I’m no expert, but these 3 horses look comfortable, beautiful and perhaps even soft and lightly collected.
But I was under the impression that rollkur only occurs in dressage. Rollkur and the Western Saddle
When I think of rollkur I always see the cranked back head with neck bent at a severely unnatural angle. Rollkur why not?
(Internet photo)
But apparently that’s not the only type of rollkur.
Is it just me, or do I see some rollkur being done with some of these horses? Rollkur Revisited
“The horse offers correct posture as a result of balance and relaxation. The appearance of a “correct frame” can be created by force but the horse's posture will not be an honest reflection of its state of balance and relaxation. The Collected Horse
Rollkur is hyperflexion and overstretching of the neck muscles and ligaments along the topline.
Like this?
So do you see relaxed, collected horses?
Am I the only one who feels neck pain while looking at these photos?
5 comments:
Ugh. Unfortunately hyperflexion is not limited to dressage.
Here's the disgusting video from the World Reining Finals last year...makes me sick every time I watch it...people like this should be shot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h5S1zIk-II
I'm no expert either. My understanding of collection is a horse that is balanced and relaxed and is able to perform with impulsion coming primarily from the haunches. Just because a horse has it's neck bent doesn't mean it's collected. I'm not comfortable with those pictures.
Dan
Definitely not limited to dressage. And I wish I could say that I'm shocked by the pictures but I'm not...not even the one with the draw reins over the slobber bar (I had a "friend" who schooled her western pleasure horse like that all the time). What's scary is when this becomes "normal" and sadly it is in way too many warmup pens.
Even if those are not technically considered rollkur they are still behind the vertical which is incorrect and very uncomfortable/painful for the horses! Just look at the bared teeth! What makes me sick is that they're doing it with long shanked curb bits! Don't they know how much leverage is applied?? I wish all behind the vertical rides were penalized. So long as it's ignored or scored it will continue to happen. If they would penalize it in the show ring it would at least disappear there although I have my doubts it would get rid of it in training at home. :( Sigh. Sadly there will always be those who mistreat their horses.
This is not rollkur. I used to ride western pleasure on Arabians, and this headset is completely natural.Take it from someone who knows--these horses need hardly any contact on their mouthes, and they are extremely light in the bridle. Extremely. There is more to riding than AP saddles and snaffles, so don't be so quick to judge people from other disciplines just because they do something differently. It isn't worse, it isn't better, it's just different. Next time, please speak to one of the trainers before you judge us. Thank you
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