Equine Translation Team

01/09/2024

Something to think about….
Self reflection, self awareness and self change can be difficult which is why so many just don’t want to.
But change doesn’t have to be viewed as
a personal failure.
Change can be uplifting, freeing and liberating if you embrace it even just a little bit at a time…

30/08/2024

EQUESTRIAN SPORTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT!

I've been wondering about the current situation in equestrian sport. It seems that there is an increased interest from the media - after all stories of Olympic Gold Medalists whipping horses "sells papers". It also seems that many people's threshold for what is unacceptable has been lowered. I would suggest this isn't a bad thing.

How bad a place is equestrian sport really in? Worse than it's ever been before? Or is it just that there is an increasing awareness, within and outside the equestrian public? And more importantly, what immediate steps can be taken to improve sporthorse welfare?

Whilst there has been a lot of talk and documents produced around SLO and protecting horse welfare, I'm not convinced of how much real change we have seen?

So what options are there?

♞Enforce the current rules
♞Modify the current rules
♞Introduce new rules
♞Greater education
♞Retraining of officials - stewards, vets, judges, etc
♞Stiffer penalties for abuse

As many have already suggested, there are rules in place to prevent many of the welfare issues we already see in horsesport. They just need enforcing. For example, aggressively riding horses with their heads on their chest in warm-up should mean immediate disqualification as a minimum. Intentional use of abusive practices, such as hypersensitisation, placing sharp objects inside boots, severe medication abuse using substances on the banned list (not borderline or accidental prohibited substances), etc should mean a lifetime ban (IMHO).

I worry that we are running out of time to police ourselves unless we take some real action that delivers clear and rapid improvements in horse welfare. Time to stop the talk and "walk the walk".

29/08/2024

Another little nudge in the right direction hopefully?
I am not interested in the identity of this rider as l don’t believe that denigrating one rider will improve horse welfare.
In my experience, horse welfare is a systematic problem which is institutionalised in the horse industry. I unwittingly went along with it for many years. And this is what many advocates are trying to change.
I hope that discussion which is validated with scientific based education can persuade people that they can change their entrenched biases when they open their minds and their souls….

26/08/2024

23/08/2024

A disturbing, thought provoking and uncomfortable but l feel, necessary watch. This is just part of the reason that I have been advocating for correct rein contact and head and neck position for many years. There are a multitude of compromised compensatory issues underneath the skin of our horses, but this video provides an insight into the head and neck.

18/08/2024

Change......

Humans don't like change.
Some view the prospect of change as a personal attack on their knowledge, ability or achievements which may have accumulated over many years.
So they choose the easier path regardless of the consequences for their horse.

Change isn't easy.
But if you embrace a change to a correct biomechanical riding technique, it can be liberating for both you and your horse.
You might want to try it and see where it takes you both....

14/08/2024

This is going to be an evidence based study to research into these issues. Could l kindly ask you to consider participating in order to constructively improve the status quo for horses.

BLUE TONGUES - WHAT DO WE KNOW, WHAT DO WE THINK WE KNOW AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW?

Images of horses with blue tongues when being ridden are disturbing. Out instant and obvious reaction is that this isn't normal. A change in colour of tissues to "blue" is referred to as cyanosis. The blue colour is due to low oxygen tension (pressure).

But what do we really know at this stage versus what are people's opinions?

Here are some of the questions I have - some I know the answer to, some I think I know the answer to and some I can hypothesise but don't know with any certainty.

❓Are blue tongues the result of blood flow restriction?
❓Does it cause pain?
❓If so, where does the blood flow restriction occur?
❓Is it arterial occlusion? Is it venous occlusion? Is it both?
❓Is it capillary congestion?
❓What is the tongues oxygen tension before, during and after development of blue tongues?
❓Could blue tongues be the result of shunting of blood flow - a normal physiological process?
❓Are some horses more prone to blue tongues than others?
❓Is it more prevalent in some disciplines than others?
❓What role does the bit play?
❓What role does head and neck position (HNP) play?
❓What role does rein tension (force) play?
❓How quickly can it develop?
❓How quickly does it resolve (disappear)?
❓Do horses that develop blue tongues have normal tongue vasculature?
❓Is the low oxygen tension in the tongue due to systemic low oxygen tension?
❓Is there damage to the nerves in or supplying the tongue?
❓Are there soft tissue changes/abnormalities in these horses' tongues?
❓How reliable are photographs/video in assessing the development and or severity of cyanosis of the tongue during exercise?
❓How can we measure tongue oxygenation during exercise?

Please do contribute to this discussion. You may of course share your opinions. But facts and evidence are very welcome. And it's important we distinguish between opinions and evidence.

🫡I realise many people have strong views and are angry about some of the issues within horsesport. However, that is no reason to be rude or insulting to me or others who choose to interact on this page! We will be implementing a very low threshold for unnacceptable behaviour. Please bear this in mind when commenting. thank you.

ADDED FROM COMMENTS...

❓What is the role of oral conformation?
❓Noseband type
❓Noseband position
❓Noseband tightness
❓Do blue tongues in wild horses?
❓Do blue tongues occur in non-exercised horses?
❓Once it happens does it occur more severely and or more frequently?
Does it affect swallowing?
Upper airway obstruction?

13/08/2024

Another disturbing clip from the world of dressage.
It doesn’t and shouldn’t need to be like this….

13/08/2024

So positively constructive….

13/08/2024

For me this is so sad…

12/08/2024

Collective change for the better???

When you feel bad on the inside, you wind up wanting to do things to make others feel bad. In contrast, when you feel happy on the inside, you want to do things to make others feel happy.
- Karen Salmansohn

Art Credit: Abigail Gutting

12/08/2024

Some competitors accused of also trying to cover up cruel ‘blue tongue’ condition with white foam

11/08/2024

Something to think about…

Cabanel’s mythological painting of the death of Icarus was a moral lesson about overreaching ambition, hubris and the fatal consequences of defying natural limits. Hence, it was both his human inability to fly and his impossible expectations of his wings which led to his death.
Icarus arbitrarily ignored the warnings regarding both the physics and biomechanics of what he was intent on achieving.
Essentially his wings could not withstand the unnatural and negative impact to which they were being exposed to.
For me, in today’s riding at every level and in every environment, the majority are unwittingly subscribing to Icarus’s blindness. Although for many, they are proceeding with wilful blindness.
But their ‘Wings’ are not succumbing to the damaging forces.
It is the horses who are existing with this impossible burden.
Continuing against a large margin of error with painful and difficult compensatory movements in order to continue to obey the excessive physical demands which are made of them.
They bear the long years of psychological and physical pain until eventually they break.
But just because it is
Doesn’t mean it has to be….
Riding horses in a correct biomechanical way is actually quite easy and certainly even easier and kinder for our horses in comparison.
It just takes time, patience and a whole lot of honest self reflection….
Hopefully one day soon the majority can collectively look back and banish today’s riding to history….

09/08/2024

How people treat you is their Karma.
How you react is yours….

08/08/2024

And in the comments you will see that Dr David Marlin kindly responded to my query and is also taking steps to have research undertaken into the pressure in reins and the mechanical forces of the bit in the horse’s mouth!!

An accelerometer mounted at a horse’s poll may aid diagnosis and monitoring response to treatment. A group of UK equine specialists have undertaken a unique study to develop an objective measure of equine trigeminal-mediated (TGM) headshaking (HS) in response to the current lack of an accurate met...

08/08/2024

Great news that Dr David Marlin is now beginning research on this widespread issue….

An accelerometer mounted at a horse’s poll may aid diagnosis and monitoring response to treatment. A group of UK equine specialists have undertaken a unique study to develop an objective measure of equine trigeminal-mediated (TGM) headshaking (HS) in response to the current lack of an accurate met...

08/08/2024

An honest observation of our ‘Sport’….

Good news/bad news y'all. The wine has been opened. Let's talk about the Equestrian Olympics. time.

First, at the risk of beating a dead horse (I feel like in the current climate I have to specify *NOT LITERALLY*) I'm not sure there's a lot that I can add to the discourse.

Let's start with some positives. The caliber of horse on display in all three disciplines was simply outstanding. The breeders have clearly done their work, and are creating fantastic athletes with varied bloodlines and histories. There were a few highlights for me in the riding - Michael Jung is so precise in everything he does. Justina Vangaite has an amazing, inspiring story, and clearly has an undeniable partnership with her horse. Henrik von Eckermann, despite actually falling in his individual ride, and the unbelievable King Edward overcame a lost shoe and a broken martingale and still completed two clear rounds. Pauline Basquin, a rider from the Cadre Noir at Saumur, showed us Dressage that was elegant, flowing and with stylized but natural gaits. She gave me some hope.

Now, on to the inevitable despair. From my home country we saw several athletes across disciplines who attended the games with recently purchased horses. These partnerships looked anything but concrete, and the tension on display was frankly embarrassing. Why in the wealthiest nation in the world, are we unable to afford good enough EDUCATION to actually produce our own top level horses? If this Olympics taught team USA anything I hope it's that we need to develop young riders, but more importantly trainers, to produce the level and quality of horses here at home. We cannot rely on buying our wins, regardless of how talented and shining some of the horses are. (And, I should add, this is not just the US, nor is it *all* of the US riders, but we see it in fledgling, wealthy, emerging equestrian countries as well like the UAE, for example).

As anyone who follows Dressage and hasn't been living under a rock will know, just days before the games Charlotte DuJardin was torpedoed by a several years-old video showing her beating a horse with a whip, where she can be heard to say, "This whip is so sh*t at hitting them hard." flippantly, like she'd done it 1000 times before. She was basically drawn and quartered, abandoned even by her longtime mentor Carl Hester who claimed he had *never* seen this side of her before - this from the man who gave her the nickname Edwina after Edward Scissorhands. And so after her "voluntary" step down from the games, business continued as usual.

Despite Charlotte's public shaming, some of those doing the shaming competed on horses with blue tongues in the run up to the games - including Isabel Werth, Lottie Fry and Patrik Kittel. And now .tv is sharing that the veterinary team onsite reviewed images from the Dressage competition, and found several riders to have performed in the Olympics on horses with blue tongues, including now silver medalist Werth and top 10 finisher Kittel. BUT, despite this intervention, no change in the standings will take place, and no suspensions, even though this is a clear violation of the FEI's own purported welfare policies. They had a meeting with the riders to "warn" them of future suspensions...if you can do this in the Olympics on the world stage, when all eyes are on you, how can we possibly expect there to be repercussions on the more local level, when the biggest names and deepest pockets have almost unchecked influence?

Though I am more able to forgive the extreme bitting and harsh spurs in jumping, at least they were willing to ring out riders who were putting themselves and their mounts in danger. In Dressage, even what was awarded top honors was pretty questionable.

Beyond Werth and Kittel's blue tongues, there were quite a few broken gaits, trailing hind ends, lateralized walks. Individual gold medalist, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl who is generally one of the softer riders, showed a passage toward the end of her individual test that lost all semblance of 2 beat rhythm/diagonalization - it was as if the hind end was performing 1 tempis while the front was still in passage. This level of disunited movement from front to back would, in a normal horse, indicate severe neurological issues. Steffen Peters and Mopsie (Suppenkasper) were eliminated from individual competition when, in the qualifier, he was supposed to perform piaffe he performed something closer to a sideways moving 3 legged jambette/canter. I was honestly worried his horse had been grievously injured. We saw plenty of behind the vertical hyperflexion, and at least one instance of absolute elevation from Helix and Adrienne Lyle.

And yet, even when the ground jury vets intervene (albeit after the fact) nothing changes? We are supposed to accept all of this as normal?? The "moment in time" argument falls away when we all are watching the same livestream...

Honestly, the emperor has no clothes. We will not be gaslit into normalizing what we saw on display there. It is obvious that the FEI is totally incapable of separating itself from the riders and judges it's supposed to be regulating, playing favorites and throwing others under the bus as it sees fit - to the wolves at PETA. It offers the lip service of the theme of this Olympic games "A bond like no other" but doesn't actually support that goal. Give me all the cooling tents and matted boxes you like, but if you aren't willing to go to bat and take medals away when riders have ridden with hands so harsh as to remove the blood supply to the tongue, I'm sorry, what is your purpose?!

At the end of the day, we are going to have to change this ourselves. We are going to have to keep shaking the saber, publishing photos, and writing articles. We are going to have to demonstrate and teach proper contact, kind, ethical, educated training. We are going to have to be the change. No one is coming to save horse sports. We have to do it ourselves, or languish in the demise of what we once loved. The time is now.

Edited to add an article published on Reuters with quotes from the head vet: https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/equestrian-governing-body-finds-blue-horse-tongues-dressage-review-2024-08-06/

(enjoy this image of a nice piaffe from Pauline in the warm-up at Paris, to feel a little better about the state of things, photo credit to Cheval Magazine )

07/08/2024

If more people speak up, then their collective experiences cannot continue to be ignored….

Many people who refuse to believe that abuse is rampant and norm within equestrian sports are (unbeknownst) part of keeping the abuse within the sport. I have seen so many testimonies over the years of people within professional sport witnessing abuse, I now regret not archiving it. From now on though, with everyone’s permission I shall post screenshots in this album. Please let me know if you would like to share your story. Much appreciated, for the love of horses, Josepha

Ps: all screenshots are posted with permission of the OP

06/08/2024

This post resonates with me for some reason….

A student asked me last week how I could bear all the (personal) attack and ridicule for so long, 3 decades now of this fight of ending abuse within equestrian sports, which started with the rollkur in the nineties.

I thought about it and the answer is, the opinion of horses matter far more to me than the opinion of humans.

However I do enjoy support of humans, it means we are moving forward, and there is much more support than attack now 🙏💛
There are 13,000 supporters here in fb and thousands who bought my book 💛

Thank you sooo much 🥲

At the moment I feel exhilarated, because slowly but surely, the rampant abuse is leaking through into mainstream opinion and to legislators. (And I always said that this will happen, sooner or later).

Project X being the drop that made the bucket finally run over. (For which I am so grateful).

It therefore will come to a halt one way or the other.
Which way depends on the perpetrators and enablers, whether they put a stop to it or not.

I think of this quote:

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

We are in the fighting part now.

This post will also anger people, I know. But might I suggest you spend your energy on clearing up the sport, if keeping it is so important to you?

And if not, angry responses help pushing my message in the algorithm, so thank you for responding, whether you support my work or wish I would just shut up.

Which I won’t, I can promise you that. ✌️

Wishing everyone a nice day, whether human or not,

Josepha

04/08/2024

What have we become?

Why is it so Difficult to Unite Around Horse Welfare Issues in Equestrian Sport?

We imagine that those currently on opposing sides of the debate would actually agree that horse welfare should be an integral part of equestrianism, so how do we get to having a debate about what constitutes horse welfare – regardless of rider, discipline or accolades?

How big of a role does cognitive dissonance play in keeping up the current system of training and competing using dominance based training methods , frequently to the point of abuse?

Despite the monumental amount of evidence and research to show otherwise, the belief that horses need to be controlled remains firmly embedded in equestrian culture, and the methods used to gain and maintain that concept of control can be horrific for the horses.

Evaluating horse welfare from physical, mental and emotional states has a lot of well researched educational content available to help objectively assess these factors when presented.

Certainly a blue tongue (excruciatingly painful), most recently seen in quite a few high level and Olympic dressage horses, cannot be dismissed as a significant welfare issue and should not be excused.

However, it seems that this issue and others do get frequently dismissed or justified by fans of the specific rider(s) or discipline, the riders themselves and the organizations that know better but fail to prioritize horse welfare as they are charged to do.

How difficult is it for horse welfare to become the topic and overcome the internal conflict created by believing that role models or equestrian sport has some major abuse issues?

This is not an easy one to digest, even when the evidence suggests it.

While Dressage is certainly the front runner in these debates, it is certainly far from the only discipline with issues.

We see the need for changing the overall mentality of the industry when it comes to horse welfare, both in general and in equestrian activities.

How can we unite around the topic of horse welfare and make the changes needed?

Interesting times ahead!

04/08/2024

Why is it so Difficult to Unite Around Horse Welfare Issues in Equestrian Sport?

We imagine that those currently on opposing sides of the debate would actually agree that horse welfare should be an integral part of equestrianism, so how do we get to having a debate about what constitutes horse welfare – regardless of rider, discipline or accolades?

How big of a role does cognitive dissonance play in keeping up the current system of training and competing using dominance based training methods , frequently to the point of abuse?

Despite the monumental amount of evidence and research to show otherwise, the belief that horses need to be controlled remains firmly embedded in equestrian culture, and the methods used to gain and maintain that concept of control can be horrific for the horses.

Evaluating horse welfare from physical, mental and emotional states has a lot of well researched educational content available to help objectively assess these factors when presented.

Certainly a blue tongue (excruciatingly painful), most recently seen in quite a few high level and Olympic dressage horses, cannot be dismissed as a significant welfare issue and should not be excused.

However, it seems that this issue and others do get frequently dismissed or justified by fans of the specific rider(s) or discipline, the riders themselves and the organizations that know better but fail to prioritize horse welfare as they are charged to do.

How difficult is it for horse welfare to become the topic and overcome the internal conflict created by believing that role models or equestrian sport has some major abuse issues?

This is not an easy one to digest, even when the evidence suggests it.

While Dressage is certainly the front runner in these debates, it is certainly far from the only discipline with issues.

We see the need for changing the overall mentality of the industry when it comes to horse welfare, both in general and in equestrian activities.

How can we unite around the topic of horse welfare and make the changes needed?

Interesting times ahead!

04/08/2024

Something to think about….

Wise words from Manuel Jorge de Oliveiro

“Even if it’s not necessary for a good piaffe to give reins completely BUT it shows you the proof about Balance.

So if you think your Piaffe is very good: give reins completely and see what happens… what you think would happen if the number one or two or three in Dressage competition of the world would give reins completely in PIAFFE ? “

01/08/2024

An older interview that seems even more relevant right now….

Sadly both Dr Reiner Klimke and Susan Hayes Woods are no longer with us, but this edited interview from 1995 is a pignant reminder that modern dressage started to go wrong over 20 years ago...

SUSAN’S INTERVIEW WITH DR. REINER KLIMKE AT THE AACHEN CHIO JULY 1995

Susan: I was watching you as you schooled Biotop in the indoor arena this morning, and it was wonderful. I noticed you were working him in a fat snaffle, and I wondered if you could talk about the importance of working in the snaffle for upper level horses.

Klimke: I ride at home only once a week on the double bridle.

Susan: Do you mean for most of your Grand Prix horses, or for this one especially?

Klimke: All. I want to have them very light in my hand. It is easier when they are really “through”, and they take the bit and take your hands. Then they are not afraid to come out to the double bridle.

Susan: Biotop seems to be very “out” to the bridle–there is not a lot of overflexing.

Klimke: And when he goes in extensions, the neck and frame extend too. And yet there are horses who make their extensions with overflexed necks and they score just as well…

Susan: Can you explain that?

Klimke: Well, when I tell you this, I don’t want to sound jealous, but I live for classical riding. Classical riding means that the horse must go: that is, the energy must come through and the horse reaches forward. But the judges don’t always mark accordingly. I don’t mind; I know what is right. I have been in this sport for nearly 40 years.

Susan: I also saw today that you were doing a lot of work on the basic paces, and simple transitions.

Klimke: Yes. The horse must go forward and he must be happy. If the horse is happy and he trusts you, then you can teach him. If you punish him, that is wrong.

Susan: They never forget. Is there any place for punishment in riding?

Klimke: I hate to punish a horse. It must not be. It can happen to anybody. Sometimes you lose your patience, you try to make the horse a slave. But it is not right. Sometimes you see riders blowing up, even here, with top riders. I say to myself, “Poor horse, I wouldn’t like to be in your stable.”

Susan: Why does it happen? A lot of these riders will teach and talk about riding classically, and mean to do it, but then it is different here. Is it the pressure?

Klimke: I think everybody wants to win. Perhaps they think if they make a horse tired it will be submissive. Sometimes it may work, but if you really look you can see what is wrong. Some judges don’t have a really good eye, and they judge by punishing mistakes, like too many or too few strides in a pirouette, for example.

Susan: Too much counting and not enough…

Klimke: Yes. The principle is: how is the walk, how is the trot, how is the canter, how is the acceptance of the bridle, how does the back work–all of these things. And in addition, the figures. But they deduct too much if a figure is not 100% okay. You see? If you make a pirouette and the horse really uses his hindquarters, and maybe the pirouette is a little big, you should not be given a 5.

Susan: That’s a little extreme.

Klimke: Yes. It can be at least a 6, can also be a 7, when the horse really canters classically. Even if the circle was too large, remember that you must deduct from 10. The judge must be able to see the main achievement of a horse and rider, in a movement.

Susan: This brings up another question, and that is–there are some amazing equine athletes here, and some of them get a lot of points because of that. Where are the places in the Grand Prix test where the talent can’t cover up the problems with the training?

Klimke: I look only at the way that the horse moves, in all three gaits. He must come from behind, with a swinging back. The head and neck must seek the bit. I hate it if the horse comes behind the vertical and stays there. When the horse is really “through”, you must be able to open and close the frame, and keep him reaching into the bit. And right now, in the judging, in my opinion, this doesn’t count for enough. But sooner or later, good riding will be rewarded. You must not lose your patience, you see. And don’t give up.

https://woodsdressage.com/ for the full interview and about Susan Hayes Woods

Concordia Equestrians.
Register as a Friend or Professional and help us make the world a better place to be a horse www.concordiaequestrians.org

28/07/2024

I’m not the only one who has spoken out….

The release of the Helgstrand documentary that depicts abuse of elite level dressage horses has caused quite the stir in the community.

People may be wondering “how can this happen?!”

There’s a lot of relief that Helgstrand has been caught in his abuse of horses and is finally meeting repercussions.

But, the thing is, he’s been caught in similar abuses on a repeated basis over the years.

It’s been no secret that he trains with Rollkur/ Hyperflexion.

For years, upper level riders have been emboldened in using abusive training methods because stewards, judges, show officials, fans, other competition riders and the entire equestrian community have been largely willing to look the other way.

To remain in denial, to insist that “the vast majority” are ethical and use this as a reason to try to squash any discussion of welfare improvement.

While it may not be the majority (some would argue otherwise), there is a large enough population of riders who use abusive methods for the entire industry to start to care more about doing something about it.

The apathy, the silencing of discussion and the belief that upper level riders are infallible all contributes to the enabling of such abuse.

You do not have to be guilty of abuse yourself in order to actively enable the presence of abuse and allow abusers to be comfortable in the industry.

All it takes is your apathy.

Helgstrand is FAR from the only offender, he is just the one who got caught.

Everything in that documentary can be seen in training barns all over the world or even in warm up arenas at shows, right in the public eye.

And our industry continues to enable it.

I hope this documentary causes such a stir that it brings real change but such change is reliant on horse people leaving their comfort zones to acknowledge the greater issue.

It requires them to face the discomfort that is corruption in the industry and realize you can admit to such without feeling personally targeted.

It requires them to put horse welfare ahead of the discomfort of speaking out, potentially alienating themselves from peers and role models.

But, it’s the right thing to do.

All of us have been complicit in abuse to some extent, at some point, whether directly or due to our apathy or justification of someone else’s cruelty.

And we can all play a role in dismantling the insidious culture that is very prevalent in the horse world, the culture that condones and enables “little abuses” on a daily basis, allowing people to get to the point where they are comfortable enacting much worse forms of abuse.

Open your eyes, horse world.

The problem won’t go away just because you stick your heads in the sand.

It requires all of us to care enough to change it.