Post by heather on Apr 25, 2010 13:05:06 GMT 1
Niknia,
I repeat myself again. It is not a simple smack with the whip that I am against. It is the repeated beating with the whip that is going on daily, in riding schools and colleges, and in lessons with some freelance instructors, and even examinations, that I am trying to get banned.
If people are not educated in the restrained use of a whip, how are they to know? I have a number of DVDs that are sent ahead of students who come here on my simulator workshops. I see some appalling tuition, and that in itself is bad enough, horses through bad riding, being prevented from moving off the leg, the rider blocking his back, and so the whip is resorted to.
In one DVD the rider refuses to hit or kick the horse any more- you could hear the thumps of the boots on the other side of a 20 x 40 indoor school, and the repeated thwacks with the whip. The rider is then told by the instructor, a BHSII, 'You wimp', and it wasnt said jokingly either.
In the other end of the school, divided off into two for two semi private lessons, there are two kids, probably no more than 7 or 8 years old, their little legs coming so far off the sides of the pony to kick that they were almost toppling off, it unbalanced them to such a degree. Of course, they also had their whips, and were whacking the ponies at every few strides. You may say, they were only little kids and as such couldnt hurt the ponies with their ineffectual blows, but this sort of teaching plants the seeds for later life, when they are bigger and stronger and can effect far more stinging blows, and thumps heavy enough to bruise ribs with spurs.
I was teaching a lady at a clinic a couple of weeks ago, on a stunning KWPN, at advanced medium level dressage. She had to have a lesson with a well known trainer, in order to qualify to attend some other event, I can't remember what. I went to show the rider exactly how I wanted her to use the leg. The horse as soon as he felt my hand where the spur had been, literally curled away from it.
His owner looked ashamed, and said that she had been made by the trainer to kick him with her short, blunt ended spurs, into a strong rein contact, this supposedly to collect the canter more. Since then, he had even been kicking out at the mere use of her leg, as he was so sore and bruised from the lesson. She would never forgive herself, she said, for allowing the trainer to get her to brutalise him in this way.
But whilst this sort of treatment, whether whip or spur, is condoned by instructors/trainers, from total beginners right to the top, how is the lot of the horse to improve if we do not improve the education from beginners up?
For me, beginners are THE most important riders of all, and if they are taught from day one, to respect the horse as a living, sentient being, then it would filter all the way to the top, and then methods such as rollkur would be far less likely to come into being.
Heather
I repeat myself again. It is not a simple smack with the whip that I am against. It is the repeated beating with the whip that is going on daily, in riding schools and colleges, and in lessons with some freelance instructors, and even examinations, that I am trying to get banned.
If people are not educated in the restrained use of a whip, how are they to know? I have a number of DVDs that are sent ahead of students who come here on my simulator workshops. I see some appalling tuition, and that in itself is bad enough, horses through bad riding, being prevented from moving off the leg, the rider blocking his back, and so the whip is resorted to.
In one DVD the rider refuses to hit or kick the horse any more- you could hear the thumps of the boots on the other side of a 20 x 40 indoor school, and the repeated thwacks with the whip. The rider is then told by the instructor, a BHSII, 'You wimp', and it wasnt said jokingly either.
In the other end of the school, divided off into two for two semi private lessons, there are two kids, probably no more than 7 or 8 years old, their little legs coming so far off the sides of the pony to kick that they were almost toppling off, it unbalanced them to such a degree. Of course, they also had their whips, and were whacking the ponies at every few strides. You may say, they were only little kids and as such couldnt hurt the ponies with their ineffectual blows, but this sort of teaching plants the seeds for later life, when they are bigger and stronger and can effect far more stinging blows, and thumps heavy enough to bruise ribs with spurs.
I was teaching a lady at a clinic a couple of weeks ago, on a stunning KWPN, at advanced medium level dressage. She had to have a lesson with a well known trainer, in order to qualify to attend some other event, I can't remember what. I went to show the rider exactly how I wanted her to use the leg. The horse as soon as he felt my hand where the spur had been, literally curled away from it.
His owner looked ashamed, and said that she had been made by the trainer to kick him with her short, blunt ended spurs, into a strong rein contact, this supposedly to collect the canter more. Since then, he had even been kicking out at the mere use of her leg, as he was so sore and bruised from the lesson. She would never forgive herself, she said, for allowing the trainer to get her to brutalise him in this way.
But whilst this sort of treatment, whether whip or spur, is condoned by instructors/trainers, from total beginners right to the top, how is the lot of the horse to improve if we do not improve the education from beginners up?
For me, beginners are THE most important riders of all, and if they are taught from day one, to respect the horse as a living, sentient being, then it would filter all the way to the top, and then methods such as rollkur would be far less likely to come into being.
Heather
