I don’t believe that argument works. People who don’t agree with thee are ignorant, inexperienced, unhappy, mentally unbalanced…these arguments have been tried in every debate since the dawn of humankind. They always involve errors of logic. Though they are helpful for preaching to the choir…
For example, compare what Ingrid Klimke teaches about hyperflexion, to what Edward Gal teaches. Two internationally competitive riders with years of experience on multiple horses at the top of sport. ‘You disagree because you don’t ride’ goes splat on its face right there.
Is it true that most of the people who dislike hyperflexion all don’t ride much? Or at a ‘high enough level’? A high enough level for what? To offer an opinion?
Should less experienced people be listened to? Of course, people with less experience in riding will often tend to view things with extreme rigidity.
Too, getting passionate about dressage, almost always involves adopting at least some of that ‘the world is going to pot’ attitude that is a part of every ‘classical’ model. One feels that one is a lone flame in the darkness of an ignorant and evil world. That is a very, very powerful psychology, and leads to lots and lots of chest thumping.
On the flip side, quite a few people believe that a less experienced person is a far better choice to evaluate something than someone who is an ‘insider’. That’s a very, very strong part of the baby boomer, ‘I can protest everything’ mentality.
Is that approach wrong? That debate is also as old as the hills. You won’t resolve that here.
Fact is though, what we have a habit of doing, and see around us a lot, and see our superiors and heroes doing, we think is right. Humans often unquestioningly accept rationales for doing things that they are accustomed to doing and seeing, and always have. Therefore one can make a good argument that an ‘insider’ with ‘knowledge’ and ‘experience’ is not always the best choice for evaluating a practice.
The fact is, in every endeavor there is, the vast unwashed have a great deal to do with shaping that endeavor, for better or worse.
What non-insiders think of hyperflexion, regardless of who agrees with them or not, may be a very important factor in what happens next. In fact, we may get into a situation some day where the FEI defines and bans hyperflexion from the warmup, without a single one of those officials EVER believing it is bad for horses or dressage.
