One of the arguments I frequently hear in defense of riders using hyperflexion is that LDR (low, deep, round) is not the same as Rollkur, and that is is actually beneficial.
Yes, the FEI ruled against the use of Rollkur in 2010, officially banning it from competitions. In the same fell swoop they deemed that LDR was acceptable. The difference you ask? I'll let the FEI speak for itself on that one.
So you see, the FEI feels that Rollkur = Hyperflexion in definition, however hyperflexion obtained without force is considered good and LDR.
The problem I have in accepting this public statement is that there is no visible change to make one guess that riders are implementing anything other than Rollkur. Images before and after the ruling still show the same extreme position of the horse's head and neck and riders pulling back on the reins so hard they have to use the leverage of their upper body.
For example –
Which of these photos is LDR and which is Rollkur? This isn't a trick question, one is from before the FEI's ruling and one was taken just months ago. Which one depicts hyperflexion without force?
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.
I recommend you read the article in full on Sustainable Dressage, but to summarize, it boils down to this; Low, Deep, Round was invented by Sjef Janssen and was what we now call Rollkur. The term Rollkur was a name made in jest against the hyperflexion method. They were always the same thing.
For the FEI to then walk in and say they're not the same thing is bunk. LDR wasn't invented outside of the Rollkur debate, and neither was it a lesser version of Rollkur made in compromise at the petitions sent to the FEI. Do you see the propaganda machine yet?
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Just “nasty”..Rollkur….imagine a rider bending their head to their chest and keeping it there…you and I both know that won’t happen!!!!
Physically it may be more similar to compare us to leaning our heads back as far as they can go and being held there because of the curvature of our cervical vertebrae compared to the horse’s, as well as the attachment to our skull. Imagine your head being held in a way so that the back of your skull was touching your spine… fine if you do it occasionally and briefly, but long term a lot of damage can result.
Just “nasty”..Rollkur….imagine a rider bending their head to their chest and keeping it there…you and I both know that won’t happen!!!!
Physically it may be more similar to compare us to leaning our heads back as far as they can go and being held there because of the curvature of our cervical vertebrae compared to the horse’s, as well as the attachment to our skull. Imagine your head being held in a way so that the back of your skull was touching your spine… fine if you do it occasionally and briefly, but long term a lot of damage can result.
I cannot for the life of me figure how this could be a natural head set position. The horse would not be able to see in front themselves or to the sides, whereas in the wild if this were a natural position they would never see the preditor coming and would be killed immediately and we would not have all the mustangs that we have today. Forcing a horse to move like this is totally wrong no matter how you look at it!!!
It isn’t natural in any capacity. Even if a horse were to duck their head into their chest of their own volition is no excuse to hold them there for long periods of time while moving through all the gaits. 🙁
I cannot for the life of me figure how this could be a natural head set position. The horse would not be able to see in front themselves or to the sides, whereas in the wild if this were a natural position they would never see the preditor coming and would be killed immediately and we would not have all the mustangs that we have today. Forcing a horse to move like this is totally wrong no matter how you look at it!!!
It isn’t natural in any capacity. Even if a horse were to duck their head into their chest of their own volition is no excuse to hold them there for long periods of time while moving through all the gaits. 🙁
Just look into these poor animals eyes and you see the pain and torture this distorted, damaging, horrific act is. Let’s see it totally banned around the whole world in 2014 and learn to love and build trust with our beautiful friends the horses, they have given SO much to humanity already – the least we can do is show them love and do them no harm. It horrifies me to see these images and I do not understand how anyone can believe that this is beneficial to any horse in any circumstance. It is simply about sick domination and big prize money etc.