On the DressageDisgrace.com site there is a discussion about some videos which have been posted as representatives of the ‘right way’ to do dressage. The idea is to identify riders who are not using rollkur as a regular part of their training program and support them. Interestingly, one of the videos posted was of a rider who has taken a stand against rollkur. YET, the horse still showed signs of the same disconnection seen in the rollkured horses. What gives?
This is my theory. What really is the difference between “deep and round” and “hyperflexion”? [more...]
Gerd Heuschmann is a German veterinarian who is also a dressage rider. After years of seeing the damage inflicted on horses as a result if incorrect riding he began to change his own riding methods and starting ‘treating’ horses by first asking owners to change the way they ride. He does clinics around the world now helping people to help horses become more supple and move more freely.
A member of the Ultimate Dressage forum posted her notes from a recent symposium. Let me just say that I agree 100% with everything he says.
Check out the full report [more...]
Right now, I don’t know if I’m inspired or just plain envious. Lovely horses, ridden beautifully. This was an interesting video because it begins with a rider on a 3 year old horse who had just been ridden a few times. The horse is calm and relaxed and quite frankly looking “like a million bucks”. Clearly not the average 3 year old! So that is the envy part.
Part of me questioned asking ’so much’ of such a youngster. Was the neck too shortened? But the proof is in the pudding. The video continues showing the same horse a couple months [more...]
In Whole Heart, Whole Horse , through stories about his days as a kid working for the “Old Man” as well as people he’s met through years of doing clinics, Marks brings the process of building trust between the horse and rider to life. As is typical for Mark’s books, this is not a ‘how-to’ book. Having tried to write something of a how-to book I can appreciate his desire to avoid that. So instead he focuses on our attitude and though processes which I know have a huge impact on our success (or lack thereof) with horses.
Mark sold me [more...]
Danke, a tall and beautiful sensitive chestnut mare, came to me for training with quite a bit of emotional baggage as a result of some unsettling prior experiences in her life. One positive was, though, she arrived quite clicker-savvy because her owner used clicker training to teach her some tricks during several months of recuperation for an injury.
Danke is one of the most sensitive horses I’ve ever met. She has a strong sense of self-preservation. I discovered early on I could not pressure her do anything. Either she bought in or it was ‘no deal.’ If she was feeling vulnerable [more...]
