One for Rollkur fans?

When people say stretch what are they stretching and what does it benefit? I obviously understand the idea of stretching for an athlete but surely stretching is much better when relaxed and not by pulling on the mouth/curb with excessive force.
 
weebarney said:
In what ways do you not think it is ?
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Well I don't claim to be an 'expert' on either, but I have seen videos and some literature on each of them. There was a video of the Tennessee walking horses that went viral a couple of weeks ago so I will refer to that - the horses were beaten in their stables and they appear to be in constant pain after having their pasterns painted with the acidic (?) solution that causes the rubbing. So their pain isn't confined to when they are in the competition arena with the straps that put pressure on their sore legs. Some of the horses weren't even able to stand in their stables as they were in too much pain to get up and weight bear on their legs, which were often red-raw. It was horrific and barbaric.

To my understanding hyperflexion is a method of training; although it does not have desirable effects on a horse's sight and breathing it is largely temporary and confined to limited periods during exercise; of course it would be far worse if a horse was made to stand in tight side reins in their stable but I have never heard of that being the case. There are far more sensible and sympathetic ways of encouraging a horse into a proper outline though.
 
I was looking from the point if view that both have negative physical effects both short and long term, vets and stewards turn a blind eye to it, judges are rewarding the horses most severely screwed up and trainers feel they have to do it to get results.
 
Doesn't look great to me either, but then I'm not a rollkur fan anyway, nor a high level dressage riders. I can only comment on what I see, and it's not a pretty sight.
 
Awful - it is a form of abuse in my eyes (not only physically but also mentally) There is nothing 'natural' or 'beneficial' about working a horse in this way - it's just bullying!
 
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