Rather nice new youngster for Patrik Kittel

[kerilli]

Well, one can only hope. Please keep your 3-year-olds on the pasture and start them in autumn. Early enough.

Agreed. I think it's a real shame to see such lovely young horses 'powerising' around (as my trainer calls it) when, however impressive they look, their bones haven't finished growing yet, etc, and they still very immature...

 

[FrodoBeutlin]

Yeah but that will never end sadly -- as long as we have competitive classes for 3yos, there will always be plenty of pressure on young horse producers to start talented youngsters as soon as possible.. That's not exclusive of dressage either (see western horses and the Futurity, racing TBs etc). And I think it's going to be difficult to eradicate too, we want immediate success / immediate turnover.

 

[JustMe22]

God he is stunning though. So active behind, that canter gives onward bound a whole new meaning

 

[charlie76]

I was thinking the same re the horses age. A few days ago a forum member asked for CC on her rising four year old and received a lot of negative replies due to the horses age, video gets posted of a horse a year younger being ridden and produced like this one and most people are wow.over it! Just because its stunning and a top rider doesn't make it acceptable imo

 

[~ Clear Light ~]

Wow super nice horse

That's the kind of horse that is going to reach PSG in like 2 years of training. I would just put my feet up, leave it in the field, then crack on aged 5 lol. It doesn't need the Young Horse classes to campaign it (although I'm sure the owner does!)

 

[daisycrazy]

Lol - make a great eventer...

Could canter over 1.20m and not even break stride!

 

[Booboos]

Stunning, just stunning! These young horses do keep getting more and more impressive!

 

[HappyHorses:)]

I was thinking the same re the horses age. A few days ago a forum member asked for CC on her rising four year old and received a lot of negative replies due to the horses age, video gets posted of a horse a year younger being ridden and produced like this one and most people are wow.over it! Just because its stunning and a top rider doesn't make it acceptable imo

Agree.

 

[vallin]

Lovely looking horse Just out of interest, did anyone wathc the second video on top dressage (or whatever it's called) of the horse at the grading. Is that normal practice?

 

[Goldenstar]

People go wow over it because it is wow.
What you don't know is how much work they have put into the horse to get him to go like that.
It could be a lot it could not that much the paces and the natural way he can use his body is exceptional but he does not look at all 'polished '.
Professionals at that level are so clear about what they want the horses progress quickly.
So it's difficult to judge from that clip if the horse has done to much.
Personally when I was starting horses I preferred to back them lightly ride them away early in their three year old year as I preferred to do it while they where slim coming out of the winter then I turned them away for the sumner .

 

[FrodoBeutlin]

People go wow over it because it is wow.
What you don't know is how much work they have put into the horse to get him to go like that.
It could be a lot it could not that much the paces and the natural way he can use his body is exceptional but he does not look at all 'polished '.
Professionals at that level are so clear about what they want the horses progress quickly.
So it's difficult to judge from that clip if the horse has done to much.
Personally when I was starting horses I preferred to back them lightly ride them away early in their three year old year as I preferred to do it while they where slim coming out of the winter then I turned them away for the sumner .

From watching the other video, it's clear that the movement of this particular horse is not "manufactured", it's all there already in the unridden video.

I personally don't like competitive classes for 3yos and would like to see them banned (as I think they already are in the UK, if I am not mistaken) but a stunning horse is still a stunning horse!

For what it's worth Patrik Kittel has produced a huge amount of horses to GP, he is NOT a young horse producer so clearly the long-term health of this horse will be the absolute priority for him.

 

[oldvic]

It doesn't look to me like the horse has done very much - he looks quite raw and green but has an amazing athletic ability. I agree that his walk is a little weak at the moment but this often happens when horses start being ridden. The weakness in their body shows up most in walk where there is no period of suspension to help them so they need more strength to pick their back up and swing through it.
While the horse is very young and immature, it will probably do him more good to do some easy work for several reasons. The sooner he learns to adjust himself to the weight of a rider, the easier it will be for him. She is not a big heavy rider and is not asking anything of him other than to go forward and find some balance. There are no tight turns or difficult movements to put more strain on him. The body is better to do some conditioning at a young age and horses that are left can have as many if not more problems when they start as soft heavier horses and they are harder to train as they have become more set in their ways.

 

[happy_talk]

did anyone spot in the eurodressage article there is OCD in a knee so soundness will be interesting, although obviously not a concern to kittel.

 

[Goldenstar]

It doesn't look to me like the horse has done very much - he looks quite raw and green but has an amazing athletic ability. I agree that his walk is a little weak at the moment but this often happens when horses start being ridden. The weakness in their body shows up most in walk where there is no period of suspension to help them so they need more strength to pick their back up and swing through it.
While the horse is very young and immature, it will probably do him more good to do some easy work for several reasons. The sooner he learns to adjust himself to the weight of a rider, the easier it will be for him. She is not a big heavy rider and is not asking anything of him other than to go forward and find some balance. There are no tight turns or difficult movements to put more strain on him. The body is better to do some conditioning at a young age and horses that are left can have as many if not more problems when they start as soft heavier horses and they are harder to train as they have become more set in their ways.

Aggree with this I sometimes think that young ones who are left till later became heavier and more difficult to produce.
Years ago a great old horseman told me that with three yo you did them six times a week and they needed to ridden for as long as it took to tack them up and untack them ie regular but very light work.

 

[vallin]

did anyone spot in the eurodressage article there is OCD in a knee so soundness will be interesting, although obviously not a concern to kittel.

I wondered about that...

 

[Perfect_Pirouette]

Such raw talent! Gorgeous!

Is it me or does it all look a bit rushed though sorry showing my naviety here lol

IS it rushed? Or are they just trying to show his natural scope to it's maximum potential? He's obviously young so is he just a bit unbalanced?

Sorry for the numpty Qs lol.

 

[Booboos]

I am sure someone more knowledgeable will come along soon but for me it's important to see what they are showing with this horse in context. They are keeping him on the track, straight lines, etc. and rightly so as he is far too young and immature to manage much else. If you tried to do a Prelim with him at this stage he would be all over the place due to lack of balance and the horse himself will need to mature into this amazing movement that he seems to have naturally.

I have seen one or two people buy impressive youngsters from German sales, get them home and be surprised that they couldn't ride a 20m circle, but the young horse shows are not supposed to present a horse ready for competition (even low level competition). As far as I understand it they are supposed to show you natural ability, what you do with it is another matter.

 

[TableDancer]

Just. Wow.

 

[Lark]

Holey Moley!!