They will come out together, in formation. Shining white in the electric lights of the Show Me Center, the Lipizzaner Stallions, possibly the world's most renowned horses, will perform an array of movements only one of the world's best-trained horses can execute.

A total of 13 horses, 10 of them Lipizzaners and the others Spanish Andalusians, will demonstrate their training at 7:30 tonight during a performance of "The Wonderful World of Horses" at the Show Me Center.

The meticulously prepared, all-white stallions are a mix of Spanish Andalusian and Arabian horses. They stand as tall as 64 inches and perform maneuvers that have been bred into them for 2,000 years.

"They were primarily trained as cavalry horses," Dave King, narrator and performance director for "The Wonderful World of Horses," said. "Most of the things they do are natural movements you would see them doing out playing in the pasture."

The Lipizzaner is a cross between two of the most revered war horses ever used. A distant ancestor was the horse that bore Ghengis Khan and his hordes of Mongols out of Asia to conquer most of Russia. Bedouins used Arabians to patrol, guard and raid caravans traveling the roads of Alexander the Great through the Middle East. Julius Caesar and much of his Roman cavalry rode Andalusians. Ironically, Hannibal relied on those same Spanish horses to assist his crossing of the Alps in 218 B.C. for his invasion of Italy and sacking of Rome.

A descendant of Andalusians and a cousin to the Lipizzaner is the American quarter horse.

The jumps, kicks and turns that Lipizzaners use in their modern shows are extensions of the maneuvers that helped their riders defeat foot soldiers hundreds of years ago. One move in particular, called a Capriole, in which the horse leaps almost five feet into the air, hangs horizontally for just a moment then kicks back with its hind legs, must have had a devastating impact.

The training of a Lipizzaner is a patient process, King said. The stallions are slow to develop and do not begin training until they are 4 years old. This is not a liability as they can perform until they are 25 years old. A typical Lipizzaner Stallion can live to be 35.

"They're late bloomers," King said. "But they like the work. In fact they're hard to retire. If we send them out to pasture it breaks their spirit."

According to a fact sheet distributed by the producers of "The Wonderful World of Horses," the high-spirited and fiery stallions are remarkably gentle with their trainers because the horses are never mistreated. The booklet says, "Its mildness comes not from being cowered, but from being free of fear."

The training of the horses is a reciprocal process, with experienced trainers working with the young stallions while the younger trainers work with older horses. The style of training used for these horses dates back to ancient Greece and is called dressage.

"Sometimes we show them what we want them to do. Then through trial, repetition and reward we get them to do the maneuvers in response to signals from the trainers," King said. "It's a gradual process. There are a dozen techniques we can use and they all work. It's just a matter of discovering each horse's likes and dislikes."

Xenophon is credited with creating the art of dressage in 400 B.C. He described the training as inducing "the horse to assume that carriage which it would adopt of its own accord when displaying its beauty. Then one directs the horse to appear joyous and magnificent, proud and remarkable to having been ridden. If the rider is not in harmony with the nature of the animal then it will perform as a burden with no display of pleasure."

Trainers work closely with a select four or five horses so as to learn their capabilities and personalities. No single Lipizzaner has ever been able to do all of the maneuvers the show demonstrates, and the trainers believe no one horse ever will master them all. Instead the stallions master one move, the one they take to most naturally, and that talent is nurtured. Only the most talented and physically accomplished animals will perform.

The horses also do a high-stepping trot while standing in place, a jump while standing on their hind legs and a jump in which the horse draws itself into a horizontal position above the ground and seems to hang motionless with all four legs drawn up under its body.

King said "The Wonderful World of Horses" performs in 120 to 140 cities a year, using primarily the same horses for each show. He said the stallions are of a particularly hardy breed and respond better to hard work then they do a lush, peaceful pasture.

"They came from a rugged craggy area and they thrived in that," he said. "They were once moved to a lush grassy area and they nearly died out. They like to work. Once we see some slight soreness in them, some indication that they might be getting tired, we'll move them to Las Vegas were they can work only half-weeks.

"Sort of semi-retirement. They like that."