splashgirl45
Lurcher lover
Glad someone agrees with me
Dressage Discussion- FEI removes the principles of dressage (rule 401) and moves to guidelines only, implications for future of dressage.
- Thread starter shortstuff99
- Start date
tristar
Well-Known Member
the last piaffe is not collection it is compression, [with extreme tension]
the rider is using the spurs heavily, by the angle of the toes, riding hard into the contact, if you can call that contact, against all the principles of dressage to ask for forward/impulsion/collection then not allow it to shape the horses outline.
surely its going the way of bull baiting, cock fighting, and these are horses! sensitive flesh and blood, i want to know where the cruelty people are, never mind the spineless F E I
j1ffy
Well-Known Member
Quite a contrast to to Sabine Schut Kery's description of her aims with Sanceo: https://www.usef.org/media/equestri...bxCYB7Nngps4L35FIT0HS65ZxyM9vSEKQGmNk1B8LoGQc
"He is so sensitive, and he would react to really small adjustments,” said Schut-Kery. “I created a system over the years to help him through [tension]. The system is so refined [that] such a small body language and just even sometimes a deep breath from me and he would respond. That's what made it so fun to work with him because of that sensitivity level. If I lower my hands or I lengthen my leg, which relaxes my seat a little bit on his back, that would make a difference in him. It became this really sophisticated and fun language that felt invisible with such small aids.”
I'm not particularly au fait with dressage in the USA, but their top riders do seem to aim for lightness and the Dutch / Scandi heavy-handed approach doesn't seem as prevalent.
RachelFerd
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't pretend to know a lot, but I suspect there's a lot of influence in USA of people like Sally O'Connor who were actually classical background originally. I always enjoyed her books. And perhaps there is a thread of thinking that comes through from the western and horsemanship worlds where light/no contact is prevalent rather than strong contact.
I'd love to see a world in the future where things like rein pressure sensors were actually used in the ring, with penalties attached to excess pressure.
Caol Ila
Well-Known Member
Perhaps there is something in this.
My early dressage lessons on Gypsum were from a Swedish trainer living in Boulder, who had me holding the horse in a strong contact and pushing her into it. It wasn't very effective. As a draft cross who did not want to put more effort into things then she had to, she learned to shut down and go behind the leg. Not ideal. Now that I think about it, there was a weird disconnect at the barn. It was the same place I wrote about in the other thread, which had such a strong emphasis on horsemanship. Not everyone at the barn did dressage, but the people who did were so starry-eyed over a European trainer that they didn't see how this didn't fit with the horsemanship we incorporated into everything else we did with our horses. That includes me.
Anyway, when I moved out east, my trainer was from New York, originally, and she had me pushing the horse forward into a light hand.
Cortez
Tough but Fair
Unfortunately the primary driving force in the US, as elsewhere, is to win. There are plenty of good trainers there, but it's all about the results when it comes to competition.