http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/dressage-superstar-valegro-jumping-624047
Better form than his rider.
I confess I was relieved to see Charlotte not perfect at something. 
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In fairness she appears to be jumping in a dressage saddle with long stirrups. Probably just an unplanned “haha let’s see how he jumps” moment?
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I know, right?!!?!
Sheilah
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I believe Carl gave an interview the same day, and said he made Charlotte jump it to try out the new cavaletti. So it was very unplanned.
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yeah it’d be about impossible to not have your leg slip back with stirrups that long. He’s got great knees though! he’dd make a hell of an eventer
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I thought I read somewhere that his sire produced jumpers. Also have any of you tried to jump in a dressage saddle with long stirrups?
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His sire side is pretty much dressage bred, though there is a bit of jumping blood on that side. His damsire Gershwin competed to 1.50m, and Gershwin’s sire Voltaire competed through 1.60m. The jumper breeding, I think, really helps with the canter, and certainly Valegro is a pretty good example of that.
And yes, I have jumped in a dressage saddle with long stirrups for the heck of it, and the above picture is pretty much what you look like when you do so.
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Valegro comes from solid jumping lines that include Voltaire on the dam side, though international show jumper Gershwin.
As I have commented on frequently the last few years, the infusion of good jumper blood is more and more necessary for a top dressage horse to add the jump back in aka strengthen the hind end. This is why Valegro is able to hold the tension of collection with greater fortitude and ease than many other modern horses who show extravagant trots but less than stellar piaffe and pirouette.
And of course Le Mexico produced both top dressage and jumper horses.
For reference, top jumper and top jumper sire Kannan is also Voltaire on one side, Le Mexico on the other
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I just adore that picture. It is my new happy place.
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I just love the way those folks treat their horses…how fun for Valero.
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Dressage saddle, long stirrups, and ultra stiff boots. Cut the woman some slack already.
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It’s the lack of release that bothered me. Horse needs more head and neck freedom. It’s not a 18" jump.
Might just be the timing of the photo, though.
That saddle is not made for jumping. I am surprised that people make such a fuss about the way he is allowed to do everything. Why wouldn’t you ?
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Equibrit: Because it is not the “usual” here. I know many top level dressage horses whose “turnout” is in a 24’x36’ sand pen. Nothing more. Dog forbid they get to eat grass and and actually be horses
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Why is it not normal. It helps them to be better horses and to avoid injury.
It certainly should be normal, but how many olympic level jumpers or dressage horses normally get a good amount of turnout? Not a lot. And a lot of dressage horses don’t get a great deal of variety in their lives…jumping, hacking out (like really hacking out, not just a loop around the manicured farm), or whatever else.
A lot of low and mid level show horses don’t get turnout or variety either. That’s why pros like Charlotte and Carl and Beezie Madden get attention for this stuff. Charlotte and Carl’s horses get lots of turnout, hacking out etc. Beezie takes her horses shoes off for a few months and turns them out every fall, as well as keeping all her retirees and young horses living out in a herd.
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When horses have a crazy high price tag /value , people tend to get crazy about how they treat/house/manage their horses.
P.
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Oh for the love of Pete. The woman and her horse jumps one jump in like 20 years just for the fun of it, in between winning (and truly earning) every award and accolade out there AND changing the tenor of our discipline away from dressage=rollkur abuser people to dressage = joy in one’s beloved horse and you criticize her release? Does that horse look miserable? Can I find about 70 gazillion pictures of horses going over fences who look much more miserable? And they say us dressage people are picky.
Forest/trees.
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Dujardin has a pretty solid sense of humor. I think she would be the first person to chuckle at her position. A person can have crazy admiration and respect for someone, and still get a giggle when reminded they are human after all. If she weren’t human she would have had perfect form despite the saddle and stirrup length.
Sheilah
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