Picture made me sad

sandi_84

sandi_84

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I have just posted a link on facebook to an article explaining the difference between truly being on the bit and going in outline compared to this false outline that people are being taught nowadays because I have just seen yet another picture of a teenager on a pony that has been tweaked into sitting very very BTV almost rolkur :( It makes me really sad to see. I hope that the young folk I know read the article and change their minds about what is "pretty"
 
It doesn't help that at unaff intro/prelim you get judges marking people down for horses that are 'not round enough'. I do think there is too much emphasis on what the front end is doing!
 
Nor does it help that it is now common practice to be taught to saw the reins till the horse tucks under and that is what kids are being taught is the correct outline and the way to get it :( I'm sorry, I know I'm re-hashing old topics but it really makes me sad to see it on facebook from the younger crowd who don't know any better and will then become the next teaching generation perpetuating the problem and even sadder to see the horses like that :(
I'm not a confrontational person and don't have the "status" that other people do to tell them outright that it's wrong, I'm hoping that they will read the link and start to read a bit more and find that sometimes the things people you trust to know what they are talking about are telling you the wrong things :(
 
I cant believe how many people in my area still tie their horses heads in for hours a day! shocked that its still being done by local riders.
 
I even posted it on my local horse page and no one has commented at all, think it's just a problem that is going to be swept under the carpet around here again :(
 
Gazen said:
sandi_84, please could you post / pm the link to the article as this is something that interests me. Thank you
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http://www.sustainabledressage.net/rollkur/behind_the_vertical.php It's quite wordy, but it was the first one I could find that was a decent explanation. You can find loads of articles on it through google searches or by looking at classical dressage sites etc I occasionally have a read of these sites and I'm not a dressage rider :o
 
That is a brilliant article. I have book marked it and I will be reading the entire series. My horse, is young (6) and still unbalanced. Her walk is in the position shown in 'on the bit' however for trot and canter it is like the image directly under the heading 'Above the bit' but she is relaxed and not fighting me. It is unclear from the article whether this is a 'good' position and a decent place to work from. Can anyone provide insight, please?
 
Gazen said:
That is a brilliant article. I have book marked it and I will be reading the entire series. My horse, is young (6) and still unbalanced. Her walk is in the position shown in 'on the bit' however for trot and canter it is like the image directly under the heading 'Above the bit' but she is relaxed and not fighting me. It is unclear from the article whether this is a 'good' position and a decent place to work from. Can anyone provide insight, please?
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For an unbalanced horse this above the bit position in my opinion - not that I'm in any way an expert - is perfectly acceptable :) Yes she's not working "correctly" but as she becomes more balanced in herself you will be able to work more on getting her correctly working from behind in all paces and hopefully it'll all become a natural progression :) In my understanding of it, it's all about getting the building blocks in place one by one :)
 
Thank you, that is what I was thinking, as, although I forgot to mention in the post, she is over tracking and 'working'. The walk has only developed over the past few weeks. We have also had a few times this week only, where she has come onto the bit at trot and it felt amazing! I have a light, not washing line, contact and she is very responsive to leg and seat, so we should not get into the over-bent position. We are in no hurry, and have many years to progress together.
 
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