Mariette Withages’ announcement in early February that the FEI Dressage Committee didn’t find the training technique of hyperflexion, or rollkur, to be harmful to horses left some dressage enthusiasts wondering exactly how the committee arrived at this conclusion.

Now the full report from the joint workshop between the FEI Veterinary and Dressage Committees, some 33 pages, can be downloaded in PDF format from the FEI website (www.horsesport.org).

The report includes a history of rollkur, Sjef Janssen’s explanation of how he uses the method in training, and several detailed veterinary reports on the effects of long-term use of hyperflexion in dressage horses.