All horse people must be aware of the inhumane practices that have been taking place in the dressage world. I have signed petitions and read blog after blog raising concerns. Rollkur must be banned! This morning, Kim (Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch) listed some specific addresses where I could communicate my feelings. We all need to do something about this. I wrote to three Alltech sites (they are one of the FEI sponsors for the 2010 World Games to be held in Kentucky). Within a very short period of time, I got this response.
"Thank you for your email Lori. We at Alltech have been made aware of the video filmed by Epona.tv at the FEI World CupTM Dressage qualifier at Odense (DEN) and posted on YouTube and have addressed our concerns to the FEI. Alltech’s primary concern has always been and will always be the health and welfare of the horse. The FEI is taking the issues raised in the video and in the comments made by members of the public on social media very seriously and have opened a full investigation. The conclusions of this investigation will be made public in due course. We await the outcome of their investigation".
Regards,
Christina Lombard
If you care about these beautiful animals, don't just sit there, DO SOMETHING! And that goes for all the other circumstances horses are in that need advocates. Please be there for them....
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” Ghandi
These riders/trainers obviously do not care about the horses...only about how the horses can make them look. What a pity.
I watched a couple of the videos and couldn't believe riders of such a high caliber would do such a thing. I was always yelled at when my horse was bent past the vertical and was told to push from behind to correct it. With the horses they are riding, they certainly don't need to, nor should they want to, resort to a gimmick. Defeats the whole point of dressage. Thanks for posting this information.
ReplyDeleteI'm so out of the loop anymore that I'd never heard of this. Thanks (I think) for the enlightenment. Ugh.
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