EponaTV has sparked much-needed debate on the use of Rollkur in horse-training, having taped a 2 hour video of a World Cup dressage horse ridden by Swedish rider, Patrik Kittel in warm-up.
The horse is seen in hyper-flexion (the scientific name for Rollkur), and the tongue is well extended, flapping outside the horse’s mouth and appears to be blue, leading to the footage becoming known as ‘the blue tongue’ debate.
You can view some footage here (there are extended versions available):
The journalists asked for comment by the horse’s rider, who apparently felt he was not contravening FEI welfare rules, although he was interested in speaking through his lawyer.
Submission to 5 veterinarians for comment noted hypoxia of the horse’s tongue, and YouTube viewers are increasingly vocal on what they see, resulting in petitions and letters to the FEI.
EponaTV has a website at http://www.epona.tv/uk, where you can find out more.
If you would like to follow through in petitioning the FEI, you can do it on iPetitions
UPDATE: As a result of the video that has emerged, the following has been reported in Horse & Hound:
At the Global Dressage Forum on Monday, FEI executive sports director David Holmes announced the FEI’s decision to investigate, saying: “The FEI’s main concern has always been and will always be the welfare of the horse. We are taking the issues raised in the video and in the comments made by other Youtube viewers very seriously and have opened an investigation. The conclusions of this investigation will be made public.”
However, BHS chairman Patrick Print has since written to HRH Princess Haya requesting the FEI launch a second investigation into the practise of hyperflexion.
Print’s letter reads: “The concerns so widely expressed are reasonable and therefore deserving of an urgent two-part investigation: first, an inquiry into the treatment of this particular horse on this particular occasion; and, second, a broader inquiry into the ethics and consequences of hyperflexion. In this second aspect The British Horse Society stands ready to assist the FEI in any way it can.”
In my opinion, Julie Taylor and Luise Tomsen from EponaTV deserve an award for services to horse welfare.
If you found this post interesting, you may like to subscribe to receive updates
Related posts:
- Anky van Grunsven, Patrik Kittel and the horse’s blue tongue
- What does lateral thinking have to do with horse cruelty?
- ‘No Rollkur’ message from Philippe Karl
- Do competition horses achieve the ‘Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare’?
- Klaus Hempfling horse ‘mystique’
- Klaus reveals horses ‘die inside’
- Competition dressage vs ‘working’ dressage
- Equestrian competition’s sad expose
- Competition & the 5 Freedoms of Animal Welfare revisited
- Book Review: ‘Lessons in Lightness, the Art of Educating the Horse’
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Poor thing. =( He looked absolutely miserable.
I’m hoping this is the last straw and finally the FEI will do something concrete about such abuse. This is not the first example of this “training method” in high level dressage but it seems to have an impressive groundswell.
Well done Epona TV for broadcasting this – everyone should sign the petition! For more info on what we can do see Billie’s blog: http://camera-obscura-billie.blogspot.com/
Watching a video like this literally makes my jaw drop open. Rolker is an extreme training method and this is an extreme of the extreme. I would really like to know where this fad came from and who decided it was a good idea. Just to add to the discussion and thought about hyperflexion I thought I would share Behind the Bit’s take on Rolker :
http://www.behindthebitblog.com/2008/01/all-rage-about-rollkur.html
Not saying that I disagree or agree with Stacey about her point of view I just thought it was a though provoking one, and fit in well with your blog’s “theme”
. Yes rolker is bad but is it as bad as say starvation? No horse should have to put up with the pain caused by hyperflexion like these poor horses do but at least they are going home to a farm that can keep food in the bucket so to speak.
Hi Molly,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and for the link to Behind The Bit’s excellent blog post. These are all pertinent thoughts to be considered (and acted upon). This is exactly the sort of discussion I want to encourage here.