Burnttoast
Well-Known Member
Sorry to butt in guys but despite what I said before I felt I had to say that not all Dutch riders practise this abuse (Rollkur).
I'm not as eloquent as some of you and my English is bit rusty (been out of the country too long) but I'll try and elaborate.
There are a lot of Dutch riders (including some of those at the top) who IMHO don't deserve to have horses but unfortunately these are the ones who score the points in dressage. The school of thought about Rollkur is ultimately passed down the line from these 'icons' and is seen by a lot of Dutch dressage riders/instructors as normal practise even if they won't admit that they practise it. The horses are abused during the warm up and then go on to perform a high scoring test.
One of these days I will film the warm up area at a competiton so you can see what we have to endure and rest assured there will be no editing. (Technophobe!)
On a brighter note, there is in fact a rebellion starting where the more enlightend riders are moving toward a more classical style of dressage.
We changed my daughter's instructor because we didn't agree with her methods. The least said the better!
We now travel 70Km to an instructor who advertises herself as teaching Harmonius Dressage. She believes that to get the best out of a combination there has to be harmony between horse and rider. I wholeheartedly agree and have seen massive improvements. They (my daughter and her horse) still have a way to go but with time they will get there.
This instructor has a waiting list for lessons as her methods are now beginning to show results in and out of the dressage ring.
A lot of people wouldn't have taken the time we are prepared to take to get things right but we know that the hard work and time put in now will pay dividends in the future. We seem to be in the minority and most people want instant results. Seems to be a common problem these days in all areas of life these days.
What a great post. I'd wish your daughter good luck with her progress but it doesn't sound like she'll need it!