This image is precisely what I am talking about. I left it un-cropped so you could see just how much angle I had to correct. I oriented the image so that the two hooves bearing weight are at even levels. Prior to the edit the horse’s nose was in front of the vertical, but as you can see when it is correctly angled the horse’s nose is well behind the vertical.

The horse’s poll is far from being the highest point. And I couldn’t help but circle his front ankle – that bulge seems unnatural. But, then again, the “best performing” dressage horses begin joint injections before they are started under saddle… sigh.

One last critique is on the rider – whose legs (which is typically seen in competitive dressage… NOT CLASSICAL DRESSAGE where the seat is a primary interest and a foremost concern) are way out in front of her center of balance. These are far from effective in either applying the aids or providing balance for the rider.

See the original. (7th from the top)

What function does it serve to eliminate the horse’s natural ability to balance himself and move in true collection? Isn’t that the ultimate goal that dressage strives for? It is all too painfully obvious in some cases just how close some trainers and riders in the US come to the habits which are well set in Dutch states.

This horse clearly shows that his breeding will help to dissuade onlookers from finding fault. He is a beautiful mover, even with the side-reins so short that he cannot use his neck for balance, nor position it in a way that allows his hindquarters to come underneath to support him – thus forcing him onto the forehand.

Hyperflexion Alert!

I was meandering through the various videos and was honestly surprised at this one. There is a moment about 2:00 minutes into the video where the mare attempts to correct her neck posture while being slowly trotted forward following a halt, to which the rider immediately puts her back into a deeply flexed position. The rider is constantly overusing the spurs (i.e. heel coming way up into the barrel with the toes pointing down), the mare frequently loses rhythm and even breaks gait. Forget about honest forward from this horse, she is so sucked back I am amazed. Although the video is labeled ‘training’ I would find a more appropriate description to be ‘forced through the work’. In the extended trot display, she is prepped with a circle moving the mare more forward than she has previously been allowed – which results in the mare falling out through the shoulder and losing her (albeit coerced) bend, followed by a disparaging ‘extended’ trot in which she is practically falling on her face if it weren’t for the strength of her rider’s hands holding her upright. The second time around in which the gait is repeated on the opposite diagonal, it is all too obvious to see the pair fighting with each other before the gait is pushed enough to silence some of the horse’s resistance. The twisting and turning of this mare’s head is all she can do to avoid the uncomfortable flexion she is placed in with such force. Her walk following a stint of canter work which seems like too much effort to be worth the work, brings images of a reptile walking as it drags it’s body along the sand – almost a creepy crawly type of movement vs. pushing from behind. The piaffe work following canter is highlighted with raw tension, obvious oversalvation, moments of outright exasperation from the mare (small rears, diving forwards, limb inconsistencies, etc). You can visually pick apart the moments when the rider is pulling back on the mare’s mouth.

Tail swishing nearly constant. “Piaffe” without engagement or collection with one pair of legs which advances while the other steps in place or backwards. Extremely tense mouth on the horse’s part, rider whose upper body is stiffer than a month old corpse – bracing.

Like most sites which feature horses overbent, behind the vertical, not moving through from the hindquarters, with tight flash nosebands and excessive frothing of the mouth, these trainers sound like they really care for their horses. I have chosen to honestly believe that it isn’t an intentional plan to work these horses improperly, but instead (like most areas of life which are glaringly not as they are promoted), it is a lack of education and skill combined with some measure of ego and social support that helps us get to this point.

Ask any horse owner and they will usually tell you that you either begin to resemble your horse, or your horse begins to resemble you.. which might be a good way to describe the image of this Oldenburg Gelding. Although, admittedly I think his posture is a bit more severe than his rider’s, neither are going to win a contest on posture and poise. He is supposed to be working at first level, but from the images it looks like the elements of even training level have been lost. Coming behind the bit is a sign that the horse is a) not coming through from behind, and b) that the contact with the reins is not correct. Not to mention the fact that anatomically this posture inhibits the horse’s ability to have a supple back, negating any of the objectives of training level and making impossible correct first level work and on.

This Thoroughbred gelding at Training Level further demonstrates that the basics are missing. The topline fails to show development – muscling at the withers is wasted, the back is dropped. He is well behind the vertical. One saving grace is that he isn’t showing resistance to his rider, one of the reasons why it can be so hard to demonstrate to people that this is not okay – that they fire back with the response that it is natural for “this” or “that” horse. The horse gives them emptiness in the hand and the rider mistakes it for lightness.

Even their stallion is showing the same errors, here shown in a double bridle. He is behind the bit, the rider’s arms have broken any possible connection combined with the fact that her legs have lost a connection with his barrel. The angle of his pelvis is such that his hind legs have no choice but to trail out behind the body – eliminating any possibility of throughness or collection. He makes up for this by having been successfully bred to be a leg mover, to look beautiful doing something incorrect.

When did Classical Dressage become a term used to hide Competitive Dressage training behind? It seems that it is usually used in an indirect way, leaving the door open to interpretation. If you are actually practicing dressage in a manner that is consistent with principles dictated by Classical Period Masters, then by all means go ahead and claim it. But to half-heartedly bring it into conversation as an aside as though you dabble in it, all the while your horses show themselves to be locked through the back, behind the vertical, lacking engagement in the hindquarters – even in still images… what is the real point? Is it to gain students, to be thought of in a greater capacity, for marketing purposes? Does it all just come down to money?

Don’t get me wrong, so many are finely groomed and such well bred examples of their breed that one is hard pressed to say anything about their care. But the training reflects something amiss. Does this horse look happy? I could have swore that was one of the directives recently amended to the rules in regards to training and riding the dressage horse. But I want to ask, how can you be happy when everything is met with resistance? When the “aides” which are supposed to assist and enhance your natural abilities serve instead to oppose you and leverage you into position and the desired movements?

Have you ever met someone who seems to genuinely love and find joy in what they do, only to discover later that what it is they do is also destructive in some way? Maybe not malicious, but in a passive way. That is the way I felt when reading through the biography of this trainer. I felt like she is really someone that people fall in love with, as much for her personality as for the dedication in which she chases what she loves.

And then the pictures. No, nothing horrific like a horse whose head is tied to their chest with side reins while being lunged. But an essential piece of the puzzle that gives away the truth of every other piece. This one in particular struck me because the horse is otherwise very well put together (conformationally speaking that is). If he were allowed to take the correct posture he could really be amazingly brilliant and just blow every other horse out of the water! But he characterizes the dropped back and unengaged hindquarters which are forced as a result his neck posture.

What is the measure of success? Is it a medal or an arbitrary score? How do we measure success in our own life? Is it through winning alone? Perhaps that is why so many people are unhappy and medicated (haha, no seriously)… How can success be found at the expense of a horse’s physical development and well being? Isn’t that also worth being an indicator of whether your riding and training is a ‘success’?

This 4th level ‘success’ shows a plethora of undeveloped muscling, in all the areas essential to collection – which is introduced to the horse in 2nd level. There is nothing physically differentiating this horse from one who has just been started under saddle and has no muscle development to carry a rider in a balanced frame.

At Grand Prix, should a ‘success’ of a horse show posture which supports the fact that they are performing what are usually referred to as being the most physically challenging movements capable under a rider?

The saving grace of ‘success’ here appears to be this Training Level horse who appears to be forward and free moving with a positive expression despite a blocked frame in the front. With muscling that appears more developed than those shown at Pr. St. George and higher.