the others.  It was an astounding opportunity.  So many Lipizzans for sale—both original Piber imports and offspring produced from these Piber horses—at possibly very attractive prices.

The day of the auction was cold, with three feet of snow on the ground.  One hundred fifteen horses were for sale, including 30 Haflingers and about 60 Dutch warmbloods, besides the 25 Lipizzans.  People flew in from as far as New York State and Florida and the auction were packed.  The Lipizzan mares were thin and did not present well.  It had been a harsh winter.  The Northwest breeders knew these were good horses with superb bloodlines.  Leonard Boardman did the bidding for all of them.  Boardmans bought Gaetana, Amarosa (in foal to Athena II), Nautika, and two young fillies, Catrina and Glorianna.  Tony and Cele Noble bought Canissa, Candita, and Materia.  Connie Micheletti bought the stallion, Maestoso Distinta.

John van Dongen took back several horses after the Hermiston sale.  One was a mare named Canada, whom he considered one of the best mares in the herd.  Later, Connie was able to purchase this mare and her colt, Maestoso Canada, who became a well-known producer of fine broodmares.  Canada went on to produce many superb foals, including three stallions who are competing in dressage today.

June and Leonard found their first stallion, Maestoso II Primavera, at a Christian Riding camp, where he had been donated by the Tempel Farms of Illinois.  Later, along with three other breeders in a group called “The Quadrille,” they purchased Neapolitano Oda.  The Boardmans and Nobles also bought a stallion from Texas, Favory II Bonasera II, who became the founding sire of the Nobles’ herd.

Now that they had the horses, the Pacific Northwest breeders were eager to have a mentor, to help them with their breeding program.  They sought out Dr. Jaromar Oulehla, former director of both the Spanish Riding School and the Piber Stud farm.  He agreed to evaluate the horses and teach classes on the breeding of the Lipizzaner.  The Northwest breeders also founded ALBA, the Association of Lipizzan Breeders of America, to promote good breeding practices.

It is no easy task, breeding such a rare breed as the Lipizzaner.  Pedigrees must be carefully researched.  Dr. Oulehla warned that breeders must not breed horses with common ancestors in the first three generations and, most preferably, for five generations back.  Inbreeding can result in insufficient bone, and cryptorchidism, among other problems.

In Europe, the Spanish Riding School had access to Lipizzans in studs in Italy, Romania and Hungary.  Such a small gene pool must be carefully refreshed or, within about 80 years, the quality of the horses will begin to suffer.

The early American breeders were at a distinct disadvantage: they did not have access to a high number of horses or the years of experience that the European breeders did.  In the 1980s many American foals were produced with scores of only 70 to 77%.  But, by the 1990s, Dr. Oulehla was giving horses scores in the 80s.  Year by year, foal scores were improving, as the breeders learned which lines combined the best.

In the summer of 2006, Dr. Oulehla announced that the Pacific Northwest Breeders were producing horses on a par with the Spanish Riding School—an enormous compliment.  The Boardmans and White Horse Vale Lipizzans are now one of the largest breeders of Lipizzan horses in the United States.  Their foals have very high evaluation scores.  Especially high are the foals out of their two imported Piber Stallions: 546 Conversano Mima, and Favory Toscana-18.

Connie Micheletti bred the stallion with the highest evaluation score in North America.  Conversano Gisella received a score of 93%.  Connie has also become known for the exquisite quality of her fillies and broodmares.  She and her husband, Tony, own over 30 Lipizzans and expect seven foals this spring.  They also own an imported Piber stallion, Maestoso Planta, who spent 11 years at the Spanish Riding School.

Cele and Tony Noble have about 22 Lipizzans.  Their mares have excellent bloodlines and many have high scores of 85%.  Their foals have high evaluations and most are sold in utero.