| Tricia W | |
| Diane Bergeman |
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| #2 |
It is spell binding to watch. It's Musical Kur - the highest one can attain with a horse in dressage. I knew a woman who bought an App horse as a yearling for $1.00. She wanted a challenge to prove that you didn't have to pay a kings ransom for a horse to do dressage and be competitive. She started him under saddle as a four year old and worked with this horse for years. As a 12 year old he was finally finished under saddle as a dressage horse and could do the same thing. She would say that it was pretty good for a horse that couldn't even take a correct lead at a canter when running free as a yearling. It takes years of true dedication and alot of work, but that's what dressage is - dedication. When the connection between a horse and rider become a partnership the result is truly amazing no matter what the discipline. |
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| Mary Early Zuhn |
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| #3 |
Wow! That was such a pleasure to watch 
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| TriciaK |
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| #4 |
This was posted here awhile back and I have it saved to watch whenever I need a little inspiration. I heard that this horse actually didn't win this competition it was in. I tracked down the ride that did win and I didn't think it was nearly as good. But then I am not a judge. This ride is just phenomenal. I never tire of watching it. |
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| TriciaK | |
| cp |
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| #6 |
A shame, as Anky is notorious for her Rollkur methods.
Many are also critical of the Matinee performance as well, as her movements are not relaxed and balanced--you can see tenseness throughout her body. I believe she was 9 years old for at the time of this competition--very, very young to have been trained to that level.
I really do dislike what competitive dressage has become.
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| Nikki G |
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| #7 |
That second video, just I can't believe he beat the other one!! The first video the horse does look a little tense but the rider looks much better then the second one. The second one the horse is moving very freely but the rider is making obvious cues, and his legs are flopping.
I don't know too much about dressage but thats just what I noticed??
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| BOP Mom |
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| #8 |
Dressage is more about the horse. Horse and rider are scored together but it is the horses training/movement/obedience to the cues that the judge is looking at. Blu Hors performance is super fun to watch but there are moments when it is obvious she has trouble with some of her transitions. At this level, that's all it would take to knock her out of first place. |
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| TriciaK |
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| #9 |
Thanks for the insight cp and BOP mom. I guess it makes sense. |
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| Nikki G |
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| #10 |
Thanks for your input!!! I didn't know that, makes more sense now! |
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| Sara |
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| #11 |
Even very experienced dressage folk can miss a million little things that judges look for, especially at this level. I will agree, I was much more impressed by the first horse, but that may also have been because it was first, camera angles and shots, or color (gray horses catch your eye for movement better). Either way, they are both amazing. To ride a horse even schooling at this level is the ultimate riding experience in my book. I could only dream to achieve this on my own from my horse. |
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| cp |
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| #12 |
One thing to remember is that the classic history of dressage is to have a horse happily and willingly move in self-carriage. I don't see that in either of these horses--they are obedient, but not joyful. That is the aspect of dressage that has nearly completely disappeared in competitive circles (and many training circles as well).
Don't feel like you'd be a better horseman if your mount could perform these actions--humans can force horses to do all sorts of things. Feel like you are a better horseman when you help your horse to move confidently and willingly, helping to channel their own intrinsic joy rather than our own egos.
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| Sharon Potter |
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| #13 |
To me, dressage is like dancing. It should be joyful and free spirited. Today's dressage horses look like football players being forced to do ballet at gunpoint. See how Matine wrings her tail at each leg aid...and with both horses, the flow of motion is blocked at the withers because of their forced head carriage.
Here's a good example of a true dressage master...Dr. Reiner Klimke. This is his victory lap at the LA Olympics, riding Ahlerich. The horse is expressive, relaxed, up in the bridle (rather than overbent and behind the bit) and they're both enjoying the ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLXpW5-DG0
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| Sharon Potter |
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| #14 |
And just to add....thereare...count 'em....71 flying changes (called tempi changes in dressage). Straight, forward and happy. And note that Dr. Klimke has the reins in one hand and his hat in the other, and he's having a blast, smiling and enjoying the ride. How refreshing, to see actual forward motion and a rider not afraid to let his horse show some expression and go forward!
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| cp |
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| #15 |
agreed, sharon. that footage always simultaneously takes my breath away and makes my eyes mist over a bit...
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| Laurie L. |
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| #16 |
I'm glad someone else kind of gave a thought to the tail wringing. Right when the announcer (first video) was saying how the horse so obviously enjoyed this, all I could see was the constant tail wringing. Nevertheless, very skilled horse, very accomlished rider, and lovely to watch. |
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| Jane Liess |
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| #17 |
I haven't researched this or anything, but my general impression is that the horses who are "joyful and free spirited" in dressage seem to have some thoroughbred in them. I got to see Anky in L.A. at the World Cup (in '94?), and Bonfire definitely had a good time! The horses she has ridden since seem to be purebred warmbloods (I think, at any rate), and seem to be cranky. I recall that Dr. Klimke said that he always enjoyed riding part-thoroughbreds; they just seem to be more willing. I know Ahlerich was half-thoroughbred, and the horse Klimke rode at the World Cup the year Anky won on Bonfire was also partly Anglo. |
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| cp |
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| #18 |
If I were a horse and Anky rode me, I'd probably be "cranky" too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMqS1DTShNE&feature=related
Look again at Bonfire, even the Olympic footage, and you'll see that the horse is never truly and freely forward. Examine the tension in the neck, the breaking at the vertebrae behind the poll (instead of telescoping the neck up and forward). Look at the heaviness of the forehand at the canter. Actually, the tension throughout the entire performance just makes me really uncomfortable. I think Bonfire was a spectacular horse despite Anky, and not because of her backwards methods of training the poor thing.
Unfortunately, performances like this that win have become the norm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng-k8Ftk7LA&feature=related
Sorry...this subject really gets me going!
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| Jen | |
| Jen | |
| Sharon Potter |
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| #21 |
As much as I intenselydislike the method, I don't think the bucks were from forcing the horse into rollkur...there were other factors at play there. Although the rollkur (meaning forcing the horse's head way behind the vertical and keeping it there) is what allowed the horse to keep bucking... funny part about rollkur....a horse needs to get their head down to buck, and with rollkur, it's down just right...and you can't get it back up again easily. Had she been able to get the horse's head up, she could have stopped the bucking. Actually, she rode the bucks pretty well, and it doesn't look like she really should have come off when she did...I'm wondering if she didn't just try to bail off in the corner.
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