Thursday, February 11, 2010

2nd post of the day; Colonel Carde response to FEI

copied from facebook, linked from Horses for Life

Colonel Carde : Response to the FEI statement regarding the Feb.9th FEI roundtable on Rollkur/Hyperflexion

I am not surprised with the outcome of the meeting. Had the FEI truly condemned the hyper flexion of the neck, it would have rejected the training technique behind the success of a triple Olympic champion, and disowned the judges, trainers and riders who have benefited from it until now.

In reading the text of the FEI’s press release, we find that the FEI is now authorizing Hyperflexion when it is obtained without force (“Using the technique known as Low, Deep, Round (LDR), which achieves flexion without under force in acceptable”.) It appears the roundtable of February 9th did not really change anything.

To justify its position, the FEI committee implied that Rollkur and LDR are different. They chose to completely ignore the history of Rollkur. One must remember that this training technique was developed by trainer Sjef Janssen who baptized it “Low, Deep and Round”. It then became commonly referred to as Rollkur by Swede Theresa Sandin on her website. Without a doubt, Rollkur and LDR are exactly the same technique as all the pictures published on this topic can attest to.

In reality, it would have been better to set aside Rollkur and LDR which are one and the same, and focus the discussion instead on hyper flexion, which is easier to define. To forbid Rollkur and authorize LDR is meaningless. It is akin to forbidding the consumption of pork but allowing pig!

In the final analysis, the conclusions arrived at by the FEI will only be valid if the FEI produces different photos showcasing on the one hand, the difference between Rollkur and LDR, and on the other hand photos showing horses in the authorized LDR posture. Otherwise, the ambiguity will remain.

5 comments:

Di said...

In a nutshell!!! Exactly what I thought. We're back to square one!!!

Jean said...

Yep, there's the trouble. As I have noted elsewhere, LDR should not be the same as rollkur but has become one in the same. LDR should put the horse down into stretch position where he voluntarily rounds his back as he goes forward, not hyperflexing because he is seeking contact through his back. Trouble is, it quickly becomes rollkur when the horse is not allowed to stretch through his neck.

The critique of the FEI's ruling is right on target. And, I fear the Danish are masters of forced LDR. Phooey.....

cptrayes said...

Just what I have posted on the H&H forum - it was a fudge and they treated us like ignorant children and actually banned nothing!

C

Unknown said...

It is a disgrace, and it proves again that teh FEI will do and try everything to keep on aproving the torturing of horses. The only reason they have forbidden rollkur is to give the 'stupid' public a crum so they are happy. But the FEI made a big mistake in this. The public is by far not as stupid as they think they are! The protest now will get even bigger then before. Beceause if there is one thing that people in general do not like, is when they are fooled! And not fooled by accident, but deliberately!

Danni said...

Yep, waffle really!