How Does One Avoid Being Sucked Into the Hype?

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By "hype," I mean what some authority or authorites dictate you should be doing or how you should be performing. I'm not exactly sure how this requirement gets transmitted. It may come through the ether, spread by some mysterious word of mouth so that pretty soon you find yourself blindly adhering to it.

I have found myself in this position just recently as I'm trying to get my P.R.E. stallion ready for what the breeding community calls "revision"; that is, getting him approved as a breeding stallion. Normally, such an inspection is done when stallions are just three years old. My stallion is now eight. And its a simple process. Judges from Spain assess the horse's conformation by eyeballing him and actually taking measuraments to see if he meets the physical criteria for the breed. Then the young stallion is led out by his handler so the judge can observe the horse's movement. The movement must be lively, expressive, and energetic. The horse must show even rhythm in his gaits and a desire to go forward. Here's where the fantasy comes in. What does all that exacdtly mean? What does it look like exactly for a young untrained horse or a mature horse, for that matter?
During the last revision I observed, the horse was led out on a straight line at the walk. Then he was trotted in a circle around the handler. Then the handler ran with him down the long side in a straight line so the judge could observe a more extended trot. The judge did not look at the canter. This says something in itself. Why not?

At least this is what I observed in the one revision I went to last year. I've also observed championship classess where horses are assessed against each other to pick the "best of show" and the standard for the breed. I actually saw a few of these in Spain.

Here's the problem. My whole website is about challenging the tendencies of my sport, dressage ,to go way beyond what it was meant to be, which is a training vehicle. It is slowly becoming a showcase for flashy movers that have no use except to be flashy There are elements of the sport that are being corrupted by this tendency. The approval process for Spanish breeding stallions, I fear, is succumbing to this move towards the flashy mover that was bred that way, not trained in the manner of dressage. The flashy mover works from the front end, not the back, which is totally against the tenets of classical dressage.

I fear I have succumbed to exacly what my website argues against.; that is, I am recognizing that I'm beginning to work my stallion towards this fantasy flashy mover, thinking this is what the judges want to see. I believe this is what they want to see because I've seen them reward it and because this is the message I'm getting through the ether. And I want this badly because my ego is wrapped up in it and also my money. But I don't even believe in it. I caught myself doing this today when my young Hispanic trainer was working with my stallion in hand to encourage him foward in the trot. My stallion kept breaking into a canter which caused my trainer to have to jerk him around in a tight circle to "kill the canter" as he put it. This puts a termendous strain on the joints and muscles. And low and behold, my stallion came up sore in the left hind leg at the end of the session.

But I encouraged all this as I yelled, "Good. That's it," when I saw the front end extend and rise to show elevation in the front. Of course, it's "eye candy," as my trainer put it. But I had to ask myself, "What's the hind end doing which supplies the pushing power for all this fire?" I wasn't looking at the hind end. Like most afficionados in my sport, I got sucked into feasting my eyes on the front end because that's the easiest to watch.

The picture above, on the other hand, depicts a horse whose front and hind end are working in equal alignment; that is, the angles are pretty much the same both in
the back and in the front, and he's working with expressiion. The horse
in the statue looks to be showing a collected trot, which is a more
advanced gait. Nevertheless, the same concepts apply whether the horse
is performing more advanced or elementary expression in the gaits.

I finally came to my senses and told my trainer to stop the exercise and that we would in the future only spend one half hour on in-hand work to prepare the stallion for revision. My trainer explained that becuase we have been using only a rope halter and because my stallion is so big and powerful that he has to use the geometry of a circle to slow the horse down and get him back to a trot from the canter. He would tend to break quite a lot from trot to canter because the canter is easier for him. We are trying to teach him to feel comfortable extending himself in the trot, which is what the judges want to see. Maybe next time we should use a stud chain or a serreta to exact better and quicker obedience from the horse, not having to use the circle which stresses the muscles and joints. And here's another point, this is not a three-year-old. This is a mature stallion who in many ways becomes much more difficult to handle on the ground in these exercises. My trainer to his credit realized that what we really need to work on right now is obedience from the stallion in the transitions.

I don't know how to prevent getting sucked into the hype. I only know at this point to be aware of what it is and be ready to stop oneself if you think you're getting drawn in.

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Recent Comments

2

Carole, I don’t know much about horses, especially Stallions, but I think you have seen something that has changed the course of your life and that’s the important thing.
All the best to you.
Joe

THANK YOU, JOE. THAT'S ENCOURAGING.

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