Away on their hols probably? stallions out with the mares or perhaps travelling Europe with displays ?
Anyone remember the film in the 1960s about the Lippezaners being rescued? (1963)
End months of WWII: The mares had been moved earlier but history dictates: During a break in the action, Colonel Reed began to organize transport to get the horses out of Hostau to U.S. lines. Many of the stallions were ridden out by American, German and Cossack officers, while some of the mares were driven on the hoof like some Wild West-style roundup. The others with their foals were loaded onto hastily converted German and American trucks and sent west.
The group made good its escape without a moment to spare; Soviet T-34 tanks arrived on the eastern edge of Hostau just as the Lipizzaners and Stewart’s Foreign Legion rolled out of town. A tense stand-off followed, but the Red Army decided not to risk a clash with Reed’s forces and Operation Cowboy was successfully completed with not a moment to lose.