There has been much news recently about Moorland’s Totilas who is now being ridden by Matthias Alexander Rath, facing a future subjected to the training “guidance” of Sjef Janssen – the strong proponent of Rollkur, or Hyperflexion. I am happy to see that the German Federation of Professional Riders (BBR) is strongly voicing their opposition …

Or if you prefer to call it low, deep and round then go right ahead. I don’t differentiate the two very much, it is mostly political semantics so the FEI can avoid making top riders responsible in training their horses without abuse. I digress. What you came here wondering about is Edward Gal’s involvement. He …

Once upon a time ago, the difference between Classical and Competitive Dressage seemed synonymous with the distance between the walls of the Grand Canyon (which happens to be up to 18 miles wide!). Whether it is merely my perception, or the reality, which has changed I have yet to determine. Nonetheless there is still a …

[dc]C[/dc]ompetition at the top level does not indemnify you from abusing your horse. It does not mean that judges are more fair, that the people involved care more about the horse. Caring for a horse and caring about a horse are two completely separate issues. These videos are perfect examples of that. Every horse is …

Despite the FEI’s ruling that Rollkur is a banned practice, and instead has favored the use of LDR (Low, Deep, Round), there is plenty of evidence to the contrary that hyperflexion is a norm for competitors. The World Equestrian Games, hosted in Kentucky this year is already proving the perfect grounds to spot the practice …

It’s official, Writing Of Riding is now bilingual… or at least a small piece of it. My article, “A Beginner’s Guide To Rollkur” has been translated into Polish and included in a special anti-Rollkur campaign that is being run by hipologia.pl Feel free to check out the translated version if you read Polish (their site …

Because equestrians are protesting hyperflexion through means which do not motivate abusers to change – i.e. silent protests at competitions, speaking out through niche internet, signing of petitions, etc. Hyperflexion is money motivated and those who are making the most money are using the technique. Riders who are impressed by abusers are willing to move …

It is “easy” to talk about Rollkur from a distant point of view – perhaps not with a clear-cut opinion, but certainly a disjointed and ‘objective’ one. What isn’t easy is to address Rollkur when you’ve seen the effect it has; not on the horses who are succeeding and making money for their international-celebrity riders …

If you haven’t been ‘in the know’ regarding the latest assualt on horses and the sport of dressage thanks to Patrik Kittel aboard his horse Stanic at the World Cup Qualifier this will hopefully fill you in a bit more. Rollkur has been an issue written about on this blog fairly regularly, but until now …

I was checking my blog statistics today, seeing how much traffic is coming to my blog and where they arrive from, and it came to my attention that many of my visitors arrive from searches relating to rollkur. When I did a search on some of the keyword terms that are bringing traffic to me …

This topic not only keeps showing up in front of me, but is something I feel could use the help of all possible until it has been fully recognized and eradicated. Besides, I found that there is a petition to impose a 2-finger noseband looseness rule to the FEI, which would prevent riders from crank-noseband …

There are a few key ingredients needed in order to successfully use Rollkur with your horse. None of these are directly related to the horse of course, but are essential to have established before you wander out and work with your horse. Please note, in no particular order… Forget about the idea that we are …