First bred in the 16th century by the Austrian royal court, the Lipizzaner was born in Lipizza or Lipica (once the territory of the Austro-Hungarian empire and today in Slovenia), a small village converted into an imperial stud farm for which the objective was to furnish the prestigious Spanish Riding School in Vienna with the most beautiful horses one could imagine.

The Archduke Charles II, a great Equidae lover, decided to import from Andalusia, because of their particular aptitude in the ring, nine stallions and twenty four mares. These horses were then crossbred with the descendants of the old indigenous race. Then, the royal court in Vienna, wishing to ameliorate this new race, continued to purchase other Spanish horses.

Although three of the lines of father stallions were white, it was thanks to the infusions of Arab blood that genetically favoured the white coat, considered that of "imperial horses". This coat became predominant in the beginning of the 19th century and from then on constituted one of the race's characteristics. However, today there does exist in Hungary black and brown horses, but these latter come from a different genetic stock.
 
The fixation of the type in its essential characteristics and its use as a parade and combat horse were already partly obtained in 1735 at the time of the inauguration of the imperial riding school. The Lipizzaner would replace the Andalusian to remain up until today the main actor in the great carrousels and sumptuous fetes.
Six lines of stallions and 18 families of mares, selected in the 18th century under the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa, constitute the basis for breeding.