Captain Count Wilhelm Starhemberg with his Hungarian half-bred Athos, winner of the long-distance race Wien-Berlin 1892. 592 km in 71 hours and 26 minutes.
Nobody can fault this. It's just perfect! Everything. The posture of horse and rider, the uniform, the tack. Not an unneccesary thread, not an unnecessary strap, not a single movement without advancement. It oozes style. But then, such a test would naturally favour the most economical performer.
I took the picture, which was painted by Julius von Blaas (1845-1923), from the great book "Pferde unter dem Doppeladler" by Martin Haller Hildesheim 2002, ISBN: 3-487-08430-9.
