Operation Cowboy

== Background ==

== Background ==

After the [[Anschluss|annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany]] in 1938, the [[Lipizzan]]er Breeding Mares of the [[Spanish Riding School]] in Vienna were transferred to an experimental farm in the town of Hostau, in [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia]]. The goal was to create a race of "Aryan horses".<ref name = "MHN">{{Cite web|title=Operation Cowboy|url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2018/11/25/operation-cowboy-how-american-gis-german-soldiers-joined-forces-to-save-the-legendary-lipizzaner-horses-in-the-final-hours-of-ww2/|website=Militaryhistorynow| date=25 November 2018 |archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> The head of the Spanish Riding School, [[Alois Podhajsky]], was a famed German horseman and dressage expert, who had been a bronze medallist at the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Olympics]]. He had also been an [[Austrian Federal Army|Austrian Army]] officer, and by 1938 had been enrolled in the [[Wehrmacht]] with the rank of Major.<ref name = "AI">{{Cite web|title=Operation Cowboy|url=https://www.austrianinformation.org/winter-2015-16/q9tmol70rthidza2tsnq21x19ve77u|website=austrianinformation.org|date=16 December 2015 |archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> In the final phases of World War II, Hostau was on the advancing path of the [[Soviet]] [[Red Army]] from the East, and the German soldiers on the farm were unenthusiastic about surrendering to the Russians. On the other side, to the West, the [[XII Corps (United States)|XII Corps]] of the American [[United States Army Central|Third Army]] was also advancing towards the farm, commanded by General [[George Patton]], racing with the [[Soviets]] for the liberation of Prague.<ref name = "MHN"/>

After the [[Anschluss|annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany]] in 1938, the [[Lipizzan]]er Breeding Mares of the [[Spanish Riding School]] in Vienna were transferred to an experimental farm in the town of Hostau, in [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia]]. The goal was to create a race of "Aryan horses".<ref name = "MHN">{{Cite web|title=Operation Cowboy|url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2018/11/25/operation-cowboy-how-american-gis-german-soldiers-joined-forces-to-save-the-legendary-lipizzaner-horses-in-the-final-hours-of-ww2/|website=Militaryhistorynow| date=25 November 2018 |archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> The head of the Spanish Riding School, [[Alois Podhajsky]], was a famed German horseman and dressage expert, who had been a bronze medallist at the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Olympics]]. He had also been an [[Austrian Federal Army|Austrian Army]] colonel, and by 1938 had been enrolled in the [[Wehrmacht]] with the rank of Major.<ref name = "AI">{{Cite web|title=Operation Cowboy|url=https://www.austrianinformation.org/winter-2015-16/q9tmol70rthidza2tsnq21x19ve77u|website=austrianinformation.org|date=16 December 2015 |archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> In the final phases of World War II, Hostau was on the advancing path of the [[Soviet]] [[Red Army]] from the East, and the German soldiers on the farm were unenthusiastic about surrendering to the Russians. On the other side, to the West, the [[XII Corps (United States)|XII Corps]] of the American [[United States Army Central|Third Army]] was also advancing towards the farm, commanded by General [[George Patton]], racing with the [[Soviets]] for the liberation of Prague.<ref name = "MHN"/>

== Prelude ==

== Prelude ==