Jeff Moore: “What the hell would a person do with a horse like that on a trail ride or a bull fight or a cattle ranch or Paul Revere’s ride!??”
Response- What the hell would a person do with a miniature donkey in a Grand Prix dressage test?
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Not going to lie–this looks grotesque to me. But I’m not competing at that level, nor do I aspire to, and I am sure he is well cared for. Just a reminder that I have no interest in working with Totilas lines.
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I am curious what you mean by grotesque? I did not watch the video.
The movement is extravagant, uneven, and almost spider-like. His neck is tight, hind legs look disconnected to the front, and just generally unpleasant to watch IMO. I did not get a sense of harmony or beauty from his movement at all. It looks unnatural to me. But I have never cared for the trend towards increasingly extravagant movers with freakish front ends.
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Was it just me or does the horse appear to have a noticeable paddle?
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Not just you. Seems to be worse on the RF than the LF to me, but both swing outwards.
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I’m not a fan of the way EG rides (not that I’m at ALL close to that level). His horses are always tight in the neck, weirdly extravagant in the front legs and have tight, uneven hind ends. Total US almost looks lame at the collected walk.
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Total US has a nearly crouching sit behind that sends off huge alarm bells for me. That is not about his training or this video, but rather something I have seen which alarms me in breeding. It seems possibly neurological but at least extremely hard on backs. I am curious to see if this ends up being a US German Shepherd event, taking things too far. I know as I look for stallions to breed to eventually, any with that quality get ruled out.
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I don’t like that either. As others have said, it appears artificially produced and hind leg movement is almost an afterthought.
Considering that dressage is rooted in cavalry, it’s almost funny that such exaggerated movement is what’s getting rewarded in the ring. Cavalry would have had no use for so much leg-flinging. Kind of like the show hunter/field hunter divergence, I suppose.
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Totally agree with this, it was the first thing I thought when I saw him.
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Agreed! And hard on the sacroliac, stifles, hocks, suspensories, etc. Not sustainable for long-term soundness or performance, and I certainly do not want to see it further “refined.”
Speaking of neurological, sometimes the way they move their front ends makes me wonder, as well. That level of flail and frantic movement makes me wonder about their proprioception.
Upon re-watching the video (particularly the youtube link provided by the Osierlea post), I can’t help but think that some of his canter tour reminds me of a big lick horse.
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That is exactly what I was thinking when I watched the canter - that horrible man-made TWH gait. It made me squirm to see the similarity.
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hmm
And were you privy to his training?
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They’ve been pretty public about this horse’s progression. He’s been flinging his legs around like this for a while now.
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wow that is a mature looking yearling. All nice proportions
Yeah, because the TWH has such suspension in it’s gaits.
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Cowgirl WOW , you must be thrilled! I would be.
:lol::lol::lol:
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You realize that Ms Linsenhoff is Matthias Rath’s step-mother?
As for the others;
This horse is a TWH crossed with a doberman, he paddles, has weak stiffles, SI and sure has soft tissu injuries, he is most probably neurological, lame and tight everywhere.
It will be dead by 10yrs - if not already because it’s been rushed through the levels.
Anything else?
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