Horse Dressage is beautiful to watch but I recently watched a video of Frederic Pignon and his beautiful horses performing in France. The horses were free to do as they wished, without domination but they did everything he asked with the slightest touch. I then watched some footage of the Dressage and even though it appeared that the horse and rider were one, the horse's head was pulled tight to it's chest. When I read more on the subject, it said that Rollkur or hyperflexion of the horse's neck is still used, even though it is illegal. It makes the horse have difficulty breathing and some have had blue tongues and blood coming out of their mouths. I was horrified and even though Britain does not use Rollkur the horse's head is still held extremely tight to it's chest and it can only see it's feet. This cruel treatment of these beautiful beasts is totally barbaric and if the rider cannot train the animal without cruelty, then they shouldn't be allowed to participate in the competition.
