Dressage again

-
Thanks Haffyfan for this video.



Again I'm handicapped by my ignorance of both disciplines: can anyone tell me why the reining horse is holding his head so low? Whatever his head's doing, I thought the reining rider was incredibly relaxed, and I know which horse I'd rather be on. The dressage horse looked stiff in contrast (imo), particularly in the pirouette, which he looked reluctant to do.

Here's the video Susanna mentioned in the comments to the Rollkur piece. This shows Stephanie Croxford and Mr President:



I particularly like the end, where he's enjoying the applause - as you will probably have gathered by now, I don't have a lot of sympathy for the "I can't do a prize presentation as my oh so sensitive horse will explode" brigade. If a horse can't stand noise like applause, it makes me wonder a. what life's like at home - does everyone creep round in cowed silence? and b. why some time can't be devoted to training the horse to become used to noise/umbrellas/mice or whatever else spooks it. Like normal people do, in fact.

Comments

haffyfan said…
Now please bear in mind although I like to think I have used a lot more western principles than english with my two it's all self taught from books/vids/odd clinic so very much my own interpretation.

Stock horses are generally bred for the 'level top line' that is desirable in westen disaplines as obviously a very uphill built horse finds it harder to work in this style/manner. They carry their neck nearly level with their withers, and head just slightly in front of the vertical.

In all honesty, as this vid shows when the horse is ridden tackless, I believe most horses would choose go in this manner of long and low naturally (unless it's an uphill movement they are performing) and the position that modern dressage dictates is highly unnatural before we get into the rolkur/LDR discussion
5 September 2010 at 15:31
haffyfan said…
It does help when you post the link doesn't it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD7Wpfqd2Vg&feature=player_embedded
5 September 2010 at 15:32
Sue Howes said…
Have you seen this youtube gem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB-2P5dpxtc
5 September 2010 at 20:40
Anonymous said…
Haffyfan – the horses at the trekking stable where I ride insist on a level top line. If you try to shorten up they will gently tug a little and a little more until they're comfortable. Too short and rein and they say, "You want to go backwards? Ok."
8 September 2010 at 16:11
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rollkur and the blue tongue

-
I've been meaning to write about this all week, but reading the exclusive in Horse and Hound about the controversy tipped me over the edge. For my non-horsy readers, rollkur is a training/warming up technique used by some dressage riders. It basically involves riding the horse with its jaw pulled in virtually to its chest, in order to increase suppleness. Patrik Kittel , a Swedish competitor in Odense was videoed riding his horse in this way. If you watch the video , you'll see the horse's tongue hanging out - blue. It takes a while before the rider notices this. When he does, he stops, puts the horse's tongue back in, and carries on. There are two things which bother me about this. Firstly, I am fully aware large sections of the dressage world, and some of its brighest stars, consider rollkur perfectly ok, but the FEI guidelines state this practice should only be for short periods, allowing the horse to rest. Patrick Kittel apparently rode the horse for two hou...
Read more

Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes

-
Image
My friend Louise sent me this picture today. It's from a children's book with the rather wince-making title For The Wee Ones. I thought, when I read that (because I read the message before I looked at the picture) that the picture was going to be a typical winsome production from the school of artists who think (or who are paid to think) that the child is a thing sent from God and a blissful thing. They had obviously never met a child, and certainly not mine. I should have known Louise better. The artist responsible for Archibald, don't eat the bedclothes slipped this one past the editors. Just look at the poor, broken Mother Rabbit. She knows she has not the faintest chance of being listened to, and poor thing, she is stooped in the way of a mother to whom this is just the lastest in a long line of horror; with nothing good to come. And Archibald is obviously the spawn of the Devil. Just look at those eyes. He'll have the bed after he's finished the bedclothes...
Read more

Dick Sparrow - 40 Horse Hitch, and Neil Dimmock's 46 Percherons

-
Image
Here's a clip of Dick Sparrow driving 40 horses. It's an amazing sight, particularly when the shot changes to show the team from the rear and you get the great incongruity of modern American corporate architecture as a background to the wagon and horses. I love the anticipation in the video: the sense of something amazing being just round the corner is palpable. Thanks to Christina Wilsdon for telling me about this world record 46 Percheron hitch (alas just stills) but you get the idea.
Read more