Gerd Heuschmann under criticism

http://www.dressur-studien.de/index.php/heuschmann-reitet-korrektur.html

The Xenophon society (The Society for the Preservation and Promotion of Classical Riding Culture)first press release was a bit cryptical, announcing that Gerd Heuschmann, veterinarian and founding member of Xenophon, had stepped down as deputy chairman at his own request because of irreconcilable divergences in substance. Shortly afterwards, he resigned from the society altogether, thereby forestalling a possible exclusion procedure. At the origin of the fierce criticism of Heuschmann is his way of riding in his clinics.

 

Xenophon chairman and Olympic Games winner Klaus Balkenhol is far from happy with the situation: “These past months, complaints about Gerd Heuschmann’s way of riding have been heaping up at the society.” For some time now, the vet and book author Heuschmann has been offering clinics that include not only his lectures on the biomechanics of the horse, but also a practical riding session. Heuschmann, who also completed a training as “Bereiter FN” (assistant instructor of the German riding association), corrects the often badly ridden clinic horses himself, trying to “make them fit by riding”, in loose interpretation of the Xenophon motto “Good riding suffices”. To achieve this, he uses elements (but not the complete systematics) of the methods of Philippe Karl (high hand) and Anja Beran (yielding of the haunches on a circle) and tries them out on the clinic horses. “During these ‘corrective riding sessions’ it came to ugly pictures, which gave rise to the complaints to our society,” Balkenhol says. In extensive one-on-one interviews with Gerd Heuschmann, the Xenophon chairman tried to dissuade him from riding the horses himself in his clinics – to no avail. Balkenhol went to see Heuschmann several times and had long talks with him: “Gerd achieved so much with his excellent lectures on biomechanics. It’s simply sad that he is now ruining all this with his way of riding. But unfortunately I couldn’t convince him.”

As a result of these discussions, Heuschmann resigned from his office as deputy chairman at the end of May.

Two weeks later, he is holding a clinic near Mainz. The vet climbs into the saddle of a Friesian horse which apparently is not permeable to the aids and accepts neither leg nor rein aids. Professional photographer Julia Rau documents the 25-minute ride with her camera and a large telephoto lens. Heuschmann does not let himself be bothered by her and “corrects” the Frisian. The picture series and the timestamp on the photographs show it very clearly: these are no accidental snapshots.

When asked about the photographs by the editorial staff of the German horse magazine St. Georg, Heuschmann first showed contrition: “The error I probably made was to ride this horse in the first place,” he said meekly.

But on the day of the publication of St. Georg, the vet declared via his website: “Since mid-June, I have been the focus of critical reporting. This witch-hunt has various motives, about which I don’t want to say anything here. I made no mistake and will therefore carry on my work unperturbed. For this reason, there is no need for any justification. Only the short advice that ugly situations can occur every day and under every rider when working with horses that need to be corrected.”

Without making a fuss about it, the German FN cancelled the cooperation with Heuschmann completely, so that his clinics are not recognized as official further education courses for instructors any more. In future, he will thus probably not have his say any more, neither at the FN nor the FEI level.

 

When asked for comment on the accusations and pictures by Dressur-Studien, he first invited us to a clinic – only to inform us just a few hours before it was due to start that taking pictures was forbidden and that he would not ride anyway.

The questions we sent him per email remain unanswered so far, but maybe he simply had no time to reply: in early August he started a three-week “USA tour” on which he is offering clinics – with practical riding sessions. (cls)

FEI Publishes Diagrams for Stewards Manual on Warm-Up Techniques

www.eurodressage.com

"The FEI released the three diagrams that illustrate the permitted positions of the horse's head and neck during pre- and post- competition training. The new Annex (XIII), which has now been completed, was created by the Working Group that produced a revised FEI Stewards Manual on warm-up techniques for Dressage."

See: http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2010/05/11/fei-publishes-diagrams-stewards-manual-warm-techniques

Petition against the Rollkur.

There is a new email petition against Hyperflexion.

Please go to www.wu-wei-verlag.com

For those who don't speak German, please click on weiter.

The top left hand box is the anti Rollkur petition. Please click on this.

Vorname is your first name. Zuname is your surname. 

Pruefun und abschliessen  will send the petition on.

You will receive a confirmation email, just click on the link in that and your vote will be official.

Please sign the petition and pass this link to wu wei onto your equine loving friends.  The F.E.I. should be made aware of how so many of us are disgusted at this abuse of the equine.

Karen 

 - aka Basowizza. 

Request FEI to Ban Hyperflexion in Competition

I apologize in advance if this has been posted previously. Some members of the UDBB (http://www.ultimatedressage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=171711 ) have created an online petition requesting the FEI ban Hyperflexion in competition. Here is the link should you like to sign it.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/antiHF/index.html

Others are trying to organize a White Hat protest at the 2010 World Equestrian Games to be held in Kentucky.

http://www.ultimatedressage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=171569&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

The petition and possible white hat protest were mentioned in the following Eurodressage article covering the Global Dressage Forum. So, they are getting a little bit of notice.

http://www.eurodressage.com/reports/shows/2009/09gdf/rep1.html

Necks, Lies and Video Tape---Rollkur continued.

Necks, Lies and Video Tape

　

By: Julie Taylor and Luise Thomsen

Epona TV

EDITORIAL: Right now, the world is rising up against rollkur, because a lolling, blue tongue got caught on video in Denmark. Ban it, is the message to the FEI. But how can something be banned, when it hasn’t been defined? And why should it be banned, when no adverse long term effects have been documented? Is hyperflexion even the problem?

What if I taught my horse – using treats or carefully timed pressure and release – to bend its neck extremely for a brief moment? That would be hyperflexion. But would it be evil? Should it be banned?

We propose that hyperflexion is not the biggest problem. Not where the welfare of horses is concerned. In terms of good dressage, there is little doubt that a short neck will detract from the quality of movement. But it in itself may not necessarily constitute abuse.

What is abusive is the way this hyperflexion is achieved and perpetuated through prolonged periods of time by insensitive and relentless pressure from the bit and spurs. The proponents of the technique will tell you that they never pull or force the horse into the frame and that they only ask it to stay there for brief spells at a time. This is a lie. The reins are used to pull - sometimes from side to side – on the horse’s mouth until it assumes the hyperflexed position. Then some of the pressure is sometimes released, although the reins remain short. If the horse tries to stretch its neck, it is harshly corrected by means of the curb and the spurs. We have seen this over and over and captured it on film. Horses go in the hyperflexed position – not for a few moments as officially claimed - but for several minutes at a time. Anky van Grunsven admits that she herself has not actually "a clue" how long these "brief spells" are. She doesn’t know. She thinks perhaps it’s less than fifteen minutes, although she isn’t sure. As Anky says: "Time flies when you’re having fun." We have this on film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svOBsSdjUvU

It is unthinkable that the FEI is not aware that hyperflexion of the neck is obtained by insensitive use of the bits. It is unthinkable that the FEI does not know that horses are subjected to several minutes of rollkur at a time. But still, the federation states that the technique is allowable "when used by professionals", because officially, spells of hyperflexion last no longer than 20 seconds (Sjef Janssen, Rollkur workshop Lausanne, 2006).

It is a bit of a pickle for the FEI. To ban hyperflexion of the neck, the FEI would have to not only admit that its most prolific trainer told a big, fat lie to the delegates of the 2006 workshop. A ban would also be the same as a confession to years of systematic animal cruelty on an unbelievable scale. And to a complete failure of the FEI to live up to its own Code of Conduct, which states that the welfare of the horse must be paramount at all times.

On the other hand, to ignore and allow the not so spectator friendly aspects of the sport is an invitation to animal rights groups to come and join the party. Having secured a third place in the freestyle in Odense, a grinning Patrik Kittel posed with Anky van Grunsven and Edward Gal in mink coats from a fur-factory which sponsored the show. There’s a lovely photo of the three of them looking very happy and completely oblivious to how they couldn’t really possibly – even if they tried – constitute a redder rag in the face of animal lovers everywhere.

So what can be done? Where is the FEI to turn? It would seem there is no way out of this for the sport of dressage. The FEI is damned if it does and it’s damned if it doesn’t. Except that, happily, it is now possible to measure rein tension electronically and thus introduce objective scores for lightness and submission. By introducing electronic rein tensiometry in all FEI sports, the federation can kill two birds (and hopefully, no more horses) with one stone. There will be no need to ban hyperflexion and tread on anyone’s toes. And nobody will ever win a ribbon on a horse which has been drilled through several hours of rollkur, habituating its mouth to relentless pressure and making it nearly impossible to halt.

Politically, this is the best thing that could happen to the FEI, although they probably don’t know it yet. The federation is caught between demanding superstars who rule the roost and the imminent threat of PETA picking up the phone and telling Rolex they have three and a half minutes to get the Hell out of horsesport before the poop hits the fan.

In doubt as to whether rein tensiometry is enough? Australian researchers have identified a method to use telemetric (wireless) accelerometry to chart the horse’s rhythm, straightness and stride length. They can even measure the nasal plane, making it impossible for judges to overlook when a horse is behind the vertical. We are not suggesting that we replace judges with robots, tempting as the notion might appear at this time. But by having objective measures for all to see, takes the pressure off the judges to do what they do best: Appraise the artistic value of the ride. At the same time, riders will be forced to prepare their horses correctly and sympathetically, as it is not possible to coerce a horse to comply with the FEI rules for dressage. Go and read the rules on www.fei.org - they constitute a small literary miracle. First authored in 1921 – that’s before Disney – it is a work of such compassionate, patient and insightful horsemanship as to never be paralleled before or since. If dressage is abusive, it’s because the FEI is not enforcing these rules.

It is understandable that the video clip of Watermill Scandic has caused grief and outrage in the horse loving community. The zombie-like resignation with which the stallion accepts the pain of whatever makes his tongue loll out. The seeming indifference of the rider, who doesn’t even give his horse a break upon noticing the problem. The fact that the Chief Steward didn’t think it pertinent to act. And the knowledge that this is the way to ride today, if one has any hope of making it to stardom. But this is not dressage. This is an imitation of dressage. Perhaps only sporadic fits of true dressage have ever existed through history – we may stand on the brink of a new golden age. If you want to make a change, don’t accuse, don’t despair, don’t look back. If you want to make a change, look forward – embrace the science and technology which alone can save equestrian sport from extinction. Unless you have a better idea.