There was a photo on eurodressage a few years ago, of a horse’s neck and shoulder area. Dark, near-black horse, veins sticking out like a road map through the sheen of sweat. The caption said something along the lines of how this horse was famous for its veins popping up like this during work.
http://www.eurodressage.com/reports/shows/2000/00bh/special.html
That was the lovely Westphalian mare, Renaissance, ridden by Monica Theodorescu.
Veins, breathing, terror, dullness,deadness, labor,welfare…
Humans see what they want to see, ascribe what they want to ascribe, believe what they want to believe. ANd honestly, I do not expect to change anyone’s mind here. I do not need the fingers of one hand to count the number of people whose minds are not firmly made up as to Yes/No on this question, despite the demurrals to the opposite.
Any decent animal behaviorist will explain the ‘posture of submission’ which is generally a lowered head. Anyone who works with horses teaches them to lower their heads.
When does the posture affect mental focus as well as physical suppleness? I do not know exactly. But do I believe it affects it,yes sure.
Rollkur can be used for this.
If I want to work ligaments and muscles, for sure I am going to work the longissimus dorsi that run from ears to tail and on which I basically sit.
If I want to keep my horse sound, I will use different frames/exercises/etc to work different parts of the horse’s body so biomechanically he stays as developed as possible.
That means hyperflexion,as this is a tool for most modern sport training,human and now horse.
So rollkur is useful for that.
No one keeps a horse in rollkur on a constant basis. No one keeps a horse up all the time.No one keeps a horse in any one single frame all the time if they are trying to gymnasticize.
No one wins with a truly unhappy or fearful horse, at least not for very long.
No one wins on a slave, at least not for very long.
Anky and Sjef gave the use of their horses several years ago,and various studies were carried out and found no evidence of damage. Of course, ‘damage’ vs. what is ‘normal’ changes according to the technology at hand.
There is a recent study of warmblood foals which found that ALL the foals in the study had fractures in their coffin bones from the age of a few months onwards.
Time will tell, but common sense suggests that foals have been fracturing and remodeling their feet for time immemorial ,only humans had no way to know it until now.
How can anyone know what damage has been done to the horses all these years we have ridden them? It was only a little while ago that researchers finally decided that there were a lot more back problems in horses than had been previously believed to be possible.
There was a time when people sat BACK on the horse over jumps–and these horses lived long lives despite all that!
Rollkur is a technique for riders who have mastered a lot of the foundation for riding, it is not meant for the average rider .
Just because someone asks a horse behind the vertical does not = rollkur.
Just because someone uses rollkur does not mean much unless they already have good control of the hind legs, can sit effectively, can do half-halt forward and in general have a strong foundation. Etc,etc.
It would be nice if the horses could go to max effort and never boil over. it would be nice if the riders could remain so contained and cool that no outside stimuli make them over-react.
It would be lovely if the (extremely) thin veneer of training we put on the horses took precedence over their prey-creature flight mentality at all times.
For me, when I look at some of the instances that are touted as examples of the above-- Absent piaffing for all he is worth while the paper blows; the apocryphal French officer who told his horse to Jump! and it jumped over the cliff with him; a lot of the work in pillars-- I just shrug and say, “boys with their toys” and do not find any of it positive or encouraging or reassuring.
For me, watching some of the top sport horses around now is far more compelling and satisfying.
But that does not mean that all of top sport is wonderful, just as the examples above do not mean that there are not many wonderful moments from classical.
I can still raise the hair on my arms thinking about two completely different experiences watching Georg Theodorescu ride. In each case, he performed a near-miracle and it was a privilege to be present .
So for me, there will continue to be only good riding and bad riding.
Good rollkur and bad rollkur.
Good shoulder-in and bad shoulder-in.
Balance, rhythm and harmony or … not.
