Dear Mr. Cox, Yes, I agree with David, these look like the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Vienna Riding School. In 1945 they were secretly moved out of Vienna and eventually reunited with the mares which had been moved to Czechoslovakia and rescued by Gen. Patton. You can learn all about it from the 1963 Disney flick on YouTube, “Miracle of the White Stallions.” Maybe this photo was taken at some point during the escape of the stallions from Vienna. Haha, but let’s not forget “Operation Cowboy,” that brought the Lipizzaner mares across the Czech border to Bad Kötzing in liberated Bavaria on the Regen River. These horses were partly herded, partly ridden, by American soldiers but also by a group of Cossacks who had defected from the advancing Soviet army. Maybe it’s them in the photo?!? TMI. Sorry. But you did ask! – AJ
Me as an Australian cowboy quite a few years ago! Sorry to be wearing clothes. It was cold!
Nice pic!
Thanks Jim! Here’s a more current one.
This by far is one of the most beautiful photos and it expresses so much more than just men on horses. It represents freedom, comfort, masculinity, love of nature, respect, caring, and so much more. I would like to know the origin of this photo. And what it meant to the individuals riding these beautiful creatures of this earth. The photo takes my breath away every time I view it.
Hi David, I love your comment. I suspect that the men on the horses in this photo were Cossacks, real horsemen, not just America GI “cowboys,” judging from the way they are sitting bareback on their horses as if they were born together as one and the same animal. Frankly, none of the other gorgeous nude guys who are pictured in this post either on or standing close to their horses look as if they have the first clue about how to ride. If you want to see a clip from the best movie I know about Australian men riding horses in the gorgeous High Country of Victoria, then watch this clip from “The Man from Snowy River” (1982), filmed in the Snowy Mountains and featuring an all-Australian cast of riders (with the exception of Kirk Douglas who I don’t think we see doing much riding). The YouTube clip is called “Jim’s Ride,” starring a young Australian actor who was specially trained by a horseman from the High Country for the role of the young man who is trying to prove to his father that he is up to the job of herding wild horses. Even with all his clothes on, “Jim” and his horse are sexier by far, in my view, than the eye-candy, naked Cossacks on their Lipizzaners. And the wild horses in the clip, if you love horses, are a sight to behold.
Hello AJ and thank you for the response to my email as well as the film clip. I have to agree with you on the film clip. It was beautiful and masculine. Men and horses works for me too.