Dressage Disaster: Levade At C

In today's dressage disaster we take a look at the European dressage tour. With many horses having had a bit of a break from the EHV-1 outbreak, dressage is back in action!

Rearing is an elimination in a dressage test or is at least supposed to be. In our dressage disaster series, we have seen how this has not been the case for most of the horses competing in the Grand Prix.

This horse was not eliminated, instead the rider chose to retire when things were going sideways for her and her horse.

[Wranglerlaura]

What cool composure! She was able to gather the horse back together after the first upset. Then she gracefully bowed out and accepted her horse's need for a break with a smile and a pat on the neck. Well done, true professionalism.

[randomvielleuse]

Maybe if she hadn't been so constantly poking the horse with her spurs at practically every step it wouldn't have been so upset. And she doesn't let up even after the "levade." :( I get using spurs as an aide, but for heaven's sake, shouldn't they be used politely and judiciously? If you can't get your horse to go off your seat and legs without poking it constantly it seems like maybe you'd do well to go back a few steps in training.

[MBrusaZappellini]

Smart move to excuse herself from the ring...that test wasn’t salvageable and the horse was getting more and more worked up.

[lauraamick]

Good for her for bowing out when she realized the horse was too upset

[jandavison]

Just watched it again jabbing with spurs from start no wonder horse said no more

[CiPuGi]

again: a tense horse, tight in the neck, back and everywhere else. Not in front of the vertical and ridden like an accordion. No wonder he reared. There was no other way for this horse but up. At least the rider cut her losses and excused herself. Just makes you hope she learned from her mistake and does something about it. Back to the basics ! (Most likely not going to happen, though. Unfortunate for the

[annelaidlaw]

Poor animal getting spurred continuously

[chelseamoomaw]

I don't understand wearing such a harsh spur when your horse is this hot. I am glad she decided to retire, but I feel this test could have been saved if she wasn't so harsh with the spur.

[claudia]

Did not see that coming until the halt.. I also don't understand some of the hate towards her. He seemed distracted at the halt, which can cause him to be spooked by the (possibily big) aid she gave him and imo rein back is just an awful and unnecessary part of the test. There's nearly no benefit for the horse, it is simply a display of obedience.

[allisonhulley]

Horrible to watch. Horse just stressed out from so much pressure. Not well managed or ridden. Horse has just had enough.

[niwka]

that horse did NOT like being backed up like that. It seems like it either wasn't entirely understanding the riders signals or the rider was giving contradictory signals which ended in this situation. Horse seemed high wrung throughout, as if it was *too* energetic. I could be wrong though.
First glance issues I see: way too high energy horse (perhaps feed imbalance), horse not understanding rider

[marthadodddressage]

Not nice to post this video. Everyone has a bad day once in a while.

[barbarawillenbucher]

Mit Geld kann man sich viel kaufen....aber gutes Reiten ....Vertrauen ....und Gefühl für ein Pferd bleibt immer unbezahlbar...😉👍😊

[antjehester]

Hirse between spurs and kandarre - so much pain!

[MedusasPenalty]

And a little bit Terre à Terre at A 🤣
Kidding aside, this is just another case of incredible stiff reins. It's unbelievable how these people doesn't change anything about the way they think or ride, although it's not working for themselves! This is such an idiocy.. Felling with this poor horse ❤🐴

[sarahposey]

I understand it took a lot of training to get there.
My belief is until they can train with heart mind and compassion for the horse and not about the level or ribbons they have completely missed... what modern dressage is about.
It was about war originally, I feel the only fight I see is from the horse!
I find it hard to believe that this is the first time this horse has reacted in such a way.

[still_domino]

Yeah, there’s definitely a better way to ask your horse for this. Spurs won’t do anything, if anything they make it worse.

[Galemor]

Just look like it isn't their day..
From backing up, to shooting forward, just to much for a horse that seems it needed to get some rabbits out of its system..

[cottoncandy]

When your horse is telling you no!! Listen and bow out gracefully. Then find out why.

[claudia]

By the way, rearing on it's own is not an elimination. After a couple of seconds of resisting, around 15 seconds, the combination should be eliminated. Some judges count rearing as an error in the test, which causes elimination after two errors. So imo she should've been eliminated at the first resist, since it took her quite a while to get him back on track.