4/1/2022 Edited to add: I am embarrassed by this post. In the thirteen intervening years I have learned so much more about rollkur, hyperflexion, dropped backs, and flailing forelegs. Looking back at this today, I see NOTHING classical about this ride. And of course Totilas broke down at a relatively young age and is now gone, just like so many horses trained in this "modern" fashion. I don't even watch the highest levels of this sport anymore; it's all varying degrees of bad.
Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas
7 comments:
I don't usually follow dressage, but when I see performances like that, it makes me tear up.
Your video that Fugly posted a year or so ago did the same thing for me.
I don't really follow Fugly's posts much anymore mostly because the commenters can be so unkind, but she did give you big kudos for your patience and perseverance.
Thanks for commenting! I think you might have me mixed up with Half Pass Gal, of YouTube fame. I would have to look through Fugly's archive to be sure, but I don't think she has posted any videos of me.
Hey - you may be right - but I still enjoy your blog.
Sorry, but that is not good dressage. The horse is moving like a hackney, all flashy knee action and not using himself properly. He is tense, behind the vertical, and is not poll high.
That might be the current fashion, but if you go back and look at the masters like Klimke, you will see a horse that uses his back and swings, and looks like he enjoys his work.
We have a long, long way to go to bring dressage back from being such a circus act. And don't you think that horse is a bit young to be competing at that level???
Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion. I do believe that that is very good dressage. I disagree that the horse is behind the vertical, and if he appears not to be poll high at times, well, he's a stallion, and they're often very cresty. I don't think he's tense. Most of the time the tip of his tail is swinging freely. Tension shows up in transitions, and his are flawless, especially the ones from extended canter to pirouette. A tense horse just couldn't achieve a transition like that. He has a very extravagant extended trot, and his front legs do "promise" more than his hind legs. I believe that's a fault according the FEI rules, but in this horse's case, I don't believe it's a result of tension.
Again, my opinion, and you are of course entitled to yours as well!
I think this is beautiful! I wish there were videos of these talented horses performing through all of the levels. Wouldn't it be cool to see this horse 4 years ago performing lower level stuff? Surely they aren't just born this talented! Do you know of any video evidence?
I Totally agree with Sharon. Moreover, Edward Gal is known to work with sjanssen's rollkur methods. Nethertheless that is obvious that the horse is a phenomenon, but he could have been better if it was trained in the accademical tradition. Where is the lightness ? Is it normal to present a whole show in such a "spanish trot" ???
Nowadays dressage presentations tends to go far away from the original goals. (Sorry for my poor english).
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