Rollkur: Which of the big names uses it?

Stella2

Stella2

New Member
Aug 5, 2001
4,687
1
0
64
North East England
Visit site
Following on from previous threads. I was wondering who, aside from the obvious, uses it. It was lovely to see Isabell Werth's come back at this years WEG. Her horse went so beautifully and they looked so happy together. I'm hoping that she beat Anky without resorting to this method. Does anyone know? And who else uses Rollkur?
 
I just visited a website before reading this post on the subject. Ironically, the subjects (that supported rollkur) had their faces blurred or blackened. ::rolleyes::
I, for one, do not support hyperflexion of the neck. Makes me cringe a little.
 
A large number of the Dutch riders do - probably the bulk of their team riders, a few German ones do, but most find it anathema. The chap I train T with is trained by Conrad Schumacher who is very anti-RK. I don't honestly know who does, it's more that I know who doesn't over here.
 
rollkur is obviously very topical at the moment & personally i'm not fussed for getting into debates over it


i did note however a statement in the article link that stormchaser put up


'rollkur is not just longitudinal flexion but accompanied with repeated bending to the riders toe'


now maybe i'm playing devils advocate but i have to admit that bending to the toe is something that i use , not repeatedly i admit , but my horse is a bit stiff on the right side & a few stretches round to my toe at halt really do make a difference to how supple he proceeds to work

i'm sure that this is a technique that others use too?
 
''rollkur is obviously very topical at the moment & personally i'm not fussed for getting into debates over it''

i totally agree with this
personally im irritated and against people that judge rollkur without actually understanding the method properly,(i know thats not everybody but i know a few!!)

WHEN IM AS SUCCESFUL AND SKILLED AS RIDERS LIKE ANKY(who as far as im aware of is ranked one of the top riders in the world),MAYBE THEN ILL HAVE MORE OF A SAY!!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
unfortunately tigs i often think that people with the 'biggest' opinions on a subject are often the people with least knowledge & understanding of the subject, it's always the case whatever the topic that some people will form a narrow opinion & will dismiss any further explanation/evidence they receive

(just for the record i'm not specifically referring to rollkur or any particular individuals in that statement)
 
totaly agree andrea b,
as far as the topic rollkur goes,im not prepared2 comment as i dont have a proper understanding of the techniec
i do know tho, if i was given the oppotunity2 learn and use the method correctly,in order to be as succesful as some of the riders using it,id jump at the chance!!!as im sure alot of us would!!
 
tigs said:
personally im irritated and against people that judge rollkur without actually understanding the method properly,(i know thats not everybody but i know a few!!)

WHEN IM AS SUCCESFUL AND SKILLED AS RIDERS LIKE ANKY(who as far as im aware of is ranked one of the top riders in the world),MAYBE THEN ILL HAVE MORE OF A SAY!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

unfortunately tigs i often think that people with the 'biggest' opinions on a subject are often the people with least knowledge & understanding of the subject
Click to expand...


and that is the problem. People see the likes of Anky doing it and winning and wonder what the fuss is all about. They also see the likes of Anky doing it and winning and decide to try it out for themselves.

The facts are that many of the top classical riders are vehemently against Rollkur. Biomechanics experts are against Rollkur.

I am not a top rider nor am I ever likely to be but I'm intelligent enough to be able to listen to other people's opinions, to research it for myself and to come to an educated conclusion. If it were a toss up between using Rollkur and riding at GP and not using Rollkur and never competing then I would choose never to compete.

Heather Moffett who has posted on here and other forums including her own about the effects of Rollkur can hardly be dismissed as judging it without understanding it!

I would nicely suggest that those people who don't see what all the fuss is about and who think that if Anky & 'friends' use it then it's an 'ok' training method should do some research before they dismiss those 'lesser' riders amongst us (I'm including myself in this) of jumping on the bandwagon and talking about things that we don't know about!

That particular accusation works both ways!
 
Andrea and tigs. I don't mean to be awkward, but your comments are off topic! The question is who uses it? Underlying this, can be information about which top horses trained like this are going well etc!
 
Stella2 said:
Andrea and tigs. I don't mean to be awkward, but your comments are off topic! The question is who uses it? Underlying this, can be information about which top horses trained like this are going well etc!
Click to expand...

It would be difficult to say who uses it (apart from Anky) because riders would probably say they use LDR rather than Rollkur. It could be assumed that the danish team use it because Sjef is the team trainer.
 
with regards to rollkur i can see both sides of the arguement and im not taking sides but, until somebody has totally researched it and learnt how to use it properley....then they should make comments about it and not before....so the people that say it is totally wrong must question themselves asking whether they know what it is all about?
 
jackbruv said:
with regards to rollkur i can see both sides of the arguement and im not taking sides but, until somebody has totally researched it and learnt how to use it properley....then they should make comments about it and not before....so the people that say it is totally wrong must question themselves asking whether they know what it is all about?
Click to expand...

Please refer to my previous reply, I'm not going to regurgitate it all again.

To summarise though:

A great number of highly respected classical riders are against it. Biomechanical experts are against it. Heather Moffett has posted on here about rollkur and she is DEAD against it. You don't have to have used it to understand that biomechanically it is WRONG.

You can ignore my comments because I'm a pleb but are you going to ignore theirs?
 
Emotions run high on this topic and the split is wide. What is certain is that there is for every one top level rider, equine biomechanics expert against it the other side have contradicting evidence from top level rider, biomechanical expert.

The problem is that until people start sitting down together and being sensible about the further medical studies required there will be no middle ground. Shouting Abuse and libelous remarks does not bring this topic forward and only quite rightly allows those using it to issue writs which cannot be defended.

The FEI have said there is no welfare issue! If you feel this is wrong then there are better ways of having the FEI re-examine there findings with some real chance of getting the truth whatever it may be, than is the current campaign. BD and other national bodies are legally obligied to follow the FEI ruling so there is little point in slagging them off.

All that is happening is our beloved sport is being destroyed and detracting from our being able to push Dressage to the forefront of Equine Competition competing for lucrative TV money that assists in grass root development.

So have your beliefs whatever they are and by all means fight for what you believe in but do it in the right way. If you honestly believe that the current campaign of libel and abuse is going to work you are doing the cause you believe in a diservice. Lets have Dressage in the news for the right reasons.
 
..

Bay Mare said:
Please refer to my previous reply, I'm not going to regurgitate it all again.

To summarise though:

A great number of highly respected classical riders are against it. Biomechanical experts are against it. Heather Moffett has posted on here about rollkur and she is DEAD against it. You don't have to have used it to understand that biomechanically it is WRONG.

You can ignore my comments because I'm a pleb but are you going to ignore theirs?
Click to expand...

This is TRUE i have been resaerching it and this result always appears. If anbody cares more the health of the horse than winning a competition then they will NOT use rollkur. The horse's back, pelvis, and hindlegs should work freely, rollkur creates constraint and the abodomen is cramped or stretched out to a maximum, they should be free and natural to support the horse alternatly no all muscles on at once.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back