Rollkur

there are some very good pictures on this page http://horsemanpro.com/articles2/rollkur.htm showing the effects of this sort of training... horse's weight on forehand (perhaps hard to see in motion but v obvious in stills) and horse's weight on 1 front leg in trotwork (pics of ext trot and 1/2 pass), v interesting.
some horses in the Olympic dressage so far were working beautifully connected uphill (Carl's, Charlotte's, some others) but others were not even working over the back! Not necessarily due to rollkuring at all, but imho definitely due to a fixation on the front-end from the rider.
 
Kerilli- I am sorry but that article (the author) is very offensive. Firstly Sally Swift's Centred Riding is an excellent book, which does not encourage anywhere encourage Rollkur.
He also blames Rollkur on women wanting horses to look pretty.
Here is another article by him... http://horsemanpro.com/articles2/decadence-horsemanship.htm

I would not call this man a reliable source. I am against Rollkur, but also sexism.
I am disappointed that you find articles by that man 'interesting'.
 
Yeah, I read some of his features and he's got very strong opinions, hasn't he? :D Spanish Riding School = circus tricks and women are to blame for all the ills of the horse world. Blimey.

But his trio of shots showng rollkur and the Gestapo rider are very telling.
 
Wow that took some reading (the first one, I didn't have the heart to click on the second one)! Setting the unpleasantness aside, aren't the legs of the horse in the "The old way" photo replicating the lack of parallel shown in figure 2 from Palindrome's earlier post? Aren't the hocks out at the back and the horse showing overall lack of engagement?
 
i've read that horsemanpro thing before, and aside from the sexism i agree with most of what he says, if fact it is a relief to know someone else thinks the same as i do, sometimes the truth is painful to confront, and i would say that the pic of the 'gestapo bloke'!! is what i am aiming for, and a copy of it should be sent to the FEI.

he goes on about what is wrong, in his opinion, so it sounds overall negative, but where he wins for me, is he can actually say why he thinks its wrong, and show you how it should be and how to achieve it.
 
oh, i couldn't bring myself to read the other page either, no thankyou, but the pics do illustrate some valid points imho. the 'old way' pic looks fine to me, horse just about to step through (if taken a split second later I think it would look a lot better), good diagonals, the back is not hollow, the front end is free, the horse steps proudly forward with good elevation, level balance... that horse is not the sort of purpose-bred dressage athlete we see nowadays imho, nor do I think it working at a very high level.
we need to get away from the absolute fixation on the curved neck. it is NOT the mark of a good rider, although it seems to be considered so! A horse can be in perfect balance on the aids with the nose slightly in front of the vertical and this is MORE desirable than hiding behind contact etc etc.
 
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