Rollkur again
Or should that be LDR? Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage gold medallist, is suing Astrid Appels, a journalist on Eurodressage.com, for illustrating an article on rollkur with a picture of Anky's horse Salinero. Anky says her method of training is not rollkur, despite looking to the uninitiated (and I include myself here) remarkably similar. I've written about rollkur before; it's a training technique used by some dressage riders. Anky's version of this she calls Low, Deep, Round. To me they both look the same: the horse is ridden for long periods with its chin pulled into its chest.
I don't like the way a lot of dressage at the top level looks: I am not even at the foothills of dressage, but to me a horse swishing its tail, with its ears back, is an unhappy and tense horse, and that is how some horses look at the top level of the sport. I still think it ludicrous that Anky won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics with a halt that was nothing of the sort, and Isabell Werth won silver with this display:
Dressage judges are doing the sport no favours at all allowing its stars to still win medals with performances which contain such gross errors. It wouldn't happen in other subjectively judged sports: fall off the beam in gymnastics and your chances are gone; hit the ice in figure skating and you have no chance.
Here is Reine Klimke, and Ahlerich in 1984, having won the Olympic gold:
Lovely relaxed horse, and none of this ridiculous oofing about not doing the victory parade because your horse cannot cope with it.
Comments
My Gramps would have a had a bit to say about the more modern version
Incidently I read somewhere regarding those medals that they are not just judged on the current performance but on their general performance/competition history so basically you or me (lol) or anyone who isn't a 'name' will never win even if they could come out and and blow everyone else away...no history, nothing to base judgement on apparantly - WTF!!
sorry think I'm with the pony book hunting crew (dressage ruins good horses) - there's nothing much 'natural' about modern day dressage!
This is my favourite dressage clip, as I love the story behind Steph and Mr President, and also he just LOVES what he does. He doesn't care that he's not a fancy pedigree warmblood. I think his tail swishing is of the "thinky" variety too, but just watch his ears as he takes in his applause.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mIXKwOxbzQ
I really wonder how much the horse actually enjoys dressage; at least at the top levels.
Susannah, I love the horse in your clip. This is where I fall down with dressage: I don't like the fact his head is behind the vertical, but don't know enough to be able to say how much that matters. All credit to the rider though for sticking two fingers up at dressage convention. More of that wouldn't go amiss.
I do like this clip which (unintentionally) highlights the difference bewtween a horse happy and relaxed in his 'job' and one who clearly isn't.
Stressage verses reining
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ycY1S-BbwI
Jane – I don't know either, and he is probably behind the vertical, but if he's been roll-kur'd I'll eat a top hat. His sheer joy is just lovely to see though. Always cheers me up, that video.
You know, that clip of Isabell Werth reminds me of something Carl Hester said (I am not on chatting terms with him, I just went to a 'do' where he was giving a talk). He said that often you will see the top horses acting up on the last day of a big competition as the atmosphere really gets to them.
As for big occasions getting to horses, well, I suppose you can allow them a little leeway, but watching Burghley yesterday nerves might have been getting to the riders, but the horses didn't seem phased. I wonder if the dressage horses' nerves are due to the way they're kept, or the fact dressage is so very controlled, in all senses of the word. You must be, to some extent, riding a ticking bomb.