GETTY The Nazis were breeding a race of perfect military horses

The world’s most beautiful and priceless stallions had been captured and stolen by the Third Reich: 350 dazzling white thoroughbreds, royal Lipizzaners and Arabian steeds. The Führer had ordered the stately beasts seized across Europe and planned to create a bloodline of the purest, most beautiful horses the world had ever seen. But as the German front collapsed in 1945 Hitler’s stable of super-horses threatened to become stew for the pots of hungry Russian troops as they advanced on Berlin.

The daring mission by American troops to rescue the horses from behind enemy lines, herding them across 130 battle-scarred miles, is detailed in a fascinating new book, The Perfect Horse. “It was a mission fraught with danger against Germans ordered to fight to the death,” says author Elizabeth Letts. “They risked their lives to save these horses.” There were stately Arabians and muscular Russian Kabardins but the majority were aristocratic Lipizzaners, with snow-white coats, intelligent eyes, swan-like necks and regal bearing.

Many were snatched by the Nazis from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and the magnificent steeds were trapped in Czech territory as General Patton’s 3rd Army raced toward them from the West and the Red Army approached from the East. By 1943 the Nazis had gathered almost every Lipizzaner in Europe at a stud farm near Vienna, acquired by Hitler’s Master of the Horse, Gustav Rau. “The beautiful Lipizzaners were priceless,” says Letts. “A prized Arabian today can fetch £5million. This was an equine treasure trove.” But the Führer’s aim was sinister.

ULRICH RODOFSKY Colonel Huber Rodofsky with two Arabian steeds at Hostau

“Just as Hitler wanted to eliminate ‘impure’ human strains so Rau planned to use selective breeding to erase the individual differences characterising the several strains of Lipizzaner that had emerged and replace them with a single mould: pure, imperial and ideally suited to military use.” Though the US army dispensed with horses by 1943 the Nazis embraced them, employing 2.7 million during the Second World War. Almost two-thirds were killed or wounded. But as the German army collapsed in 1945 the prized überhorses were evacuated to Hostau in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

GETTY Lippizan horses are amongst the most coveted of breeds

The horses may have remained a Nazi secret if not for a group of Luftwaffe officers fleeing Berlin who were caught by the US 2nd Cavalry. Among their classified papers were photos of two stunning white Lipizzaner stallions. Captured Luftwaffe Colonel Walter Holters confessed to interrogators: “Not far from here some of the most valuable horses in the world are being sheltered. “These are no ordinary horses. They are royal Lipizzaner from Vienna. “The German army sent them to Hostau for safe-keeping. Now they are in danger of being captured by the advancing Russian army.”

VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Colonel Charles Hancock Reed led the rescue mission

If the Soviets reached the horses first they faced a grim fate.

They risked their lives to save these horses Elizabeth Letts, book author

“The Russians had been ruthless in their treatment of horses – shooting unco-operative ones and using many as food,” says Letts. Nazi Colonel Hubert Rudofsky, in charge of the horses at Hostau, realising that the Americans were the only way to save his steeds, sent a spy across the German border begging the onrushing Americans for help. But the US army had agreed with Stalin to advance no further than Germany’s border with Czechoslovakia and the horses lay miles beyond. Cavalry commander Colonel Hank Reed appealed to General Patton, a veteran horseman, who urged a rescue attempt but warned that if the mission went awry the US army would deny all knowledge of it.

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“Get them,” said Patton. “And make it fast.” Reed sent word to Colonel Rudofsky to expect help unaware that the horse farm had already been commandeered by German troops ordered to fight to the death. On April 28, 1945, two days before Hitler would commit suicide in his Berlin bunker, the 2nd Cavalry set off with tanks and assault guns for Hostau. As the Americans approached, Hostau’s commandant General Schulze fled, rapidly followed by his troops. Though the 2nd Cavalry met only sporadic resistance marching into Hostau they endured a five-hour battle to hold their ground.

GETTY The approaching Red Army would have likely killed the horses for food

Within days of the war’s end General Patton visited the farm and demanded the horses perform though war-weary and unrehearsed. The Lipizzaners’ performances at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna are legendary: the white steeds move with magisterial grace, performing a series of intricate moves displaying exquisite control. They high-step as if floating on air, leap on the spot with all four feet flying, pirouette on their hind legs and execute complex choreographed routines. Impressed, Patton promised the horses US army protection but within days Russian troops clamoured to overtake Hostau.

GETTY 200 troops were sent to secure the horses

Colonel Reed ordered more than 200 horses to march across Czechoslovakia to safety in Germany, threatening obstructive Czech troops with tanks before they let the animals pass. Some 219 mares were trucked to Kötzting in Bavaria but quickly ran out of food. Another 100 rescued purebreds remained in Poland, Yugoslavia and Russia. Fearing the horses would not survive the US army decided to ship them to America for their safety.

GETTY General George Patton wanted to save the horses

Just as teams of art experts and “Monuments Men” scoured Europe for masterpieces looted by the Nazis so a special team of horse detectives was assembled to track down “the best of the best of the captured horses for shipment to America”, says Letts. Americans recovered another 73 Lipizzaners taken from the Spanish Riding School, hidden in St Martin, Austria. Aarriving in America by ship the horses were feted as heroes but the US army soon lost interest. The American Jockey Club refused to accept their pedigrees and many were put down.

GETTY Sadly after the war, many of the horses were forgotten and put down