CAVALLO the German Horse Magazine recently published an article of mine about the development in the SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL Catherine Walker was so kind to translate it in proper English For the German arrticle please use this link hippocampus-nl/fileupload/UlrikeThielKassestattKlassikCavalloNov2014.pdf Cash Not Class (Cavallo Magazine, November 2014) Article by Ulrike Thiel English translation Catherine Walker Caption top left Similarities in the pictures: a performance in April 2014 shows a Lipizzaner stallion whose movements match those of Totilas, the Rollkur–trained horse (smaller photo). Both horses show typical signs of Hyperflexion: clear upright posture due to shortening of the neck, hollow backs with hindquarters left behind. Flexibility in the haunches and collection are both missing. Caption lower right Photos from six years ago show that you don’t always see classical riding at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. You get competitive dressage in place of equestrian art. Is the pursuit of profit to blame? Photograph left Dr Ulrike Thiel comes from Vienna and is Director of the Institute for Equine Therapy and Equestrian Psychology Cranendonck (Netherlands). For many years she has studied the damaging consequences of Rollkur. Text The Spanish Riding School in Vienna has survived two world wars and several other catastrophes since its founding in 1565. So it seems that the 450th anniversary celebrations could become the farewell performance of Viennese Classical Horsemanship. We hear more and more criticism of the market–oriented exploitation of the school and the associated State Stud at Piber. In recent years we can see its creeping towards modern dressage. The consequences: in place of School Stallions, trained to the highest level with patience and respect, who dance in harmony with their riders, exhibiting the brilliance and expression of the High School, we see pictures that have been around for years, quite rightly criticized within the sport. Colonel Hans Handler, director of the Spanish Riding School from 1964 until his death in 1974, warned years ago, that by becoming a tourist attraction the danger must not be overlooked lest commercialization reduce it to a tourist business with associated management, and thereby its world–wide importance as the sole remaining riding institute in which the art of classical equitation has been maintained in its purest form, and the training delivered in the oral tradition, could all too easily be lost. It had to remain an institute for riders and horses. Its value lies in the standard displayed, which must be developed anew for each new trainee horse. A line must be drawn where the standard starts to suffer, through overexertion of man and beast. When a special law in 2001 changed the Spanish Riding School to a partly privatized company, that could act independently, though controlled by the state, it would not have led, per se, to the current problems. Ultimately the duties of the registered company “Spanish Riding School and Federal Stud Piber” remain the same: the long–term conservation and traditional breeding of the Lipizzaner horse and the pursuance and preservation of the High School of Classical Horsemanship, as well as the historic tradition of the Spanish Riding School. Since Elizabeth Gürtler too over the directorship of the Spanish Riding School in 2007, the requirement for public performance was dramatically increased. Instead of two performances a week there were often two demonstrations in a day. The number of school stallions and the stud mares more than doubled whilst at the same time staff numbers were reduced. Increased performance from fewer staff might work where technology can replace the human workforce. Horses and riders, though, are not computer–controlled machines, whose performance level can be arbitrarily enhanced. What this would mean for the equestrian grassroots in Vienna, I first experienced in May 2008 in the Burghof–café, with its view of the outdoor training area, in the courtyard. Photos resulted, which would trigger an Internet storm some years later, although the inherent problems they revealed could be verified by more recent evidence. The pictures in this article are from 2008 to 2014, and are by no means snapshots. Sidebar: You see stallions ridden in Rollkur manner, with necks rolled up to their chest. I have seen this Hyperflexion in the competitive riding scene, I had already given this far from horse–friendly method considerable consideration since 2008. Its mental and physical consequences are nowadays scientifically verifiable. I was appalled to see this sort of riding, but awaited a correction. When this did not happen, I photographed what I saw in front of me. During morning exercise and performances, on this day and in the years up to 2013, in amongst correct riding, I noticed much which varied from sloppy seat, excessive assistance, senseless punishment, to the employment of positions, tempos and actions, which in classical riding conflict with its goal and its respect for the horse partner. Since hyperflexion leads to a changed appearance in movement and muscle formation, to loss of balance, harmony and of the confidence in hand and seat, the consequences with individual stallions were not unnoticed. Defective development of the topline, hip and backs blocked by shortening of the neck; the flexing of the haunches and true collection prevented. Contact problems from “no longer wanting to accept the reins” to using the tongue to protect from the bit in stallions whose activity is dull and listless. I could no longer see the power developed from suppleness and collection, during the physical and mental balance that I used to marvel at in the School Jumps. Mediocre Airs Above the Ground were performed with extremely short engagement and over–excited stallions. I shared my observations in 2008 with Georg Wahl former Viennese Chief Rider who died in November 2013 and his partner Christine Stückelberger, Olympic dessage rider. Both, like me held the ‘Spanish Horses’ dear to their heart. They too has seen what I had. Because of their good contacts, I placed the Rollkur relevant pictures at the disposal of Frau Stückelberger, for discussion with the management, which took place. Sidebar: Management had known about these photographs since 2008. They were made aware of many similar observations. The Press too, was critical. Yet the Spanish Riding School denied and rejected criticism and refused a television crew entrance to training and performances. Critical concerned reports came to a head on the Internet, when in May 2014 the Spanish Riding School announced that the dutch dressage rider, Anky van Grunsven would present two gala performances in Amsterdam in November this year. Horse–friends were shocked by such an alliance with one of the representatives of horse–abusive Rollkur. They were dismissed with the terse message that the Spanish Riding School had no influence on the presenter of a foreign show. The loss of riders also caused disquiet in the ranks. Several riders have left the institution in recent years. They were not prepared to fast–track sloppy training, to watch the excessive demands on man and horse without criticism or to align themselves to the planned convergence with modern competitive riding. Two Chief Riders were released from duty on full–pay. From 2006 to 2012, the Head of the Riding School was Ernst Bachinger, a controversial equestrian, past pension age, with close connections to competitive riding. The system thrives on a predetermined cycle of horse and rider training, according to the nature and personality of the horse, whereby the young continue to learn from the old and experienced. Were this cycle of human and equine teachers to be broken, the consequences for the training would be disastrous. Sidebar: There are riders who dissuade their private students from reading the works of Kurt Albrecht, Alois Podhajsky and Hans Handler. These prominent representatives of the traditional Viennese teaching are outdated we would ride differently today! In place of the classical horsemanship that they hope to achieve, with subtle assistance, private students report inferior competitive equestrianism with the use of Hyperflexion. The outcome of this change for the Spanish Riding School cannot be predicted. The school stallions must perform at a level far in excess of that demanded of a dressage horse in the few minutes of a test. In spite of this, the top Lipizzaner athletes of the Spanish Riding School maintain their health, their ability, their magnificence and their personality up to 30 years of age. Short–term success is achievable in competition, with interchangeable horses trained with quick–and–easy methods. It is not possible to apply the same methods as a model for classical equestrianism. Such a delicate balance is not sustainable long–term in an institution such as the Spanish Riding School. This course can still be changed, not only to fulfill its legal mandate, but to restore the ethical and cultural position of traditional Viennese equine art in today’s horse world. When the management of the Spanish Riding School does not seem able to manage its cultural heritage responsibly, then it needs a new policy. Kasse statt Klassik Cavallo November 2014 hippocampus-nl/fileupload/UlrikeThielKassestattKlassikCavalloNov2014.pdf
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:37:35 +0000
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