This message is from: Starfire Farm <starfiref...@usa.net>
Lori Albrough wrote:
I remember having an email from the owner of a filly I sold, this was a long time ago, she was about 18 months old and he was pleased at having found someone to "train" her for western but admitted he had trouble watching this "training" as they tied her head to her body in a bitting rig and left her standing in a stall.
This is one of the techniques that I was refering to in my earlier post and it is a techinque that some trainers use to "teach the horse to bend" and to give to the bit. The problem with practice is that the horse NEVER gets relief from the position of being bent. I can only imagine how their muscles must scream, after a while, from not being allowed to straighten out. That is quite different from teaching a horse to bring it's head around with a leadrope or a rein, then releasing it when it becomes light, or for a light response. VERY different. It blows my mind that it is a practice that is still used, and condoned, among some trainers.
To look at good "German" classical dressage, one can watch videos of Reiner Klimke (as Lori mentioned). The video series, Dressage in Detail is a VERY good one. Klimke was always a proponent of allowing the horse to go forward, never forced into a frame (driving from behind, holding in front) but developing the horse's natural gaits through gymnastic movements. Like all trainers, he had his good moments and his bad moments, but he was an absolute master. I may have written about this before, but I remember watching him school BioTop at the 1995 World Cup. Many of the other riders were cranking their horses' heads and necks left and right (a pre-cursor to rollkur- Anky was the hot rider at that time and wasn't using Rollkur yet..at least not in public) in an attempt to get the horses to release their necks and their backs. Klimke would ride BioTop forward, then ride half-halts while engaging his horse's hindquarters into a halt, pat the horse's neck, let the reins out to the buckle to allow him to look around, then take up the reins (at which point the horse went immediately into the bridle) and go happily forward again. That's how I remember it anyway. The horse looked happy while many of the others looked worried. His musical freestyle, though he didn't perform double pirouetts or passage half-pass, was one of the most free and united rides I have ever seen. Horse and human appeared as if they were dancing as one. It brought tears to my eyes and Klimke, though he did not win the event, was rewarded with a standing ovation from the entire audience. I know that all shows were not always like that for Klimke, as I do remember reading on one of the magazines that "Klimke was fighting with his stallion again." Exactly what that meant, I don't know, but I do know that riding a stallion in competition can be a tricky affair!
As for Amazon refering to the Philippe Karl book as another German way, I'm not sure where that came from. Reading about him on the book's jacket, he has spent all of this time in France, except for two years in Germany. He was invited to be an ecuyer (or officer) of the Cadre Noir of the Samur, the French National Equestrian school: http://www.cadrenoir.fr/en/le-Cadre-noir. Anyway, I don't get the German reference. The Cadre Noir has taken on some of the German methods in their training, but they also use Baucher's methods. Educated trainers/instructors are aware of many different training/riding styles and use techniques that suit the horse best.
In terms of choosing a trainer, I tell people to look for someone who gets results (by that I mean they are actively doing the sport you are interested in, on animals who are visibly content and concentrated in their work) AND you are welcome to watch any and all of their methods from the ground up and all of it seems sensible and logical to you and you are comfortable with it.
Yea, this is excellent advice. Your trainer should be willing to allow you to watch everything that they do...they should also have you come learn how to use the tools that they have given your horse!
I think the internet will be instrumental in bringing questionable or abusive methods - in all of the equestrian sports - to the forefront of everyone's awareness. As with everything, education is key to effecting long term change for the welfare of the animals.
Agreed. Beth -- Starfire Farm Beth Beymer and Sandy North http://www.starfirefarm.com Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
