Operation Cowboy

Cheri Isgreen

Many stories abound about Operation Cowboy, the daring rescue of the Lipizzan breed. In addition to rescuing the Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Riding School, Operation Cowboy was the courageous rescue of hundreds of the world’s top breeding horses, as well as many POW soldiers from Hostau, Czechoslovakia. This is my father’s story.

While the Lipizzaner stallions were safe in the Austrian Alps, two hundred miles from Vienna in St. Martin under the care of Colonel Alois Podhajsky, the Lipizzaner mares were German captives at the Hostau Stud in Czechoslovakia. It was the Lipizzaner mares Col.Podhajsky entreated General Patton to save through Operation Cowboy. Without the precious mares, the Lipizzaner breed would be doomed. In the closing chapters of WWII, Patton’s Third Army made an agreement with the German Wehrmacht to surrender to US Forces at Hostau, Czechoslovakia, in advance of the Russian Army. Because the Yalta Conference ceded Czechoslovakia to Russian control, the pact was secret and dispatched with utmost speed.

My father never spoke of his military service until I acquired my first Lipizzan in 2002. Then he told me this story of true heroism along the frontier between Austria and Czechoslovakia. My father belonged to the 94th Division, an elite fighting force, nicknamed “Patton’s Golden Nugget.” Dad participated in the advance maneuvers of the rescue, ensuring success for Operation Cowboy.

The full story is included with purchase.

.: Size: 24“ x 18”

.: Numbered and signed by the artist

.: Paper: FSC-certified, ethically sourced from responsibly-managed trees

.: Material: premium paper stock

.: Paper thickness: 300 gsm

.: Smooth matte finish