If anyone is here looking for the anti-Rollkur information, you can scroll down and read/click/write away. I've been linked in a number of places, and blog traffic is huge right now as a result. I hope everyone who comes by ends up signing the petition, or at least educates themselves on Rollkur as a result of seeing the video.
But I'm back home, with all the regular chores and routines, and as usual, things here roll on no matter what else is happening out in the big, wide world.
This morning I went out to feed breakfast, with the plan to let Keil Bay digest his for a bit while I did chores, and then have a ride.
Keil, however, was unusually fussy about being bridled. I'm not sure what was going on, but he stuck his head up in the air and basically said NO THANK YOU. It could be it was his own personal protest against Rollkur. Not that Keil Bay even knows what that is, but he seems to have his muzzle on the pulse of a lot of things, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he has an opinion on this.
I reminded him that he no longer has a cavesson, we now have the tiny reins, and he seems to be fine with his bit. The wind was blowing and gusting a little outside the barn, and two tarps were blowing quite hard, so maybe THAT was it.
In any case, when I lowered the bridle, he lowered his head and began to nuzzle me, so in the end I just out-waited him, he closed his eyes for a moment while I rubbed circles on his neck, and then he took the bit in his mouth and we moved on.
Still, I wondered what was up, so I grabbed the lunge line and whip and decided to see if anything looked off.
I should explain here that Keil Bay has had some lunging issues. When he first came to me, he lunged beautifully, but then he started wanting to come into the center of the circle with me. He had done Parelli through level two right before I got him, and it seemed maybe I was giving him confused signals. I'm not a huge fan of lunging anyway, and he free lunges pretty well, so I have never addressed this issue officially.
Lunging with halter on is hit or miss. He lunges fine if he has a rider on him.
So today when Rafer Johnson (who seems to be attaching himself to Keil Bay of late) and I walked Keil into the arena, I figured we would encounter our issue and work through it as best we could. Then I'd hop on and we'd have our normal ride.
But when I got Keil Bay all set up to lunge, he walked right out on the circle. I was surprised but figured we needed to reinforce this leap forward. So we did walk, trot, canter, in both directions, with many transitions and halts, and I got to really check Keil out at all the gaits.
He looked great at the walk - big, swinging, over-stride of about 6" right out of the barn. The trot was good, especially as he warmed up. And the canter was nice and relaxed, mostly what I call his "loosy goosy" canter, but I'd rather see that than tight/stiff.
Rafer Johnson stood and watched, completely intrigued. I think tomorrow morning I might put him on the lunge line and see what he does. He seems very interested.
As usual, Keil was in a fabulous mood after his work session. He sauntered back to the barn, stood while I untacked him, and had his little snack while I checked feet and brushed him down again before turning him out with his herd.
Just when I think I have the Big Bay figured out, he surprises me. If anyone had told me this morning that I'd have a textbook lunging session with Keil Bay today, I'd have laughed out loud.
And as usual, now that he's given me something nice, I have to ponder what *I* got out of it, because one thing that is always true about Keil Bay, is that he doesn't always give me what I want, but he always gives me what I need.
And I'm proud to say he has the freedom of expression to offer these gifts to me, and I have the willingness to accept them.
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
petition to ban Rollkur in warm-ups, etc.
Jean Luc Cornille has started a petition to the FEI to ban Rollkur, using the "blue tongue" video link.
You can sign his petition using this link:
ban-rollkur
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ban-rollkur
You can sign his petition using this link:
ban-rollkur
Saturday, October 24, 2009
FEI dressage task force committee members, with phone numbers and email addresses
I emailed the FEI (to their general info email address) about the Patrik Kittel footage. I didn't include any information other than my full name and email address. I haven't had a response to my email, but am suddenly getting blog hits from Switzerland, which is where the FEI is based.
Hopefully, they are following up on all the emails they're getting.
In the event anyone wants to write, email, or call, these are the committee members for the dressage task force. It would probably be more effective to contact them directly, which I will be doing later today:
FEI Dressage Task Force
Chair
Mr Frank KEMPERMAN 2008 - 2009
Romeinendreef 27
3620 LANAKEN, BELGIUM
t (49 241) 91 711 07
e frank.kemperman@chioaachen.de
Mr Richard DAVISON 2008 - 2009
Combridge Far
COMBRIDGE
UTTOXETER, ST14 5BL
Staffordshire, GREAT BRITAIN
t (44 1) 889 507 367
f (44 1) 889 507 467
e richard@davison.cc
Mr. Robert DOVER 2008 - 2009
12028 Longwood Green Drive
WELLINGTON, Florida, 33414
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
t (1 561) 758 61 86
f (1 561) 795 59 34
e rdover2@aol.com
M. Alain FRANCQUEVILLE 2008 - 2009
7 Rue du Pavillon
49400 SAUMUR, FRANCE
t (33 2) 41 50 14 49
f (33 2) 41 50 11 95
e afqville@club-internet.fr
Elisabeth MAX-THEURER 2008 - 2009
Achleiten 1
4532 ROHR IM KREMSTAL, AUSTRIA
t (43 664) 200 38 80
f (43 7258) 220 522
e max-theurer@aon.at
Mrs Katrina WUEST 2008 - 2009
Brennermühlstrasse 77
85464 FINSING, GERMANY
t (49 1) 71 372 7326
f (49 1) 89 961 3945)
e katrina.wuest@t-online.de
Hopefully, they are following up on all the emails they're getting.
In the event anyone wants to write, email, or call, these are the committee members for the dressage task force. It would probably be more effective to contact them directly, which I will be doing later today:
FEI Dressage Task Force
Chair
Mr Frank KEMPERMAN 2008 - 2009
Romeinendreef 27
3620 LANAKEN, BELGIUM
t (49 241) 91 711 07
e frank.kemperman@chioaachen.de
Mr Richard DAVISON 2008 - 2009
Combridge Far
COMBRIDGE
UTTOXETER, ST14 5BL
Staffordshire, GREAT BRITAIN
t (44 1) 889 507 367
f (44 1) 889 507 467
e richard@davison.cc
Mr. Robert DOVER 2008 - 2009
12028 Longwood Green Drive
WELLINGTON, Florida, 33414
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
t (1 561) 758 61 86
f (1 561) 795 59 34
e rdover2@aol.com
M. Alain FRANCQUEVILLE 2008 - 2009
7 Rue du Pavillon
49400 SAUMUR, FRANCE
t (33 2) 41 50 14 49
f (33 2) 41 50 11 95
e afqville@club-internet.fr
Elisabeth MAX-THEURER 2008 - 2009
Achleiten 1
4532 ROHR IM KREMSTAL, AUSTRIA
t (43 664) 200 38 80
f (43 7258) 220 522
e max-theurer@aon.at
Mrs Katrina WUEST 2008 - 2009
Brennermühlstrasse 77
85464 FINSING, GERMANY
t (49 1) 71 372 7326
f (49 1) 89 961 3945)
e katrina.wuest@t-online.de
things you can do in response to the Rollkur/blue tongue
I've written to the FEI voicing my concerns and requesting action on their part. But as we know, that in itself will be a very small part of addressing this issue.
The discussion on how to respond is still ongoing on the classical dressage list. Dr. Thomas Ritter, who I've quoted here before, offered a very well-put perspective on the many things we can do:
That's exactly right. This kind of riding is rampant today. Patrick Kittel is by no means extreme or unusual. The problem is much more pervasive and systemic than one rider or a handful of riders. You can see it to varying degrees at every show, and these riders are routinely rewarded at the highest international levels, which is why it became so widespread in the first place. Somebody just happened to capture this on film and put it on youtube.
The reason why it's so hard to make an impact is because many of the people you complain to are using the exact same techniques. It's like trying to clean up a corrupt government or police force where everyone you turn to for help is corrupt and working for the other side, too.
Persistence is probably the only thing that will work in the long run. It will have to be a multi-pronged approach. It's good to write protest letters and e-mails to the FEI and all the national federations. It's important to support Gerd Heuschmann, the Xenophon society, Allege Ideal, and other individuals and organizations like them. It's important to educate riders, trainers, and judges.
Clients have to boycott trainers and judges who practice, teach, or condone Rollkur. If you are a competitor, don't ride for judges of whom you know that they are rewarding this kind of riding.
Trainers have to educate their clients about physiologically correct riding. Authors have to write books and articles that explain correct riding, and take a stand against Rollkur. Good riders have to demonstrate correct riding in practice.
Everybody can raise the issue at USDF conventions and other events that are put on by the establishment.
Trainers who go through a certification process can raise the issue with the teachers and examiners - at the risk of failing their exam.
Vote people into office in the national organizations who are anti Rollkur.
Ultimately, the only thing that will shut Rollkur down is if it doesn't bring money or fame any more. This is where judges and clients play a very important role. If horses that are short in the neck and on the forehand are consistently placed last, riders will abandon this technique very quickly.
If clients consistently take their money to riders who teach physiologically, biomechanically correct riding, and consistently avoid riders who ride their horses deep, with a short neck, and a high croup, then the Rollkur riders will either have to reeducate themselves, or they will not survive.
When I started to take my first riding lessons in the 70s, we were taught that having the horse behind the vertical was the greater evil than having him above the bit, and that correcting a horse that's behind the bit is more difficult than correcting one that's above the bit. This mindset has to be rediscovered.
(end of quote, posted here with permission)
Someone else on the list suggested that we boycott companies who sponsor upper level riders who consistently employ these abusive techniques. Writing them to let them know WHY you aren't buying their product gives them information. Enclosing a copy of a receipt for the product you did buy from another company who does not sponsor or endorse such riders gives them even more information.
If you go to the website for the WEG games in 2010 in Kentucky, you can find a list of sponsors for those games. Start now and let them know you will not support the games OR the sponsors if this kind of riding is allowed in warm-up, competition, and particularly rewarded with ribbons.
Some people are talking on COTH about wearing white armbands with the "no Rollkur" symbol. Others are talking about utilizing a "stand up and turn your back" to competitors who utilize these techniques.
I feel that going to the stewards and officials is often ineffective. What I personally intend to do if I see such abuse is to call 911 and treat it as an animal abuse issue. Which is actually what it is. The FEI has no jurisdiction over local law enforcement if an animal is being abused.
Someone from the classical dressage list has contacted the Dutch authorities (where the competition in the aforementioned video took place) and reported the abuse. She has received a response that the situation is being investigated.
Any one of us alone can probably not effect widespread change. But if we all report what we personally see, at least the FEI will have to deal with a swell of complaints, and local law enforcement will be activated.
The discussion on how to respond is still ongoing on the classical dressage list. Dr. Thomas Ritter, who I've quoted here before, offered a very well-put perspective on the many things we can do:
That's exactly right. This kind of riding is rampant today. Patrick Kittel is by no means extreme or unusual. The problem is much more pervasive and systemic than one rider or a handful of riders. You can see it to varying degrees at every show, and these riders are routinely rewarded at the highest international levels, which is why it became so widespread in the first place. Somebody just happened to capture this on film and put it on youtube.
The reason why it's so hard to make an impact is because many of the people you complain to are using the exact same techniques. It's like trying to clean up a corrupt government or police force where everyone you turn to for help is corrupt and working for the other side, too.
Persistence is probably the only thing that will work in the long run. It will have to be a multi-pronged approach. It's good to write protest letters and e-mails to the FEI and all the national federations. It's important to support Gerd Heuschmann, the Xenophon society, Allege Ideal, and other individuals and organizations like them. It's important to educate riders, trainers, and judges.
Clients have to boycott trainers and judges who practice, teach, or condone Rollkur. If you are a competitor, don't ride for judges of whom you know that they are rewarding this kind of riding.
Trainers have to educate their clients about physiologically correct riding. Authors have to write books and articles that explain correct riding, and take a stand against Rollkur. Good riders have to demonstrate correct riding in practice.
Everybody can raise the issue at USDF conventions and other events that are put on by the establishment.
Trainers who go through a certification process can raise the issue with the teachers and examiners - at the risk of failing their exam.
Vote people into office in the national organizations who are anti Rollkur.
Ultimately, the only thing that will shut Rollkur down is if it doesn't bring money or fame any more. This is where judges and clients play a very important role. If horses that are short in the neck and on the forehand are consistently placed last, riders will abandon this technique very quickly.
If clients consistently take their money to riders who teach physiologically, biomechanically correct riding, and consistently avoid riders who ride their horses deep, with a short neck, and a high croup, then the Rollkur riders will either have to reeducate themselves, or they will not survive.
When I started to take my first riding lessons in the 70s, we were taught that having the horse behind the vertical was the greater evil than having him above the bit, and that correcting a horse that's behind the bit is more difficult than correcting one that's above the bit. This mindset has to be rediscovered.
(end of quote, posted here with permission)
Someone else on the list suggested that we boycott companies who sponsor upper level riders who consistently employ these abusive techniques. Writing them to let them know WHY you aren't buying their product gives them information. Enclosing a copy of a receipt for the product you did buy from another company who does not sponsor or endorse such riders gives them even more information.
If you go to the website for the WEG games in 2010 in Kentucky, you can find a list of sponsors for those games. Start now and let them know you will not support the games OR the sponsors if this kind of riding is allowed in warm-up, competition, and particularly rewarded with ribbons.
Some people are talking on COTH about wearing white armbands with the "no Rollkur" symbol. Others are talking about utilizing a "stand up and turn your back" to competitors who utilize these techniques.
I feel that going to the stewards and officials is often ineffective. What I personally intend to do if I see such abuse is to call 911 and treat it as an animal abuse issue. Which is actually what it is. The FEI has no jurisdiction over local law enforcement if an animal is being abused.
Someone from the classical dressage list has contacted the Dutch authorities (where the competition in the aforementioned video took place) and reported the abuse. She has received a response that the situation is being investigated.
Any one of us alone can probably not effect widespread change. But if we all report what we personally see, at least the FEI will have to deal with a swell of complaints, and local law enforcement will be activated.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
hideous video of World cup warm-up abuse
http://www.youtube.com/user/eponatv#p/u/
This is so horrible I couldn't bear to put it here on my blog. Please if you watch it and are as horrified as I am, write/call the FEI and protest this abuse.
This is so horrible I couldn't bear to put it here on my blog. Please if you watch it and are as horrified as I am, write/call the FEI and protest this abuse.
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