Posts and Articles of topics related to time relevant, political and social issues, and those which are involved in media-covered events.
I’d have a hard time deciding too, which is why I can’t accept the claim that LDR is different from Rollkur. When you do some digging into the past the truth starts to reveal itself. Sustainable Dressage, a blog which covered Rollkur and the damaging effects of it (to the extent that Sjef and Anky tried to sue her) documents the evolution of Rollkur, LDR and what those two terms really mean.
Since Sjef and Anky, Rollkur has woven its way down the levels of Dressage and crept past the discipline to find common ground with reining. And in all the time we’ve watched the Rollkur/hyperflexion/LDR debate unfold I’ve been writing about how detrimental it is. With that being said, I’M NOW READY TO ADMIT THAT I WAS WRONG. All my criticisms were actually evidence of my jealousy and it’s time I come clean.
I poo-pooed the use of a bitless bridle in a previous post, which received mixed reactions from readers. Much of what I learned about riding bitless or bitted came from the teachings of one instructor whose view was along the lines of, “bit problems are never a problem with the bit and always a problem with the rider’s hands.”
I still agree that bit problems – even if applied to a bitless bridle – are always a problem with the rider’s hands, but I’ve also softened to the idea that there is a space and time appropriate for using a bitless bridle.
If you’re an equestrian it’s hard to be unaware of the web-presence that the Fugly Horse of the Day blog commanded. Often referred to as FHOTD, by far it was the most popular horse blog on the internet, even as the content quality took a nosedive while being shuffled around from one blogger to another. A majority of posts earning a thousand comments or more, it was obvious that people were not only ready Fugly, they were engaged.
Then it was gone.
When slavery was legal and the norm in the south, just because you treated your slaves well didn’t extend any freedoms or rights. It just meant that they experienced a level of captivity which was better than many others’ in captivity. Still, they were slaves, captives, subject to the whims of any white person around them. According to most accounts slaves were considered the same as livestock.
In that context let’s look at our horses. They are subject to whatever whim we should have. We buy/sell/trade them as we wish (or the market will support). When they are no longer useful we can put them down, send them to auction or the slaughterhouse. If they misbehave there are torture devices to deal with that – from whips to spurs, harsh bits and even some trainers have been found to use electric cattle prods on their horses.
Yesterday the EquiSearch blog reported that Dutch rider Adelinde Cornellisen’s horse Parzival was hospitalized for cardiac arrhythmia. Adelinde and Parzival stood out on the international scene when they were disqualified at the 2010 WEG. Well,…
What is the goal of putting in your two cents? When you post a comment are you hoping to lift the person up, tear them down, or perhaps something deeper – offer an insight which…
There has been much news recently about Moorland’s Totilas who is now being ridden by Matthias Alexander Rath, facing a future subjected to the training “guidance” of Sjef Janssen – the strong proponent of Rollkur,…
My neck gets sore just watching. It is only during a poorly developed (read spoiled) walk that Edward Gal allows any freedom of the neck to his horse, and during the rest of the ride he keeps him round, round, round. Keep in mind that not only FEI rules but also Classical Dressage Masters have noted that the position of the horse’s face should be anywhere between 45 and 90 degrees depending on the horse’s individual conformation, this horse is well beyond 90 degrees.
Once upon a time ago, the difference between Classical and Competitive Dressage seemed synonymous with the distance between the walls of the Grand Canyon (which happens to be up to 18 miles wide!). Whether it is merely my perception, or the reality, which has changed I have yet to determine. Nonetheless there is still a measure of awe inspired in people when they hear that “so and so” does Classical Dressage. It has a note of magic attached to it, even if it is a tradition based on a bunch of dead guys; or maybe it is because of those dead guys.
“Improperly trimmed barefoot horses have helped to perpetuate a number of myths. Among them are notions that going barefoot puts the horse at greater risk of bruises, concussion, cracks, weak hooves, white line disease, thrush and absesses. Shoeing the horse and poor barefoot trimming are the culprits of many of these myths.”
It’s done all the time by Para-Equestrians. To be one with your horse does not require that you climb inside it’s recently gutted abdominal cavity, or that you tread the line of morality. Still, it happens that this is forgotten. An Oregon woman, claiming she wanted to be one with her horse, first shot it in the head with a high powered rifle then proceeded to gut it, undress and have photos taken of her laying inside its carcass. You can view the uncensored photos here.
They do not seem to care that they are yanking on the horse’s most sensitive mouth with a leverage bit. They do not seem to care that they are spurring the horse carelessly and excessively. They do not seem to care that the horse is willing to accept these abuses without striking out violently.
Barrel racing is a high speed event, and when speed is added to any activity the difficulty level increases as do the potential errors. Let’s also add to the mix the fact that it is a competition sport and involves money, and as demonstrated in Dressage, Jumping and Reining, to name a few competitive sports; money affects motivate. So, does that mean that Barrel Racing, fueled by speed and competitive cash, is subject to horse abuse the same as other sports?
There is a painful truth – horses are abused every day. Equestrians at every level, in every discipline, at every age level, skill level, and popularity level are involved in some form of abuse. That is not to say that all equestrians period abuse their horses, but rather to say that abuse does not discriminate. They come from every country and not all of them are obvious.
And, we have all witnessed some form of abuse against horses.
I’ve received several requests to write about my impressions of Clinton Anderson and his Down Under Horsemanship… but the truth is that if I were asked to give my impression about every clinician out there my blog would be full of the same repetitious posts warning of salesmen. In my mind, not only Clinton Anderson but, almost every clinician out there is little more than a salesman working away to sell a product and turn a buck.
Don’t get me wrong, there are many who are good-hearted and honestly believe in what they are selling, and then there are others who know that what they are selling is a pile of rubbish but continue selling it anyhow.