Dressage WTF

[OrkneyGirl]

I have just been watching Olympic dressage...a poor horse moving its hooves in time to 'Another one bites the dust'...surely this is done for human entertainment only. The horse wouldn't do this naturally. Commentator saying the horse 'clearly loves moving to the beat'. What a load of crap. Years of making the horse move unnaturally. Probably with a stick or whip. AIBU that this sport is about privileged humans dominating a beautiful animal. Makes me so sad...and angry!

I agree there must be millions who don’t mistreat horses, but the problem with the Charlotte Dujardin case is surely that it begs the question, is this happening elsewhere at top level dressage? She is one person, but at the same it seems highly unlikely she is the only person. We have seen many examples in the past of instances where the pressures (and money) at top-level sport of all kinds has contributed to malpractice.

have just been watching Olympic dressage...a poor horse moving its hooves in time to 'Another one bites the dust'...surely this is done for human entertainment only.

Is that not true of any equestrian sport?

I love the idea of looking closely at a horse's gait and then trawling through Spotify to see what fits...I am sure the horse is incredibly impressed with the effort that's gone into choosing the right track. Nothing to do with human preference or entertainment value.

Sadly, I'm sure it is happening elsewhere. As you say, it happens across all kinds sports at the top-level.

But that doesn't mean that dressage riding is inherently cruel as a sport.

If you haven't seen a horse perform piaffe or passage in a field, then either you have not been watching them long enough or you are looking at a group of relaxed horses happily mooching. Often turned out in groups not likely to be conducive to too much excitement (mares with geldings, or other mares they get on well with... stallions often on their own, or with carefully selected horses to ensure no aggro...
Where you'll see a lot more of these natural moves that you profess to hate, is in the wild, when horses are living on their wits, fighting to survive, attract or retain mares, etc.

True, that is a different conversation.

Exactly. No-one can honestly claim that any of it is for the horses' benefit. Of course most of the horses will be motivated to do what's asked of them, but only because they've been bred that way for human entertainment. These aren't working animals in the sense of having any practical use.

That's exactly what I'm thinking.
Yes Horses do prance about when they are in the field and full of energy.

No, that would be showing.

OP, if you’re honestly concerned I suggest you spend some time at a local stables. Or read up on natural horse behaviour.

While a few have ruined it for others, the majority give their all for the wellbeing of their horses and most I know are wealthy - they just prioritise their own grooming for that of their horses. Clearly there is money at the top but that’s the case in all walks of life. Some of the swimmers, shooters, BMX riders eg, will have had the money to have extra coaches and put themselves in a better position than others. So what?

Horses do naturally move on a diagonal across the field of their own accord. They love to make some shapes when they feel great. And they absolutely will bring you down with a bang if they think you are getting too big for your boots.

Have you ever had a whip used on you?! Used correctly it doesn’t hurt at all and is just an extension of your arm. They are not used to whip in the sense CDJ believes (I do not condone her actions and am absolutely disgusted by her).

Like I said, if your concern comes from serious place then do more research and find out for yourself.

First thing mine where taught as youngsters to move over in the stable

Orkney, I think many of your comments are chippy. The music chosen is neither here nor there. Mostly the horse does not take any notice...

Thank you, ComtesseDeSpair - andd @Clarouts - that's kind of what I thought, but as someone who knows nothing beyond them being exquisite creatures I didn't want to assume

Well you might have a point but then we must also ban all pets and animals in a domestic setting. I take it you have never owned an animal?

100% - it's a safety move as much as anything else!

I have a friend whose actual job is to compose and arrange music for dressage riders to ride to.

Key facets of dressage is rhythm and tempo, which is a combination of a horse’s natural rhythm influenced by rider input to adjust this, via lots of repetitive, positive training.

I can get my horse to trot with impulsion when carriage driving just by calling the word ‘out’. She didn’t even have to be trained to do that, it just happens and you praise when they do what you wanted, so they do it again. Horses thrive on praise.

Come and watch my lot then when they're having their early evening hoolie. Or when the chasse (hunt) are in the next field. I have an arab that'd put Valegro to shame! Totally natural.

Potential animal cruelty aside though, dressage to music is very naff.

I’m sure you’re right about the horses. But I do think that the use of cheesy music does contribute to the impression that this is all being done for human entertainment, and so comes over as crass.

Yet another poster who thinks all horse owners are rich and ‘privileged’. Do go away. On my yard, there is a headteacher of a special school, me (teacher), security guard, hospital admin worker, a physio, a midwife, a council worker, normal people with normal jobs, some of them show/do dressage/jump, some don’t.

My hairy cob did a beautiful inhand canter pirouette which was sodding terrifying, just because his best mate had reared in front of him, both spooked at the clapping in the other arena. He had a high step when excited, very ‘dressage’ yet never had any training. Refining those movements is the progression.

Dressage always looked a bit bonkers. You don't see horses running sideways in real life. There again, you don't notice them vaulting over obstacles too often either. Probably because there aren't many in the steppes of central Asia where they originate. I used to love National Hunt - more exciting than flat , so mea culpa I suppose.

The reason they're not "working" animals in any practical sense is because humans domesticated them and then outgrew them as technology advanced - and were then left with animals who had the intelligence and drive to work, but who suddenly found themselves without a job.

If the event isn’t a test of human endurance, ability etc, then it shouldn’t be in the Olympics. It’s only take seriously as a ‘sport’ because Princess Anne used to ponce about on a horse collecting adulation as an elite ‘sportswoman’. Even when I was a kid I could see it was a load of bollocks.

Anyone who has ridden horses for any length of time knows that it can take a LOT of physical effort. Not just for the however long it is they are competing but every day, often hours as they may be schooling many horses, then before getting to elite level mucking out, grooming, tack cleaning etc.

It has been calculated that depending on the type of riding you are doing, your own weight etc, it can burn 250 - 550 calories an hour just doing the riding, with dressage calculated at around 450 calories. In comparison, doing gymnastics burns somewhere between 250 and 300 calories per hour

Skill levels and your own body control are crucial; letting your head tilt just a couple of degrees to one side inadvertently can completely ruin a movement, letting your leg shift back a cm gives an entirely different signal to the horse, even tightening one buttock a tiny bit more or less than intended can affect the horses movement. To get this degree of control over your own body you need to train - hard - for years. I know it looks like the rider is just sitting there & the horse is doing all the work but I can promise you it's very hard to do the work while not showing it.

Some history on why dressage is considered a sport. The basic control over a horse to get it to do different things like changing pace, stride, turning on the haunches (pirouette) and side stepping on request were all part of cavalry training. Schooling in what is now called dressage goes back to Tudor times, and prowess in "Menage" as it was called then was greatly feted during the reign of the Stuarts. Horses were used in warfare until well into the 20th century, so the ability to ride and control a horse to a high level were valued abilities - Modern Pentathlon is based on the 5 skills considered a requirement for all Army officers (Horse riding, shooting, fencing, swimming, running).

TLDR - dressage is a sport which requires high levels of fitness and skill, takes many years of very hard work to master, and has been highly respected for centuries longer than Princess Anne has been alive

What is it about dressage to music that offends you so much?

Any music studio can change the tempo of a piece of music - nobody’s trawling through Spotify, they pay (a lot of money to) professional arrangers to put the music tracks together.

It’s obvious that nothing anyone says (with a lot more actual knowledge than you) is going to change your opinion to the slightest degree. Curious as to why you’re still here.

Depends on the animal, cats and dogs are a completely different kettle of fish when it comes to their relationship with humans and how they've evolved as companion animals. Beasts of burden like horses have not come to be domesticated through mutual evolution and symbiotic relationships.

That said, I do object to a huge amount of the culture around dog and cat breeding, as well as the way some working dogs are kept.