Sisi the Horse Trainer

[Ministargazer]

I am assuming that Sisi, Empress Elisabeth had interests in horse training from the photo seen of her on a kneeling horse. Please see my video October 2022 - I am training a young Quarter Horse on the lunge for a friend and I have been researching and investigating a possible lifetime as Sisi for several years now. If anyone has more information about her as a horse trainer please let me know.

 

[Emma66]

I don't know about Empress Elizabeth being a horse trainer, maybe a very good rider but a horse trainer?
That's reminds me of my life as a Don Cossack in imperial Russia, my family was breeding horses, I was a very good rider in this lifetime and nowadays I still have horses, had bred many horses, enjoyed trail riding (sadly, don't ride anymore due to health issues) . My family was not at all involved in the horse business but I remember loving horses since my youngest years. I also remember as a very young child, making a kind of saddle from a cushion ,belt and strings to put on the arm of an armchair as a horse. My mother disagreed and I was punished. Now I really think it looked like a cossack saddle.
I guess I know where my love for horses comes from.

 

[fireflydancing]

This reminds me of some funny moments. I had always wanted to ride a horse, so in my twenties, I signed up for a series of horseback riding lessons. I was amazed at how huge those horses were and had trouble getting into the saddle. I also discovered immediately how clever those horses were because they never listened to me. I couldn't even get a horse to start walking. I did finish my ten lessons but I didn't continue riding horses.
And now the funny moments. It happened at least two times that a horse (not always the same one) tried to run off with me. Totally out of control. Those were the moments of truth. Somehow I didn't let that happen. Something inside of me knew exactly what to do and 'forced' them to calm down and return to a calm step. I am still proud of those moments.

I have visual memories of three different lives in which I am riding a horse. In two of those lives, I must have had a close bond with the horses but those experiences didn't help me to enjoy riding a horse in this life. I also assume that those horses from the past were smaller and lower than the ones in the horse riding school. And I wonder if I used a saddle in the past.

 

[SeaAndSky]

Hi Mini,

There seem to be many articles on the internet implying or stating that Sisi trained horses. I found this one interesting:

Equine Girl Bosses: Empress Elizabeth of Austria

From training with the circus to working with "untamable" rescues, Empress Elizabeth of Austria, affectionately known as Sisi, certainly was an equine girl boss. Royalty -- such as Isabella I of Castille -- used horses to display power and wealth, but one truly fell in love with the sport...

www.horsenation.com

Here is a quote from an article stating that she did dressage, which involves training horses:

She was in the saddle for more than eight hours a day, did dressage and was one of the few ladies who could not only keep up with the rest of the lot in dangerous hunts in Great Britain and Ireland, but even became known as the “queen behind the pack”.

(https://blog.dorotheum.com/en/sisi-of-austria/). From the Wikipedia article on Dressage:

Dressage (/ˈdrɛsɑːʒ/ or /drɪˈsɑːʒ/; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by the International Equestrian Federation, dressage is described as "the highest expression of horse training" where "horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements."[1]

Cordially,
S&S

 

[Ministargazer]

Hi Mini,

There seem to be many articles on the internet implying or stating that Sisi trained horses. I found this one interesting:

Equine Girl Bosses: Empress Elizabeth of Austria

From training with the circus to working with "untamable" rescues, Empress Elizabeth of Austria, affectionately known as Sisi, certainly was an equine girl boss. Royalty -- such as Isabella I of Castille -- used horses to display power and wealth, but one truly fell in love with the sport...

www.horsenation.com

Here is a quote from an article stating that she did dressage, which involves training horses:

She was in the saddle for more than eight hours a day, did dressage and was one of the few ladies who could not only keep up with the rest of the lot in dangerous hunts in Great Britain and Ireland, but even became known as the “queen behind the pack”.

(https://blog.dorotheum.com/en/sisi-of-austria/). From the Wikipedia article on Dressage:

Dressage (/ˈdrɛsɑːʒ/ or /drɪˈsɑːʒ/; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by the International Equestrian Federation, dressage is described as "the highest expression of horse training" where "horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements."[1]

Cordially,
S&S

Thank you so much S&S for this research on Sisi. If she was a past life of mine it may explain my obsession with horses, as a "horse crazy" teenager as they wrote in my High School yearbook so long ago. Future outlook - "saddle sores". And why I keep coming back to horses throughout my life. I did own a stallion at one point - a purebred Welsh pony stallion and raised ponies - all before the age of 20! I have a particular fondness for rescues and the mare that I am lunging in the video is a rescue. I have a stern eye for how horses are cared for, demand the best stabling that can be provided and clashed repeatedly with my father growing up over how the ponies should be managed. This, I might assume, comes from Empress Elisabeth's high standards. Of course, she would have had the best stables in the country and still today, I observe the care of the horses very carefully wherever they are kept.

 

[Ministargazer]

Empress Elisabeth had a tattoo of a ship's anchor on her left shoulder and I have a birth mark on my left shoulder that could vaguely resemble the same shape. I have always puzzled over this. Could there be a connection?