Officials of the Federation Equestre Internationale hosted a workshop on the controversial dressage technique called “rollkur” on Jan. 31 in Lausanne, Switzerland and decided that it didn’t appear detrimental to the horse. But they’ll study it some more.
About 60 participants, including riders, trainers, stewards, veterinarians, and members of the Dressage and Veterinary committees and Welfare Sub-Committee attended the workshop.
According to an FEI statement, the forum’s objectives were: To review the techniques of training horses; to consider possible welfare implications; to hear the pros and cons from experts; to explore better understanding of the biomechanics and kinematics involved in this degree of neck movement; to review reports on clinical side effects; to discuss possible research programs; and to produce a report for the FEI to plan the best way forward.
The participants “reached the preliminary conclusion that, when applied by skilled trainers, there was no scientific evidence that this training method was abusive to the horse. There was clearly no evidence that structural damage is created by this training exercise, when used in the right way by expert riders.”
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But, the statement added, “The use of that technique by inexperienced people was a possible threat to the welfare of the horse. The role of top dressage riders as role models in the sport was underlined.”
The participants also sought a different name for the technique, believing that rollkur wasn’t descriptive enough for general understanding. They eventually decided to call it “hyperflexion,” defining it as “a technique of working training to provide a degree of longitudinal flexion of the mid-region of the neck. Hyperflexion cannot be self-maintained by the horse for an extended period of time.”
Next, the participants agreed their task is three-fold: To create “a more detailed definition of what is to be considered as abuse, e.g. stress factors, pain or discomfort”; to educate FEI stewards “to identify possible abuse and misuse of this technique, which is not restricted to dressage”; and to direct the Veterinary and Dressage committees and Welfare Sub-Committee to “review the state of knowledge, submit a report of the meeting to the FEI, and decide which scientific research is further needed.”
