So true. Sadly, too many horses are enduring the fashion of a tight neck. EVERYWHERE. Dressage, jumping, western pleasure, reining, OUCH ouch ouch. And now Totilas died and there are millions of views of his “world record Grand Prix” in which the FEI rewarded Edward Gal for the abusive methods he used on him: horsesarecreatures.tumblr.com/post/129940086633/the-edward-gal-rollkur-compilation-incomplete/amp It has to end.
Not just a problem in dressage sadly- most the international level show jumping riders I've seen in my country, are coaching those they teach (including children) that half halt means literally pulling back on the reins hard until the horse responses :/ That they should also have a firm (aka heavy), constant contact, with fixed (aka heavy), low hands. When the horses respond with tossing their heads up & opening their mouths trying to reduce the pain induced by the abusive use of a bit or hackamore/bitless option, their advice/answer is a harsher bit, more leverage, strap the mouth close, use a martingale- I'm frankly disgusted at the level of abuse that is sanctioned & legal under FEI rules :( Make no mistake, much is what I've witnessed being taught is down right abuse, horses are supposed to be our willing partners, Not our slaves, but that fact seems have fallen by the wayside in favor of winning ribbons & titles. I often wonder how many horses would be as keen to cooperate with what they are being asked to do, if all the mouth straps, cranked/over tightened nosebands, harsh bits, leverage hackamores, spurs & martingales were taken away from the riders tool box- I have a feeling if it came down to relying on skill & schooling alone, a lot of riders would be faced with the fact they have used abusive means to cover a serious lack of correct schooling.
Nix Carter Just think Of how much better horses could perform being free from pain induced by tack and being over bent. People just refuse to see how much they are abusing their horses. Very sad
