Recent content by PapaverFollis

I think the "she's a mother" thing is just to guilt trip anyone being critical. Alongside the Caroline Flack references particularly.

And I 100% think in all seriousness that we need some age restriction. Limit the speed of progression. Reward long term soundness.

Grand Prix tests ridden one handed with loops in the reins and no stirrups. Extra marks for no noseband. Extra marks for forgoing the bit and riding in a side pull or bridleless. Just, as you go through the levels give extra marks for the removal of anything you can hide behind. Switch the...

The only way to change people would be to not have competitive horse sports I think. Not changing people but removing motivation. Equipment rules and age limit rules etc would just mitigate some of the damage that can be caused to horses by competitive, ego and status driven people. But the...

"We got team Gold in the eventing!" Hoo-bloody-rah. I didn't even feel a tiny modicum of happiness at the news. Normally I'd be dead chuffed. Amazing the change the video of CDJ has wrought in me. It's bizarre. I have been been thinking about horses or horse sports that much for two years...

Oh dear, we seem to have a new phrase in this house... to smack a horse with a whip has become to "Charlotte" them. 😬

The high level movements should fall out of correct gymnastic training smoothly and easily. Yes if they are trained like tricks (either with force or positive reinforcement) in their own right to be performed by horses that are not carefully physically conditioned to perform them under saddle...

Piaffe, passage and pirouette are only weird and unnatural when performed by hypermobile, shoulder-moving but actually stuck on the forehand warmbloods who wouldn't know what collection was if it smacked them on the arse with a lunge whip. And by "performed by" I mean "bullied out of by strong...

Lower age limits for horses through the levels might be a start. No Grand Prix before..... X years. Make it a big number to encourage keeping horses sound and taking good time. Judges looking for the actual Thing instead of being fooled by the appearance of the Thing. Burn it all down and...

The participants of Appleby Horse Fair are not being held up as paragons of equestrian virtue.

Saracen Horse Feeds have withdrawn sponsorship too... but they do say they they will "ensure there is no disruption to [the horses'] nutrition management".

There's no context in which hitting a horse being ridden by a minor with the lash of a lunge whip is OK.

I can't get over the fundamental misunderstanding that lifting the legs higher should be trained like a trick rather than emerge naturally from correct gymnastic conditioning. Even if you were to train leg lifting with well-executed positive reinforcement rather than a stupid and poorly timed...

I'm usually quite quick to defend the indefensible when it comes to online videos of people acting badly with horses. Especially when it come to trial and execution by social media. People are human amd have bad days and horses can be quite robust and forgiving when it comes to a one off loss...

There's a Dutch Beach Volleyball player heading to the Olympics despite being convicted of raping a child. I wonder if he is sponsored. Just as an addition to the "other transgressions in sport" and sponsorship discussion.