Below is the replay of the fantastic call with Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, who spoke at length about the history of Rollkur and how this has led to the ‘death’ of the spirit of so many horses.
Call courtesy of HorseConscious.com
Click DressageDisgrace for the transcript of the call
Please spread the word about the campaign by sending people this link:
http://www.dressagedisgrace.com/live-teleseminar-klaus-ferdinand-hempfling
The next Dressage Disgrace teleseminar will be in December and will feature Carolyn Resnick. More details to follow.
Humility is taking the hand of God and respecting the heart and spirit of the horse, qualities evident in this talk from a gifted and humane being.
Interesting views about some horses needing the rein. There is evidence to suggest in some feilds that horses genetically produced carry forward their historical training in cellular memory, perhaps this might explain a predisposition to cetain training methods and a physical ‘belief’ that the rein affords a connection to something intrinsically deep within the horse. Some people can ‘feel’ this in a horse and this separates the wheat from the chaff in terms of true horsemen. If the horse truelly needs the rein we can then justifiably accept the horse on the other end. When it is us in need of the rein we must go deeper within ourselves and rediscover our own lost humility and spirit, this is where we will meet the horse in its kingdom of truth, free from fear, punishment and pain, and in doing so we will connect with a sense of freedom our ego’s do not want us to see.
thank you klaus …that help people to understand horses on aaother level.
HI For Chris S. There is a huge number of international trainers and riders including the USDF who again and again call for the health and happiness of the horse as a partner – even in competition. As in any discipline you have to search carefully for a trainer and instructor who does not us pain as a tool of domination. Good Luck.
This was also posted elsewhere:
Years ago, if you would have asked me what my goal in life was to be I would have answered that more than anything I wanted to take the proceeds of the sale of a home and use that money to buy a great horse capable of going international. I was willing to donate all my retirement time and hundreds of thousands of dollars to that goal. But now, when I see what it means to be at that level and by what is winning in the ring, I am appalled. I no longer want to show, want to spend money on what I see as an abomination in the dressage ring.
Rolkur and the forced submissiveness is NOTHING to aspire to. So now I take my lessons at home with my instructor and my never-will-be-FEI horse and I am happy. Most importantly, my horse is happy too. You can tell by his appearance when I am training. I look forward to once again being able to clinic with my personal hero Walter Zettl and to learning dressage as an ART and not as forced manipulation of a helpless animal.
In the world of dressage I am just another nobody, so no FEI organization is going to care what I do. But one day (with any luck) they will learn to understand that the top level of riders only make up a small portion of the dressage population, and that the sport is basically financed by hundreds of thousands(or millions) of nobodies just like me. And as I will walk away, so may many many others.
As a current member of USEF and USDF I am waiting to see what action they take and to see if they have the guts to support the antiRolkur movement, and if they don’t, I’ll probably walk away from them as well.
Yes I know the current FEI elite and their Blue Tongues will say I don’t know what I’m talking about, and that only they have the gifted golden fingers to train that way. Well, that’s fine. They can have their glory until such time as some animal welfare group further humiliates them. Until such time as animal welfare concerns takes dressage right the heck out of the Olympics by popular disdain.
So I’ve made a promise to myself and this is what this little dressage nobody who doesn’t have the “expertise” to ride rolkur is going to do. I will carefully check every product I buy and any and every product endorsed by a Rolkurite I will not purchase. No books, boots, videos, shirts, bridles, saddles, gloves, underwear…….
I will loudly protest and shout from the rafters my disdain for the practice and I will not clinic with anyone who rides or advocates such riding practices as rolkur. I will join any grassroots movement which is against Rolkur whether it be by wearing a white baseball cap and if I were to attend an event where it is used I would not be against holding up a sign or other indication of my extreme negative feelings for the practice. I will take pictures and post on the internet, or videos if I’m holding a video camera. I will join all blogs fighting the use of rolkur.
I may be just a force of one, but there are many of me and together, we can make a difference.
When sponsors stop endorsing Rolkurites due to negative profit (or visa versa) and dressage interest or attendance decreases THEN maybe the organizations who state they support the welfare of the horse will care. WHEN IT HITS THEM IN THE POCKETBOOK. Obviously this whole welfare of the horse thing is right now, to them, an inconvenience.
Princess Haya, are you reading?
Thank you Klaus. This was very enlightening to me. I would like to know if this interview is available in text form. I would love to be able to share with others who are not on internet.
Thank you Klaus for agreeing to talk to the public. It has been interesting hearing your point of view. I must agree that horses are all different shapes and therefore different abilities and ways of going. I have noticed that some horses do seem to need/want a bit. I however can not get my head round having to use a double bridle. In the wrong hands they are lethal. I realize that even the mildest bit can do damage as can pressure from hackamores. The FEI ought to realize that the general public see double bridles being used, they see overbent horses and then go home and torture their own thinking they are teaching it dressage. Hardly surprising that there are so many depressed horses out there. Any people at the top of any sport must know that they have the public watching them and copying them. The people who make the rules should be more aware of them. I can’t say I agree at all with turning a horse in to a machine. There is a difference between a good mannered horse and a zombie.
I would love to see how Klaus works with ill treated horses and turns them around. He does not sound like a monster but a realist. I was not impressed with what I seen but it was interesting to hear the reason for riding in such a way. I am not sure I agree with it. Hats off to you for being brave enough to talk to us.
I have been “standing still” with my horses for some time now and am really appreciating more and more the importance of relationship over performance.
This has been so much easier to work my way through by reading/listening to/working with some really sound people (eg reading Linda Kohanov’s books; working with Angela Dunning here in the UK) and it is similarly so good to be able to listen to Klaus share his experience.
What I have been able to let go, has made space for something much richer.
Thanks for making this teleseminar possible Mark and thanks to Klaus for his time. Your efforts do not go unnoticed.
thank you Klaus, some really interesting insights into human psychology, and why we behave as we do! it explains alot. I am also interested in your ideas about some horses needing the support of reins of some sort. Food for thought!
How wonderful to listen to another equestrian educator and leader address the fundamentals of horsemanship – that this is the building of a relationship and not the assembling of a machine! I hope we can continue moving forward as a culture and unite our actions with our words…
Cheers,
Erica K.
http://www.awarenessinriding.com
http://www.hautetotrotmag.com
http://www.writingofriding.com
A huge thank you to Klaus for giving up his time to educate us and share his feelings and experiences, and giving us some insights into why we indulge in abusive behavior with our horses. The exploration into the disease of narcissism in this context is an interesting one and a concept we need to take to heart — quite shocking if we care to look deep inside. We get carried away by our egos and the temptation of reward and accolades and we turn the horse into a machine, as he says. No wonder our horses have “died” — they deserve every consideration from us to bring them back to life.
The more I study the various methods to approach relationships with horses, the more I see a continuum of thought in how to best do that with 1000 pound animal. Control is the priority at one end of the continuum while partnership is the priority at the other. Both ends seek respect.
Those closer to the control end put the onus on the horse to learn and behave within set human parameters; those closer to the partnership end put the onus on themselves to learn the ways and abilities of each horse before customizing the best form of partnership.
People like Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling and Carolyn Resnick, to me, are educating the horse world about the partnership end. Methods like Rollkur were established by those at the control end. There’s a huge industry in the middle based on developing gadgetry for various amounts of control. I give most horse owners the benefit of the doubt and figure they don’t even know the partnership approach is an alternative.
If asked the question, “Who would I be more likely to give my full respect and best effort to among the two approaches?” I’m real clear what my answer would be. And, it just tells me I have a lot to learn about horses.
Great to hear someone describing how we need to change as humans to be able to relate to horses and the sufferring we cause them and ourselves. I hope we continue to pursue our own destiny and further our understanding of both the scientific and the mystical in life. Horses and our interactions with them can teach us so much about our own lost consciousness and build bridges that enable us to re connect with eachother with love and compassion. We have great power as humans to adapt and change, to grow and learn, to communicate authentic emotion and be free spiritually, the very qualities that attract us to horses in the first place, lets hope we begin to look at things differently, to trust our feelings and acknowledge that when we turn our heads away from nature, we turn our hearts to stone.
Thank you Klaus! I love the education you always offer in your talks. History and psychology used to explain the way our competitive horse world has come to it’s current place bring people the way to stop being angry and allow change through understanding. And thank you for talking about the reins and different horse types!
Sorry to have had to miss the first half- hope you do repeat, Mark!! Good to hear from Klaus- a true horseman in every sense of the word.
Heather
thank you I have just been listening to the teleseminar, and it was so enlightning, and so clear, I could listen to Klaus all day long. There is so much to learn, and so good to listen how to go deep into the psychology of horses and humans.
thanks again.
Listening to Klaus this morning is very refreshing and confirming, this is really about “us” the Gandhi comment regarding how we treat our animals is bang on.
I have to disagree with his thoughts that the horses that become depressed cannot be brought back to a fully funcioning life. They are PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) cases and just like us there are methods and procedures actually learn from (healthy animals) as to how to move through and on with their lives and ours. Peter Levine’s book “Waking the Tiger” describes the 3rd to step that needs to be taken to free ourselves and the horses from trauma, YES it takes time because it is about regaining trust and respect.
The horses are very forgiving and very willing to go that next step with us.
They have sooo much to teach us.
Does anyone know if I can get a written copy of this session because I missed most of it?
Thank you so much Klaus for helping to spread this message around the world. There is no one better placed than you to do so.
As long as the international competative dressage judges reward this kind of activity, it will continue. We need to encourage FEI, USET, and our local clubs to not reward this kind of activity. I do not agree with not being a member of a local organization, in stead we need to join, volunteer, and work hard to be heard so that we can help eliminate these negative aspects of the dressage world.
This is wonderful. I hope many, many horse owners hear this call.
By the way, Will you also have it available for download after the call in case I miss the call for any reason?
I believe what we must do is to boycott. I am no longer a member of the Oregon Dressage Society for this very reason. We need to say NO to USDF this would include your regional Dressage Federation. NO to USET. Do not lesson or clinic with or buy horses from persons that are members. Do not attend these shows unless to protest. Take your hard earned $$$ to the trainers, clinicians and breeders that are treating their horses in a manner that is humane.
Geraldine Davidson
Oregon
USA
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by markmotts: Free LIVE Teleseminar wt Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling to discuss the Blue Tongue video http://bit.ly/4apd5J #horses #FEI #dressage please RT!!…
I was really wondering what KFH would have to say about the blue tongue disgrace and Rollkur in general. Thank you for providing such a valuable opportunity.
I’m so glad that finally something’s happening worldwide to ban the Rollkur. Still, there must be more information on a large scale to reach every single rider and riding instructor to make everybody realize what we are doing to these wonderful beings out of ignorance and ambition.
Thank you all for what you do and thanks to KFH, C. Resnick and all other great trainers that help people to understand horses on aaother level.
The more I learn about this practice the more I know it has no place in our horsemanship trainning programs. It will be an honour to hear from someone so knowledgable about this topic.
OMG ! You’ve got that RIGHT!!
Thank you for this site and for the teleseminar. How appropriate that while the FEI Bureau meeting is being held, Mr. Hempfling will be speaking to this issue.
I’ll be listening.
It will be a rare and welcome privilege to hear KFH speak on this issue. If When I try to think of a single person who seems to understand horses on a different level, it is Klaus. Thanks for making this opportunity available, we look forward to hearing his perspective.