I know NOTHING about Reining. Nada, I know it involves a horse. That's about it. I do know that what this man is doing to this horse in this video is sick. The fact that it's at the FEI World Reining Finals makes it that much worse. Shame on you Mr. Schmersal. SHAME!! Please someone tell me that this is NOT how you train a reining horse. PLEASE!
22 comments:
I was shocked. It is men like this that give a bad name to all the nice 'cowboys'. I hope one day a horse throws him off and he sustains an injury that prevents him from ever riding again.
See, dressage riders are not the only ones with screwed up ideas about hyperflexion. Makes me sick as well, but their are people who find that acceptable, or else they know it's completely wrong and don't care. The thing that mostly makes me sick is the fact that the horse's bit has shanks that are like 10 feet long. That's GOT to be insanely painful every time he's bumped harshly in the mouth. Poor baby.
Yuck! I've always been interested in reining but I've never seen that...I don't know if I ever watched someone warm up, train, etc...
I do know that I don't like rollkur in dressage horses...and I definitely don't like it in a western horse.
You would consider the rollkur, right? There is excessive/agressive force...
Sorry to burst your bubble, but that is exactly how some Reiners train. I've been in Reining since I was 10 and was out of Reining last year after 14 years. My trainer would've ripped my arms off if I had pulled what he did in the last sliding stop.
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON YOU CRAIG!!
P.S. If you have any questions on Reining, just ask me
quarterhorsedressage.blogspot.com
Unfortunately there is a lot of this going on in reining right now. It has become a very popular sport and everyone wants to climb on a horse and win. This asshat is riding in different company and I hope that the FEI will address this kind of abuse. They have in other sports. Being on the international stage is not the same as being in some cowpatty town in Texas.
I don't understand what I'm look at at all. It made me cringe. I hope one of your readers can explain what this rider is doing, and why.
I did a little more checking, poked around on the FEI site and FB page. Sent a copy of the video. They are looking into this and revamping the rules. There were verbal warnings given to these riders.
http://twww.fei.org/Reining/FEI-World-Reining-Final/bokebergs
Years ago, I used to dabble at Paint shows because I happen to own a Paint.
That "jerkjerkjerk" action? Happens ALL THE TIME. At home, in the warmup ring - EVERYWHERE but in front of the judge. I honestly have no clue what it's supposed to accomplish, because as far as I can tell it happens randomly (i.e. it's not a correction), and the horse's head is already so curled up it can't possibly do anything more.
It was done to my horse, and it took me years to get him to carry even the tiniest bit of contact for dressage, even using an ultralight Happy Mouth snaffle. Even then, you couldn't move anything more than a finger or two to ask for bend, or he would instantaneously curly up and suck back.
And you thought Rollkur was bad...
That's pretty awful, poor little horse. I hope he's suspended. I know nothing about reining either, but I know that's cruelty to animals.
A fair and true horseman? In what f'ing universe is THAT? What a POS! Seems to me that a TRUE horseman would not resort to lawyering up to cover his ass. Seems to me a TRUE horseman would set an example of actual skill, instead of heavy handed abuse.
Gah.
Smooch Denali from me girl.
The more I see this, the angrier I get.
how did he get away with this and then think it was wrong for us to expose him fir who he is? what a dick.
Ughh, and the bits they put in those horses mouths are...intense. I don't want to say terrible or anything, but they can be quite harsh.
That is gross. I could only watch about 40 seconds. That is never how you use a shanked bit. Never. What a tool.
Omg!
First -- Um, what is with the bandage on the knee?? Is the horse hurt? Doesn't being hurt automatically give you a vet's note to get out of your daily torture session?
Second -- Rollkur much?! And with a bit that has major shanks and is exerting a ton of leverage. Awesome.
Third -- If there's nothing wrong with your training methods (that you use at a public show!), then how come posting a video of said "training methods" could damage your reputation?
Fourth -- What is the purpose of having ring stewards when they sit there and deliberately ignore abuse?
SO sick!!!!
Ditto to what Lisa said--good lord, what is he doing to that poor horse!
Now I get to have fun and answer some of you guys.
Mare: Yes, you're right. The longer the shank, the more leverage you have, the more painful it is for the horse.
Julie K: Yeah, it's basically Rollkur, but in the Western world. Makes me sick every single time.
Anon: I totally agree. This was done to my Reining horse as well, and he still hates being jerked in the mouth, 9 years after leaving Reining.
Nicku: Possiblility of him being suspended, Nil. Nada. They don't suspend pro-reiners easily.
Frizzle: The bandage on the knee is usually used for horses that are having a bit of knee problems or are prone to knocking their knees together when their spinning. The amount of torque that they put on their knees for the spins and how fast they go really does do damage to them. Unfortunately, it's not a way out of competition. And some ring stewards don't consider this abuse, they consider this "training." Bullshit
Makes me glad that I quit while I could. My Old Man would never put up with this crap again.
I dont care IF it was how they train..it's straight up WRONG and disgusting and that poor horse looks suicidal! If I saw someone doing that in person, my jaw would be HANGING!!!!! in shock.
Looks like Mr. Asshat is sponsored by Purina (isn't that their trademark "checkers" on the saddle pad? Might be worth an email to them.
I want to put a shank bit in this guys mouth and never stop yanking. The worst was the sliding stop, where he is literally coming out of the saddle and balancing on the poor girl's mouth. Horrid, horrid man.
Sadly I do think that is fairly common in the reining world. It really is abusive!
Comment from the FEI
Dear readers,
we wanted to let you know that in January of this year, the FEI set up three working groups to do a thorough review of all aspects of the discipline of Reining. The review is ongoing and a full statement can be viewed on our website at http://www.fei.org/Reining/FEI-World-Reining-Final/bokebergs. We will be posting regular updates.
Best regards,
FEI Communications
I was so pissed about this I wrote to the FEI, and got basically the same reply. What will happen? Most likely, NOTHING. Look what they did about Rolkur. Split hairs to the Nth degree, accomplishing nothing to help the horses or sanction the trainers.
I'd like to "schmersh" this guy right under the hooves of a couple Clydesdales...
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