My favorite ride of the WEGs

Fuego XII and J.M. Munoz Diaz  6/24/08  Could not find photographers name to credit

Holy smoke!

Juan Manuel Muñoz Díaz and his amazing PRE Fuego XII did the most beautiful, electric and correct (to my eyes) musical freestyle at the WEG just a few minutes ago.

High point: A set of (one handed) totally in time to the music one tempes that blew everyone away.  Lets just say I might have scared my dogs off the couch with my cheering!!

The freedom of movement in their piaffes, passages and pirouettes weren't matched by any of the competition, not even the mighty Totilas. No thrashing tail. Front and back halves connected at all times lol. He was always at or slightly behind the verticle but I'm guessing that has more to do with being a baroque type of horse than the way he was ridden. As Diaz saluted at the end of his ride, the crowd reaction was so explosive that Fuego half reared, almost unseating him. Classy, beautiful pair. A pleasure to watch.

He received an 81. something - fifth place score. I suspect that breed discrimination - Fuego not being a GIANT warmblood with a HUGE extended (expensive) trot as many of his competition are -  probably had just a bit to do with it if the commentators were any indication. When his scores were posted, the crowd booed loudly and disruptively... surprising at such an event -  but I wholeheartedly agreed.

Can't wait until the video is available :)

Edited to add photos and quote from Dressage - News:

"The showman Diaz couldn’t contain his excitement at the halt, and nearly parted company with his horse who shot forward as the Spaniard whipped off his hat and thumped the air with his fist in delight.  The crowd went wild, and voiced their disapproval when this partnership were awarded 81.450 per cent, which the crowd thought was not enough."

Impressions of the WEGs

The FEI Rules describe the object of Dressage, which means “training” in French, as “the development of the horse into a happy athlete through harmonious education. As a result, it makes the horse calm, supple, loose and flexible, but also confident, attentive and keen, thus achieving perfect understanding with his rider.”

What has happened to dressage?

Impatience. Greed. Overinflated egos. Not putting the welfare of the horse first... all of the above.

As a relatively new student (three years) but a long time admirer of the discipline, I wonder how it is possible that dressage could survive for hundreds of years, only to end up as the questionable practice one often sees in the higher competition levels? (classical vs. modern) And who is it that suffers? Always the horses...

Disqualified Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen in practice ring at WEG

Earlier in the year there was a (supposedly) thorough examination of rollkur by the FEI. While the leadership could not find it in themselves to outright condemn or ban rollkur, I believe that ring stewards were subsequently instructed to monitor and time the use of rollkur in the warm-up rings.

I'm not aware of what's happening in the warm-up rings these days re rollkur, but am very pleased that the ring stewards followed the rules yesterday and disqualified Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen and her horse Parzival for a bleeding mouth, and also an Australian horse who appeared lame at the trot. Interesting... Cornelissen trains with Sjef Janssen, Dutch rider Anky van Grunsven's trainer (and life partner). Both Janssen and van Grunsven are major proponents of rollkur.

Annoyingly, the Dutch team whined about how "tragic" Cornelissen's disqualification was. (Note: the words tragedy and devastation apparently have lost their true meanings) I can sympathize with how disappointing disqualification was, but rules are rules - and if your horse is bleeding or lame - you have something more important to think about than losing. How about your horse dumb@$$es?! Did this happen because of something you did to your horse? Should you examine your tack and training methods? How can you prevent this from happening in the future?

I am cautiously optimistic that positive changes are on the horizon in the dressage world. What kind of future is there for the sport when those competing at the highest levels are not always required to follow the rules, and are in fact rewarded for not following the rules, as well as for using questionable inhumane training methods?

I did watch parts of the Grand Prix Special competition today. While there was much tail wringing, many disconnected uncomfortable looking horses and lots of behind the vertical to be seen, there were a few high points. Steffan Peters' bronze medal ride, and especially Laura Bechtolsheimer's silver medal ride on her gorgeous horse Mistral Houris. I noticed that Bechtolsheimer took her horse immediately to the warm-up ring after her ride, and proceeded to cool him down with some nice on the buckle work.

Here is some video of a brilliant rider and a happy relaxed horse, a willing partner:



Looking forward to the musical freestyle on Friday!!

At the barn #22 - Lots of action and WEGs

Several long lost friends (haven't seen in fifteen years) and thirteen temporary boarders have been visiting since my last post, so not much time for riding or blogging. Hoping to catch up on horse and non horse chores now that things have settled down.

First - I wanted to share this link for a live streaming of the World Equestrian Games. The quality is really good and there is a downloadable schedule of the events. Today is reining and endurance. (What do you know -  the reining team is sponsored by Adequan)   :)

I'm psyched to find a nice live streaming video source for the games, as I planned to be on my way to see them in person today. I had tickets to the dressage grand prix tests and the freestyle final, as well as the stadium jumping final for the eventing competition. Unfortunately I had to change my plans. At least this way I don't have to worry about parking, weather or the whole rollkur issue lol :)

With all of the activity down at the barn this week - strangers helping with barn chores / construction, and all of the extra horses - Val has been as mellow and laid back as I've ever seen him. He was friendly and inquisitive in a respectful way to all of the visitors, and barely seemed to notice the (hoardes) of Tennessee Walkers gaiting around the property while they prepared for their trail rides. What a good boy!!