Charlotte Dujardin of Great Britain celebrates after riding her horse, Valegro, to team dressage gold at the 2012 Olympics in London. AP Photo.
We haven’t said much about the Olympics, but here’s how fast people can turn horses around once they are done with them.
Yep. Harsh words. And it would be unfair not to mention that it is typical of horses’ lives that they changes hands a few and often many times. But, boy, was that quick.
Yahoo! Sports reports:
LONDON – Three Olympic champions were put up for sale on Wednesday, available to the highest bidder with a reserve price of a mere $30 million.
The names of Valegro, Uthopia, and Alf might be unfamiliar to most Olympic Games viewers. Moreover, these three victors didn’t even get rewarded for their triumphs with an official gold medal.
That’s because they’re horses.
The trio clinched the equestrian dressage team title for Great Britain – with a bit of help from some highly skilled riders, of course – and are now being sold off for what is certain to be an eye-catching sum.
It is possible that the horses could be bought as a package. Yahoo! Sports understands that interest has already been expressed by “an Arabian royal,” according to a source, but unless a bid of well over $30 million is made, the horses will go to auction.
– Source
Selling these horses does not surprise me. These horses are seen as commodities by these so called horse lovers. You would think that these horses would have a place of honor in their barns after winning gold……they disgust me! Rollkur disgusts me!
These horse were not trained that way. But they were the dedication of years of work. Not supported br a Mitt Romney. So I find your comments very harsh and undeserved.
Your comments are extremely uninformed. Rollkur has NOTHING to do with these horses.I strongly suggest you do some research before making such sweeping statements in future.
Rollkur is disgusting. Check this out. http://www.writingofriding.com/in-the-media/a-beginners-guide-to-rollkur/
Rollkur is simply over flexing. Who said anything about rollkur with any of the Olympic horses? It has been discussed ad nauseum and tests have even been performed to see what if any damage results from this training method. Answer: no breathing change, slight inflammation in the neck. It is easy to make broad statements
Rollkur has been discussed ad nauseum and why we have had no posts about it. It was mentioned in a comment — we both find it disgusting. End of story.
There is nothing simple about it or there would not be such a big debate about it. It became vogue in the 90s, and so on it goes with humans thinking they can approve on nature. This is how horse soring began.
You can find both sides of the argument here. It’s an old post, but a good one for people looking for a basic understanding http://dressage.wordpress.com/category/rollkur/ .
Years ago, a woman I knew well and trusted leased one of my horses for dressage but when I visited her to see what she was doing I did not expect to see what I did. I objected to her training techniques, including this one, my horse was not happy either, so game over for us. She was not doing anything unusual either; the way she trained was standard practice at that time.
Today’s version is not the dressage I grew up watching. It was natural then; now it looks freakish.
In relation to rollkur, whether or not you are in favor of it depends on your tolerance level of how horses are treated. Obviously some of you think it is just fine. If you do, you are probably not going to find many friends here. Snippy comments are not helpful, just insulting and counterproductive. There are facts and there are opinions. Someone having a differing opinion is not misinformed or in need of writing a thesis on the subject; they just have a different view. So who’s making the sweeping statements?
Well said VGFarrell. I think many humans, both the personally ambitious and the ignorant, confuse horses with cars.
Darius, it is true that “many” people confuse horses with cars. These Olympians do not. Regarding “rollkur”, few high level riders are using this training method.
Once again.. We are treating very good, very horse loving trainers and riders wrong… This was aimed originally at the British team. They do not use this method.. Why did we not just say congratulations to them, and use our energy toward some of the real problems for horses such a drugs, soreing, racing while hurt and horse slaughter. I don;t feel like people who are showing healthy 17 yr old horses such as this British Team deserve this hate, or having their names posted on STOP HORSE ABUSE.
and while this is a focus, it seems like the mustangs are disappearing from the West.
Hold up on the “we”!
No one said the British Team uses rollkur. Someone merely said rollkur disgusts them in this commentary area (including me).
Not to be unkind, but people concerned about other issues should use their valuable time commenting on them instead of defending something you feel is good, and keeping the cycle going on this.
I have no idea how these trainers / riders treat their horses. I have learned not to assume anything about anyone connected with sport and performance horses at this or any other level. Unless you know and work with riders / trainers, you are just guessing.
I personally don’t like any of it. If anyone wants to see something beautiful, they only need to see horses running free, doing what they do naturally. They do not need human assistance in any way. So at the end of the day this is all about the humans.