Glenshee Equestrian Centre

--> When is a canter not a canter?  When it’s a trollop . That’s the name I’ve jokingly given to the sad, four-beat excuse for a canter so many people seem to think is the same as collection.  Most people think of canter as the gait that comes between trot and gallop.  When you add a fourth beat to the normally three beat gait, it’s something of a trot-gallop; in other words, a trollop .  Slow like a trot, four beat like a gallop, but definitely doesn’t qualify as a proper canter. You see, by definition, canter has three beats and three beats only .  When what you are seeing no longer has three beats, it can no longer be a canter.  So what else is it, besides very, very wrong? And yet you see many riders, especially in hunter/jumpers and disturbing disciplines like western pleasure, where people seem to strive for this monstrous hybrid on purpose.  I know!  Why would anyone do such a thing?  I have to think (and this may be g...

Billie over at camera-obscura has been a great resource in following the rollkur issue, and prior to the next FEI meeting on the subject, she has posted this logo and text , and invited us to do the same in solidarity with Dr. Heuschmann and his message at that meeting.  I hope you'll visit there and consider adding your voice to this important debate: ---- The FEI is holding a closed-door round table meeting on Feb. 9th to discuss the training method known as rollkur, or hyperflexion, which involves pulling and holding the horse's muzzle to his chest. This practice is known to have many negative effects on the horse, both physically and psychologically. Gerd Heuschmann, the lone voice for the horse at this meeting, has my support and appreciation as he presents his case "for the good of the horse" along with petitions and letters saying NO TO ROLLKUR. You can see a taste of this method in the Epona TV's footage in the previous post. Please take a moment t...

   I received this e-mail today and thought I'd post it here for anyone who may be interested.  Phillipe Karl is urging concerned horsemen to sign a petition asking the FEI to officially condemn the horrific practice of rollkur: Dear Madam, dear Sir, On 9 February 2010, more than 20 experts will attend an FEI meeting in Switzerland to discuss once again whether the so-called hyperflexion (“Rollkur”) is an adequate method of training a horse. In order to support the opponents of this method and offer them further arguments, a petition has been initiated at www.no-rollkur.com. We’d like to invite you to support this action against hyperflexion – time is short! You were so kind as to sign our own petition calling for reforms of the FN rules, which was initiated in May 2009. This obviously bore fruit: The German FN eventually invited Philippe Karl for a meeting in Warendorf, Germany. They now have to find an appropriate date. We will of co...

Billie at Camera-Obscura has written a great primer on the practice of rollkur, the controversy, and what you as an individual can do about it.  I can't recommend it enough! This disgusting practice has gone on too long.  Sadly, many feel unqualified to question it and most of us have felt powerless to stop it, but we are not alone; there is now a growing outrage at the practice and a community of concerned horsemen denouncing this horror and offering humane, classical alternatives.  Together we can make out voices count. I hope you'll check out this excellent post here . or cut and paste: http://camera-obscura-billie.blogspot.com/2009/11/rollkur-101-what-you-need-to-know-to.html also, more here on GEC:   Rollkur

The German Equestrian Federation has finally responded to Philippe Karl's Letter and Petition; a translation of their letter may be found here . Mr. Karl's answer can be found here . ________

(click on image to view full-size) The Direct Rein of Opposition is by f ar the most misused and abused rein aid of the five. This is a rein of opposition, which means it blocks the horse’s impulsion on the side used – or, because this aid can be used simultaneously on both reins, blocks both sides – and transfers the horse’s balance backward toward the hindquarter on the side where the rein is used. As with all reins of opposition, this is an incredibly powerful aid and, used improperly, can be the cause of significant – and justified – resistance from the horse, perhaps more than any other rein effect. This rein has a powerful stopping and/or collecting effect on the horse in that it causes the horse to re-balance himself toward one or both hindquarters while opposing forward impulsion. The effect of this rein is such that, when applied to one side, depending on the strength of the aid relative to the amount of impulsion, the horse may turn his head slig...

  About the head of a truly great horse there is an air of freedom unconquerable. The eyes seem to look on heights beyond our gaze. It is the look of a spirit that can soar.   ~John Taunter Foote Rollkur. You see it everywhere. Among dressage, jumper, hunter, and even western pleasure trainers, this particular method has become the mainstay of many riders today. But what is it, what it is intended to do, does it work, and is it ethical? Rollkur has just been redefined by the FEI as “hyperflexion of the neck.” It involves a combination of extreme longitudinal and lateral flexions of the neck with a pronounced break behind the poll. At times the nose will touch the chest or shoulder. Proponents of this method claim that rollkur stretches the topline, lifts the back and supples the horse, and therefore is a desirable technique for developing the equine athlete. These proponents do not, however, distinguish between “good” and “bad” stretching. After all, a torn ligamen...