Agreed.
Agreed…and one of the judges who discussed cow horses down the center-line is one of the US dressage judging standard setter.
Agreed. And thus why it would be interesting to compare what the word of rules say vs what is actually being judged in the competition arena.
Let’s be clear, the “back then” we’re talking bout was somewhere between 2.5 - 4 years ago. We’re not talking decades and I’m pretty sure the standards of horse training in 2020 were still very firmly against whipping a horse in the haunches repeatedly (and occasionally across the ribs and chest) while the horse runs away and strikes out. That goal post has been in place for most of my life and I’m not young.
And in this “back then”, again 2020 at the latest, CD was 1) a world class equestrian with multiple Olympic medals on her neck and 2) a spokesman for humane horsemanship and letting horses be horses. This isn’t a video of some kid whipping her pony because she doesn’t know any better. This is an adult who has been on the world stage for years.
How much time does the horse community have after an abuse event to come down on the abuser?
That was a reference to the gaming character riding that amazingly well-trained horse, not the horse. Sheesh.
One could say the same thing about the horse’s “crime.”
Thank you for missing the point entirely.
I said “robot” because the person who is riding is dressed in some kind of metallic outfit and I thought it was a robot, but it was pointed out above that it’s a character from Assassin’s Creed video game.
Yup - I missed the point entirely. I could not discern what the rider was wearing…I actually assumed it was some sort of medieval armor getup. So no, the first thing I thought of was NOT the image of a robot.
My point that the horse was ridden in a snaffle in a very demanding situation is to be commended. Have a problem with that?
This horse’s training and cool composure contrasts against the monastic silence required of dressage competitions…and the dressage horses that can’t hold a halt at entry.
They meant the costume. It looked like a robot outfit. I thought it was a Knight, but apparently it was a video game homage costume.
Obviously I lead a very sheltered life. I also thought it was a medieval armor.
Which just illustrates the importance on the choice of words one uses to communicate.
Why so aggressive? That was exactly @LiberalSnowflake’s point. You know, the one she made before you did. What the heck - her post was really a lovely tribute to horses and you come along attacking her and trying to position yourself as the good guy for saying precisely what she was saying (after having a go at her for a comment you misunderstood entirely and never even having the grace to apologise to her).
Wind your neck in, Lord, Almighty, it’s early in the day!!
I agree with this part.
There are no doubt trainers/riders who get too harsh sometimes even when training police horses, but it’s hard to produce horses that will tolerate that much stimulation unless the horse trusts the rider. And it doesn’t take much abuse to damage a horse’s trust, so abusive methods are generally counterproductive when training police horses.
(Counterproductive for all types of training, of course, but especially when you plan to trust you life to a horse and ride into rioting crowds. Or even around the usual hubbub of city life.)
I think it’s difficult to point at anything and say, “Look what this horse will do? WHY won’t yours do that?”
Police forces have a vested interest in training horses to tolerate all types of external stimuli. They still make mistakes. Our police force had them for a while and then there was an incident at a disturbance and they got rid of the horses.
Police forces also specifically select horses that have a temperament that is suited to the work they will be doing. Not every horses is going to be cut out for that job. Similarly, not every horse is cut out do do high level dressage OR to do low level dressage with an amateur rider.
From an article: “She said to the student: ‘Your horse must lift up the legs more in the canter.’ She took the long whip and she was beating the horse more than 24 times in one minute. It was like an elephant in the circus."
Gotta say, I’m even more disappointed having found out why the whipping occurred. It wasn’t because the horse was dangerous, trying to balk and rear, etc., but to get the horse’s legs more elevated. And that is what CD chose to do to encourage that. Ugh.
That is, indeed, even more disappointing. And hitting back and forth - how was that meant to even achieve the goal? Just sad all around. Lose-lose-lose situation.
I would be absolutely thrilled if this happened. The SRS has money issues, I’ve always felt the SRS could establish themselves in the US somehow and fix that.
Likely drugged by the look of it
The comment was specifically about “GP dressage horses who can’t stand still at a halt in a monastically quiet perfectly groomed arena.”
I usually preface this sort of comment with “in my opinion” but in this case, I believe it is a fact: if a GP horse can’t/won’t stand still at the halt in a quiet arena, it’s lacking very basic training. Which is ironic, since dressage is all about training.
(If the fundamental principles are just pretty words and the reality is that dressage is primarily about the gaits and not really about building on a foundation, then the fidgety horse can prance on.)
That is a fabulous post. I will however point out that “living masters” are not immune to using over-the-top training techniques at times. I know, because I have witnessed multiple episodes by several different highly lauded “masters” - some here in the USA, some in Germany.
I took it as completely the opposite.
Yes.
I came across the comment somewhere that Reiner Klimke and Ahlerich would not be at all competitive today, and I suspect that’s true.
And it makes me sad.
Because watching that pair in the 1984 Olympics still brings a tear to my eye.
Based on the uniform, the horse in front of the white horse seems to be part of the Garde Republicaine which is the ceremonial horse guard for the French president. The rider is riding one-handed. I doubt that horse was drugged.
The point pertinent for this thread is that GP dressage horses…horses supposed to be at the pinnacle of their training…have been known to freak out when entering a quiet, perfectly groomed 20x60m enclosure…all because dressage has become a test of showy of gaits…which is apparently what CD was attempting to elicit. How many times have riders been given the comment “could show more lift behind in the canter?”
In the (link) FEI Dressage Manual, you get the directive
The expression “good hock action” underlines the importance of an impulsion originating from the activity of the hindquarters.
This is a quote from MY HORSES, MY TEACHER by Alois Podhajsky
http://www.lipizzan.com/teacher.html
. . in Stockholm . . . At a collected canter I rode into the completely dark stadium and reached the place of our performance surrounded by a circle of four spotlights which had followed me. All alone in the dazzling light I waited for what was to come. Suddenly I heard the deafening noise of a helicopter circling above me and saw its brightly lit cockpit.
PLUTO THEODOROSTA, too, discovered the deafening and blinding object, which sank slowly to the ground. Terrified, he prepared to take a hasty retreat, which would certainly have been the most natural thing for him to do. I was aghast at the idea of having him race around in a panic in the vast space of the arena, accompanied by the roaring laughter of some twenty-two thousand spectators.
I was about to face the greatest disgrace of my life, the sublime and the ridiculous being so close together.
In a desperate attempt to save my reputation, I applied the reins and took a firm contact with the mouth of the excited stallion. I pressed my legs with all my strength to his body to make him feel that I was with him and to remind him of the obedience I had built up in years of training. I was not at all sure of the effect of my aids. Would I be able to hold the powerful stallion? It was a terrible moment.
But PLUTO THEODOROSTA remained motionless on the spot. His obedience was stronger than his panic! He continued to stand motionless when the brightly lit monster approached more and more noisily and the wind of its blades whistled around our ears. This hot-tempered Lipizzaner stood like a monument, and only my legs pressed to his flanks felt him tremble.
The helicopter touched the ground at a distance of about twenty yards and two small children in Swedish national costume left the cockpit. PLUTO THEODOROSTA again obeyed when I ordered him to approach, in a passage, the two children who waited for me in front of the helicopter. The little girl handed me a huge bouquet of flowers and the boy presented one of those well-known Swedish horses which are said to bring good luck. It was of solid wood and the size of a full-grown poodle.
Hardly had I recovered from astonishment at the weight of this present when I realised that everybody had withdrawn into the darkness and that I was alone again in the arena, my hands full with reins, whip, two-cornered hat, flowers, and Swedish horse. How would I manage a decent exit with all these burdens?
In a collected canter I set PLUTO THEODOROSTA in the direction of the gate, followed by the circle of the spotlights, and carried by the enthusiastic applause surging from the darkness surrounding me. My burdens, especially the “horse of luck,” seemed to become heavier all the time and PLUTO THEODOROSTA became faster and faster. We reached the saddling area at last by the sweat of our brow but without accident, and there my faithful Flasar delivered me of my various loads and cavalry officers and experts crowded in on me congratulating me on PLUTO THEODOROSTA’s obedience. They proclaimed him the “perfect dressage horse”! . . . .
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