What happened to Totalis?

If you are familiar with the Dressage world, you know his name. Moorlands Totalis, arguably the best dressage horse to ever walk this face of the earth, and we get to watch him compete. Totalis was originally bred in the Netherlands. In 2005 he was ridden as a five year old in the 2005 World Breeding Championships for Young Horses and placed 4th. Also at this time, the breeders of Totilas


Jiska Van Akker and Totalis in 2005

called a dressage rider named Edward Gal, who then was not a well known dressage rider, and asked him if he would be willing to ride "Toto". He agreed and the pair started to work together in 2006.

They could tell that this horse was something spectacular. Edward Gal and his 17.1hh black stallion dominatated the International Dressage ring, and in July of 2009, the team broke famed vetran rider Anky Van Gruvensen's world record for the Grand Prix Freestyle by scoring an 89.50% and they broke that record again while competing at the 2009-2010 Dressage series in London with a 92.3%. After he won the three available gold medals at WEG in 2010, they decided to sell Totalis.



Edward Gal and "Toto" at WEG 2010

He was sold for what was guessed at between 12 and 18 million dollars to a German rider named Mathias Rath. Dutch riders were outraged, considering German riders and Dutch riders are rivals and have been bitter towards each other after the Netherlands replaced Germany as the top country competing in Dressage. This gave Germany an advantage over the Dutch team by having such an outstanding horse. However, that was not the case at all.



Mathias Rath rides much differently than Edward Gal. The team of Ruth and Totalis got scores that were less than perfect, recieving lower scores on the stallion, and becoming a nervous young stallion who wasn't being communicated with clearly, rather than the stunning, well behaved stallion we all grew to love. Of course, this horse sill qualified for the Olympics for Germany this year in London, but was pulled out due to Rath being sick. What will happen to this world shaking Dressage horse? Well, who knows.

Equestrian Vaulting

Vaulting is gymnastics on horseback. There are team competitions and individual competitions. A horse is lunged at the canter in a circle, and the vaulters perform something between a dance and a gymnastics routine on the horses back. Like dressage, there is a regular competition where all performers do the same routine, and then a freestyle where they can design their own performance, often including music.

Vaulting can be traced back to ancient times, especially Ancient Rome where it was used by acrobats to impress crowds. In the renniassance times, vaulting was used as an excersice by nobles and knights and was a symbol of status. It has been around in the circus for decades, however it wasn't recgonized as an equestrian sport by the FEI until 1984 and the first time it was included in the World Equestrian Games (WEG) was in 1990.

The horses wear a large surcingle on their backs, which include things that look like handle bars (there's no better way to describe it) and a thick pad on their backs in order to protect the horses back from becoming sore from the rider doing flips and stunts on their back.

There are many movements in vaulting such as:

 Flag: From the astride position, the vaulter hops to his or her knees and extends the right leg straight out behind, holding it slightly above his or her head so the leg is parallel to the horse's spine. The other leg should have pressure distributed through the shin and foot, most weight should be on the back of the ankle, to avoid digging the knee into the horse's back. The left arm is then stretched straight forward, at a height nearly that of the right leg. The hand should be held as it is in basic seat (palm down, fingers together). The right foot should be arched and the sole should face skyward. This movement should be held for four full strides after the arm and leg are raised.

Flank:From the astride position, the legs are swung forward to create momentum, before swinging backward, and rolling onto the stomach in an arch, with a full extension of the legs so that the vaulter nearly reaches a handstand. At the apex, the vaulter jackknifes her body and turns the body to the inside, before sliding down into a side seat. The vaulter moves from the side seat with a straighten of the legs, keeping the legs together, bringing her body over the horse's back, and pushes off the handgrips, landing to the outside of the circle facing forward. The vaulter is judged on form, landing, and elevation. You need to be able to eventually swing your entire body over the horse.



It still, however is not an olympic sport yet, but hopefully it will be soon! Here's a link to a video showing a vaulting freestyle :)

USDF region declaring rules unfair?

As many of you dressage gurus are already aware of, Regional Championships were held at the beginning of September. Training level through Grand Prix horses competed for the chance to be declared champion of their region of six or so states and to recieve USDF recgonition for all their hard work, talent, and dedication to the sport of Dressage. However, some regions are much more competitive than others, and the region where I am from (USDF Region 4) has always been known as the "red headed step child" of all the other USDF Regions. Well, who cares? I do.

According to the rules set by the USDF, a rider is only allowed to qualify for champinships and compete in one region. But, the rider can declare that region themselves, it is not where their barn is located or where that rider lives. This wouldn't be a problem if they would place just as well as the riders from that region, and are from a region just as competitive as where they are from. But sadly, however, that is not the case.

Since Region 4 is so uncompetitive, horses and riders from large, expensive dressage barns in areas such as Chicago can declare Region 4 as their region and compete there, wiping out virtually any competition from our own horses and riders, who live, train, and compete locally in that region. This year, the highest placing person who was actually FROM Region 4 placed fifth.

This is something that needs to be looked at by the USDF. People who are trying to qualify and compete at regionals who are from Region 4 are being scared away because of all the bigger barns with more expensive horses and more competitive horse and rider teams are coming in every year and stealing away the competition from our own riders.



Many riders do this because yes, there is some logic to it. If you are from a really competitive region where if you qualified for regionals you might not place very well. So, mediocre riders from the most competitive regions declare Region 4 to be their region, and sweep our championships every year, and get higher placings because of it. Getting Reserve champion here where they might have gotten fifth or sixth in their home region.

The sad thing is, they have every right to do so. There are no rules aganist it, and it is discouraging the riders from my own region from going for higher USDF awards. I know I, personally, am hoping to qualify for regionals next year at First Level. But, honestly, if the competition that i'm going into isn't fair due to other riders basically cheating, I don't think i'll even try.

Western Pleasure shortcuts extremely harmful to horses

We all know the classic type of western pleasure horse, slow moving, nose on the ground, and looking as calm as possible.This is not attained by good training, no. Because you cannot make something this terribly damaging and detremental to your horses through good training. Trainers who show western pleasure often make big bucks, and they (more often than not) will use extreme shortcuts to get their horses at the place they want them to be in a shorter amount of time. This could include harsher bits than the horse is physically or mentally ready for, physically exhausting the horse so he will move slower, and making his muscles in his neck so sore he cannot hold his head up.



Western pleasure horses are presented in such a way that the horses look physically crippled. Their gaits are so unnatural there is no way any horse could be comfortable in that position, let alone for hours on end. Along with high shank curb bits and razor sharp spurs, western pleasure riders are also fond of other methods. There have been reports of horses who have been tied up for days with their head cranked to the ceiling, so their neck muscles get so exhausted that they physically cannot hold it up, and therefore have a lower headset and are more "attractive". Here is a video showing less extreme cases of head tying.

Riders often jerk excessivley on their horses mouths, in order to get their head "lower" when they're already kicking their nose with their feet. Having shown in the open show circut for a few years, I have seen this first hand too many times to count. Riders in long shank bits riding in the warm up ring for hours the night before a show, constant loping (or cantering). Yanking on their horses mouths until the horse physically cannot move his head any lower or the horse bucks or rears which leads to more yanking on his mouth. They work them so hard the night before a show so that the horse will be tired the next day and therefore go slower and carry his head lower. Which, again, is "appealing". And according the AQHA rulebook:

441 (c) Inhumane treatment is strictly prohibited. Inhumane treatment includes, but is not limited to:
(4) riding in a manner as to cause undue discomfort or undue stress
(8) excessive jerking of the reins

401 (a) Every American Quarter Horse shall, at all times, be treated humanely and with dignity, respect and compassion.
104 (a) No person shall ever treat any horse in a cruel or inhumane manner.

Here is a video of a typical western pleasure warm- up.

Good job in enforcing your rules, guys. Of course, all diciplines of riding have their "pros and cons". But I think that having the average age of retirement of a western pleasure horse be 6 from being too lame to walk due to his unnatural movements and self carriage inflicted by riders, is a pretty big con.

Charlotte Dujardin: Record breaking dressage rider

Only five short years ago, Charlotte Dujardin was a young jockey trying to make it to the top. Wanting to move forward with her career, she turned to renowned dressage trainer Carl Hester for help. At only 20 years old, Charlotte had never even sat on a dressage horse, and wasn't exactly what Carl was looking for in a student, but there was somthing about her that sparked his interest, and the two started working together.

And sure enough, they did well, both of them qualifing for the 2012 London Olympics. However, 45 year old veteran rider Carl Hester was not the one who won gold for the Great Britan team, but young Charlotte Dujardin who topped off the leader board with an 83.286%, well above her trainers 80.571%, awarding both of the riders the top two placings for the first day of competition.

Charlotte and Valegro

The next day of competition, Charlotte and her horse Valegro broke the world record olympic dressage score, scoring over 4% more than her first test and making their mark on the dressage world, and scoring the final medals needed to give Great Britan the lead in golds.

Most dressage riders in the olympics are veterans and have been to more than one Olympic games, have been riding dressage for years and have been with their equine partners for a very long time. For someone like Charlotte to rise to the top of the dressage world with her horse in such a short time is truely inspiring. From having never sat on a dressage horse until five years ago, to winning Olympic gold this year and breaking the Olympic record at only 25, she is truely an inspiriation to dressage riders around the world and will be a rider to watch out for for many years to come!

Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester

Controversy strikes the World Cup Final; Show Jumping leader McClain Ward eliminated

For two days, McClain Ward and his Olympic medal winning mare, Sapphire, had been in the lead at the World cup final in show jumping. But after a vet check was performed, the mare was found to be hypersensitive in one of her legs and was disqualified from the competition after the team had won. The vets conducted a thermo-imaging scan of the mare's leg two times and deemed it to be normal, as well as testing her legs for any sign of pain, but after talking with eachother the vets decided that the scans were abnormal and that the team was to be disqualified.


McClain Ward and Sapphire

Hypersensitivy can be caused by normal things that a horse would expirence everyday, such as insect bites or inflammation of the skin due to irritants. However, riders can also make their horses legs hypersensitive on purpose to make them jump higher and be more careful not to hit the jumps, and it is becoming more and more popular in the world of show jumping, and in cases such as this you wonder if McClain was singled out because of his history with hypersensitivity in competition.

In 1999 McClain was suspended from competing for 8 months for having allegedly put plastic chips in his horses boots, in order to encourage hypersensitivity. He denied the accusation, but served the sentence anyway. Alex McLin, the secretary general of the Fédération Equestre Internationale, said that no horse was “singled out because of any incident in the past.”  McLin added, “There is no evidence of malpractice in this case, but it remains our duty to protect horses from competing if there is any level of abnormal sensitivity involved and in the event of doubt to err on the side of caution.”

Tiffany Foster and Victor

 Recently, in this years London Olympics, a canadian show jumper named Tiffany Foster was disqualified after a vet found a nick in the horses cornet band, which was "like a paper cut". The horse had been exercised and jumped that morning and was showing no signs of pain due to the "injury". The horse was deemed hypersensitive anyway.The vets did not check for any signs of lameness in the horses in these cases, and the riders are unable to appeal the cases due to the rules set by the FEI. She had broken her back before the 2008 olympics and was unable to ride. She was thrilled when she was asked to ride in this years olympic games, only to be disqualified.

Eric Lamaze, whose gold medal horse Hickstead collapsed from a heart attack and died at a World Cup show in Verona in 2011, said it was time to take a s"hard look at the FEI's rules on hypersensitivity in jumpers."How can five people poking at a horse's coronary band declare him unfit to compete? How can they ruin someone's Olympic dream?"

"Everything Happens for a Reason" Natasha Baker - Paraolympic Gold Medalist Dressage Rider

When Natasha Baker was only 10 years old, she told her mom that she was going to be an Olympic Gold Medalist. She had been riding horses her whole life, and with her mom being and eventer and her dad being a racecar driver, competition was a major part of her family life. However, no one was prepared for what happened when Natasha was only 14 years old. She contracted a rare virus which damages the tissue connecting the nerves in her spine to the rest of her body, leaving the lower half of her body disabled, and making it hard for Natasha to walk.

She started rehabilitation, and all she would talk about was horses. Her therapist thought that riding would be a good way to help her learn more muscle control and become more mobile. She started riding again and excelled, winning a national title on her favorite pony at her first competition. In the year 2000, she was watching the paraolympic games in Sydney, and the first ever para dressage competition was broadcasted. Natasha was mesmerized by how the horse and rider seemed to be dancing. That's when she decided that she was going to be an Olympic gold medalist in para olympic dressage.

In 2008 she qualified for the Bejing para olympics for expirence and was not in the running for the medals, though if she would have been she would have earned an individual bronze medal. She qualified for the 2012 para olympics in London, and recieved not one but two gold medals in  only 48 hours, one for her freestyle and another individual gold for her score of 82%, her personal best score. 'I have loads of superstitions,' Natasha said. 'I had a McDonalds on opening ceremony night, which was a bit cheeky, and it was before my first day of competing. It went so well on the first day that I have had one each other night before I competed, and it was the same meal each time - chicken mayo.' 


Congratulations to Natasha and her horse, well done!