Following from 'rate this movement', rolkur

DiablosGold

DiablosGold

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Apologies if this vid has been shown before, I found it very informative.

Before researching rolkur a bit more I thought 'there must be something good about it because lots of top riders do it'. After reading a few books and watching vids like this I believe it to be quite cruel.

vid on rolkur
 
That was certainly an eye opener
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Ok, so I freely admit I don't really know much about dressage but...

Why is there such a predominance of overfed, very powerful horses that do it? Surely a TB with correct training is just as capable of getting the marks that anything else is, surely dressage is meant to be about accuracy not extravagance of the paces? I am sure they are other breeds out there competing, but they will surely be very much a minority.

I think all the horses in that clip look very much unhappy, and never really thought about their eyeline before, but how can they see where they are going if they are looking at their feet?
 
Sadly, for horses at the top of any field, there is often a measure of cruelty. I love to watch Dressage, but I cringe when I see some riders who are very heavy handed. Some showjumpers resort to rapping horses to get them to lift their legs up higher, there was recent press about boots lined with prickly material, another where someone used a wire brush on a pole while driving horses.

It is all very sad, and stewards at shows need to be very brave to reprimand these people. God knows what happens to some of these poor horses when they get home.
 
Well!!!
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Ive not seen any videos or many pics of Rollkur in action but OUCH!!! Watching the horses with their heads so unnaturally tucked to their chests
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I love dressage and love the feel of the horse when it finally clicks and you get a beautiful outline and all the power from behind, but then Ive always been taught the highest point is supposed to be the horses poll....not half way down their bloody neck
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someone used a wire brush on a pole while driving horses.



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This can be quite a sensible thing to do, although not at a show to look better in the dressage! Pairs that push onto the pole shying can be an absolute disaster on a road. One of our driving ponies is terrible for shying and pushing on the pole, so much so he's often nearly gone down leaning sideways and nearly causing the opposite pony to go down. A stiff bristle brush on the pole can prevent injured ponies, a wire brush does sound a bit harsh.
 
I agree Snowdrop i would have got up and walked out. I understand that at the top of their fields you do get some practices that are a little unorthadox, but that just seems cruel..
what ever happened to a lot of hard work and determination..? Oh and natural talent?!
 
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what ever happened to a lot of hard work and determination..? Oh and natural talent?!

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I suspect too much pressure to produce too much, too soon
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Question: How do they get their horses heads in like that?! Why dont the horses fight it and raise their heads up to stretch as this looks so awful?
is it the harsh curb action that keeps the head down? Just wondered?!
 
I thought that was a great video to watch, very educational despite it's horrible topic.
I have sent it to a few of my university tutors to take a look at it.
Thank you for posting it!
 
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Question: How do they get their horses heads in like that?! Why dont the horses fight it and raise their heads up to stretch as this looks so awful?
is it the harsh curb action that keeps the head down? Just wondered?!

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4 - 5 inch shanks on the weymouth plus a nice tight curb chain will get pretty much any horse to jam it's head against it's own neck. You'll probably find to begin with they all exploded at being treated this way and objected but they were then probably whipped, whipped and whipped somemore until they stopped objecting.

That's the great thing about warmbloods, they are generally quite amicable by nature and don't put up a massive fight. Try that [****] on an ID or a Cleveland Bay and they'd have you on the floor and trample you as soon as think about it
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Iv known about rollkur all my life and it is so not natural. ThE rider is literally holding the horses head in such a position in which it cant free itself and is forced to go forward into the strain. If you image, when a horse has a fly on its chest it swings its head in and hits it with its muzzle doesnt it? because it cant physically hold it there for long as the strain and muscle stretching is unbearable, now you imaging a fly being on its chest and a horse going to swing his head in to hit it but when it gets to the point where its muzzle touches its chest it stops and holds it!! Can you imagin the strain that must be going down his spine, and the invisable damage that must be occuring in the neck????

its intolerable, and bad horseman ship, the total oposite to what proper dressage should be about. Dressage is showing the relationship between man and beast in a natural state. All the dressage moves are based on movements horses would do in the wild, well iv never seen a horse in the wild with its nose cutting into its chest, maybe i should get out more!
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Its terrible, I've only recently started to really work on dressage but before hand everyone that had taught me and all the books etc have a instructed classical dressage. whereby the poll should be the highest point and the face should be vertical )90 degrees to ground)

The more I watched of Anky too, its TERRIBLE that someone who uses such techniques is at the top of the sport!
 
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That was very interesting, thanks for posting.

Until Anky is taken off her 'throne' this method will continue.

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totally agree with you. i have actually seen this vid on another forum before now and it is sickening
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That was very interesting, thanks for posting.

Until Anky is taken off her 'throne' this method will continue.

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totally agree with you. i have actually seen this vid on another forum before now and it is sickening
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Echo, I once got my head bitten off for saying it was not dressage but circus - comments was "how can you possibly say that, she is at the top of the sport" hmmm whatever happened to lightness and harmony
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