The Lipizzan; A Rare Breed

Mr. Hop,

I received your email from the manager of the USLR. I am producing a show in the coming weeks and am giving a presentation on Lipizzans. I was wondering
if you had and accurate number of the worldwide total of Lipizzans worldwide?

The last number I have is 3500. Also do you know what percentage is thought to remain bay or black? I thought it was just 1%. Your help would be greatly
appreciated, as there will be over 1000 people at this show and I want to be very sure my numbers are accurate.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Dabbs
Director: The Southwest Lipizzan Association

Dear Mrs Dabbs,

The official number of purebred Lipizzans in the world is hard to give.

It is very surprisingly where Lipizzans show up in the world !! However, according to the official figures, which the LIF counted a few years ago, there are about 4,200 purebred Lipizzans around the world.

So, less than 5,000, which is the critical quantity in order to be considered as a rare breed... The number of coloured (i.e. not-grey) is also hard to give. Approximately it will be 10- 15%. In those countries, in which the Lipizzaner horse used to be used in daily (harness and even agricultural) work, such as Hungary Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, the percentage is higher than in other countries.

With kind regards,
Atjan Hop
Secretary General LIF