During a recent international dressage show (CDI) in Compiègne, France, Eva van Avermaet, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a long-time observer and critic of certain practices in the horse show world, was approached by British Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer Anna Ross. Anna wanted to talk to Eva to understand why she attended the show and what her aims were. Anna Ross’ view of the ensuing conversation was published in Horse & Hound under the title “We must engage with horse sport’s critics.” Here, Eva wishes to comment and clarify a few things in an open letter to Anna Ross and Horse & Hound readers.

Dr Eva Van Avermaet is a founder member of the Collectif Pour Les Chevaux and the Alliance for Horse Welfare in Sport (AHWS)

 

AN OPEN LETTER

 

That’s how it goes; if we need to film, it is not because it amuses us, it is not to harm you guys, nor to bully you. It is because the system to protect horses isn’t working. It is actually working the other way around, protecting riders harming their horses from people trying to protect them; and we need to prove it until the people you call upon to ‘engage with the critics’ stop massively denying this and actually do something about it.

This reminds me of this excellent statement from the president of the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission, Dr Nathalie Waran: «I would point out that social licence is about perception. And I think that what’s important is to at some point stop asking for more and more evidence and start recognising that the recommendations that are provided, provide the industry with an opportunity to take a lead to be proactive. Because in some respects, by continuing to deny that there are problems, by continuing to ask for more and more evidence, it is actually negatively affecting social licence in itself.»

“So when I was fortunate enough to compete with Habouche at the Compiègne CDI in France and learnt that a critic of modern dressage, who is active on social media, was in attendance, I decided to track her down. Closed minds will close doors – if we don’t listen, people will only shout louder. So I approached tentatively and opened the conversation. “Hello, are you riding or er… supporting?” I asked. “You won’t like me,” she replied,”

That is a very correct quote, thank you.

“… explaining that she was a vet, there to film the riders …”

I understand you are bound to use not more than a certain number of words, which is complicated in this kind of story where nuances are important not to mislead readers. (Concordia International Equestrian Magazine does not put a limit on an article of such importance, just saying, so you know who to contact if you want to write a more detailed and thus more nuanced and closer to the truth article.)

I came to Compiègne for a very specific reason: to observe if there was any change in the situation for the horses and the stewards, compared to last year. And there was!

Last year’s story:

Compiègne 2022 Report Part One – link

Compiègne 2022 Report Part Two – link

This year’s story is still to be written, I’m afraid it will take a while, as there is so much to tell and so many other projects going on. This answer to your article is a start, at least.

“… so she could raise concerns about horse welfare if she felt it justified.”

… I would nuance this also and say ‘so she could raise concerns about horse welfare if what she observed was not according to the FEI rules, or the FEI Stewards Manual’.

This reminds me of this question you asked: “Can you point out to me what kind of riding you like here, in this warm-up?” I answered that it is not about what I like or dislike. My personal opinion is not the issue. It is about the FEI rules being enforced or ignored. And this mixing up of things is exactly why it is so hard for the stewards to intervene.

Riders and trainers often feel offended because they feel judged for their riding and training skills when in fact a steward only asks to follow the rules.

When an agent stops someone for driving 160 instead of 80, the agent is not judging the car nor the driver’s Formula 1 skills, or the driver’s mum who taught him to drive; he only enforces the rules. Just like a steward who only enforces the rules.

“Interestingly, she viewed herself as a custodian of the sport, rather than a threat to it…”

Which should seem less odd to you and your readers now that I have tried to put things in a perspective closer to reality.

Many of the riders I observe and sometimes film are much more of a threat to the sport than I am.

“…and we had a spirited but good-humoured debate.”

Perfectly true!

“We had much in common. We love horses and are concerned for their welfare and happiness, believe it’s OK to enjoy them for sport as long as welfare is not compromised, understand the FEI rules and directives, and agree social licence of the sport is crucial but can be protected with good practices that stand up to scrutiny.”

Exactly, thank you for underlining that we are not against horse riding or competitions because that IS crucial.

“I explained that creating witch-hunts on social media via screenshots and photos was misleading and unacceptable, and she said she now uses videos to make her points.”

Creating witch-hunts has never been my intention. Inviting people to listen and engage in discussions with me and other critics, whilst accusing us of creating witch-hunts seems quite the paradox to me.

I always take great care in anonymising the photos and videos I use for alerts. It is not about the individual riders, it is about a system.

Alerting the public and creating a witch-hunt is not the same. For example, the goal of the #me too movement is not to create a witch-hunt on men. The goal is to encourage women to speak up and to stop the abuse. The French organisation ‘Colosse aux pieds d’argile’ alerts and tries to stop sexual violence, harassment and hazing of children in sports and education. Their aim is not to create a witch-hunt on sports coaches, nor to stop sports altogether. Their aim is to make sure children feel safe to speak up and are being listened to, and of course to stop the abuse. More and more people speak up about sexual violence from representatives of the catholic church. The aim is to condemn those people and end the violence, not to create a witch-hunt on priests.

My goal is not to create a witch-hunt, but to alert, inform, sensibilise, and open eyes, to better protect horses from incorrect and harmful training methods, such as LDR and other forms of hyperflexion. I also want people to feel free to speak up, as the system is very well-oiled to prevent this from happening. It starts in the clubs and private stables, where no one would dare to speak up against unacceptable situations. It continues with lower-level competitions, and finally with CDI competitions – I can write a book about how it goes if you dare to speak up at CDI events. 

And look at how you are depicting me as someone who had the intention to create a witch-hunt. Making us all feel bad about speaking up, does work on many but not on all, and certainly not on me. It did for 20 years, but now it won’t work anymore, on the contrary.

“…via screenshots and photos”

… Oh, there we go again, the neverending ‘moments in time’ discussion. Okay. Once again, for the people in the back:

1) When a professional of the horse industry (equestrian journalist, sponsor, show organiser, national federations, the FEI itself, high-level riders, and so on) CHOOSE a photo (or a video for that matter) of a horse in hyperflexion than I comment, and I am never rude, as you so very well said in Compiègne the other day. I point to the presence of hyperflexion in that chosen photo, mention its negative effects on horse wellbeing, and ask kindly to stop the banalisation of the attitude and the promotion of the method.

2) Then the excuse of the photo being only a moment in time, always comes up. So I ask, ‘Why would you reply by saying it is only a moment in time?’ It implies they know that the attitude is not okay. Which actually is a good start. But if one knows the attitude of hyperflexion is not okay, then why CHOOSE a photo – or video – with a horse in hyperflexion in the first place?

3) “Because they are free to do what they want and because they feel it is a nice pic”. Well, I hear that, but that is how you – as a professional of the horse industry with a duty of exemplarity – contribute to the general acceptance of hyperflexion; you think it is beautiful. Or worse, you actually think it is ‘rassembler’.

4) Or, “because it is just something that can happen to anyone.” Yes, it is. I totally agree with that. (Sorry to those who thought, or even hoped, I’m an extremist; you can stop using that excuse to not discuss with me.) It can happen. Of course, it can. But how many photos do you have where your horse is Behind the Vertical (BTV)? And in how many pictures your horse is not BTV?

5) Is the photo really just a moment in time? Or is it a moment in time, representative of your overall training? In this case, you should know two important things:

→ If your horse is mostly BTV in what you call ‘the stretching phases’ of your session, then you are probably using LDR methodically. If you use LDR methodically, you are probably using it in a prolonged manner. And that is considered abuse or maltreatment, ‘with no excuse’, by the FEI.

→ If your horse is mostly BTV when you think you are working in collection then you should know this sentence in the FEI Training Scale, a sentence which should be widespread by the international equestrian media and hanging in every horse girl’s room on a poster :

Nose Behind The Vertical: This is caused by hands used too strongly. The fault may result either from a momentary mistake in applying the aids, or it may be a symptom of long-term incorrect training.

6) Why are you all covering up for the generalised and systematic use of hyperflexion you immediately dismiss as a moment in time when it comes from us, and at the same time call it ‘indispensable stretching’ when you publish videos of yourselves with thousands of these moments in time? It is weird how you all deny the use of hyperflexion when you see a picture of your horse in LDR, make the ‘moment in time’ excuse, and at the same time defend the use of LDR as if your lives depended on it.

7) It should be clear by now, that when I use a photo of a horse in hyperflexion – from a warm-up, training session, test or public event – then that ‘moment in time’ actually is representative of the sequence it came from.

So I do not ‘now use videos to make my points’, I now use videos because I don’t have time to lose on having this absurd discussion about ‘moments in time’ every time a photo pops up. The videos clearly show that the discussion about ‘moments in time’ is totally irrelevant.

You see, here again, the more a part of the horse world tries to deny there is a problem, the more we have to show there is, in order for things to change. And as there is a problem, we are not the ones having trouble showing it. You don’t believe it when you see pictures of it? OK, then we will show videos. It really is that simple. It is not to create a witch-hunt, it is for you to react and do something about it.

The problem is that for the moment you feel you should do something about us.

It is not about us but about the generalised use, instruction and promotion of LDR and other forms of hyperflexion.

“She took a blanket approach to neck length, believing horses at all times should be ridden in front of the vertical and referred to scientific papers demonstrating the negative effects of various training systems, including “low, deep and round” (LDR) and stretching.”

It would have been good to let me read your article before publishing it, the devil is in the details on this matter, this makes me look like a fool. ‘The negative effects of training systems, including stretching’?

I have nothing against correct muscle stretching. I didn’t know ‘stretching’ was a ‘training system’?

Unless with stretching you actually mean LDR, which has become a widespread training system. Those who use and promote it, call it ‘stretching’, as it makes the whole thing sound nice and professional. Really stretching muscles is not a problem, if it is done in a way it does not affect the horse’s mental or physical health. But in LDR, there actually are not many muscles which really are stretched, and the horse’s well-being is affected.

The name LDR came to replace rollkur, and now ‘stretching’ will replace LDR. For the horses, it doesn’t change anything. It still is an attitude that is considered maltreatment by the FEI when used in an excessive or prolonged manner.

A correct neck extension, nose on or in front of the vertical, takes a bit more time and skill than putting a horse in LDR. It would be more appropriate to call a correct neck extension, stretching.

Link to some of the reasons why it would be better for the horses to be able to perform proper neck extensions instead of LDR.

As to the ‘at all times in front of the vertical’, that would be ‘at all times on or in front of the vertical’, and again, the nuance is missing; what is crucial is that we should all, at all times, TRY TO AVOID to make our horses work BTV. It can happen, to the best, to anyone, any time; but it should be avoided, not encouraged, and it certainly shouldn’t be a widespread training method being promoted by a part of the equine stakeholders, the equestrian media and the FEI itself.

“She agreed I could discuss the validity of these with my vet advisors.

I said I feel conformation impacts this “one-neck-fits-all” approach; horses with short necks or stallions with cresty necks might struggle to be poll high, stiffening their backs in the effort. Some young horses naturally curl behind the vertical, before they ever have a bit in their mouths. She felt horses on a completely loose rein that are behind the vertical by choice were in a state of learnt helplessness.”

This is the shortest shortcut in the history of journalism!

‘Horses on a completely loose rein’, your – long enough! – reins dropped on the neck and your hands in your pockets, will normally not stay behind the vertical out of their own free will. (They will if you train them to do so, of course.) Please try. If your horse stays in LDR while your hands are in your pockets, please send me the video of that, thank you.

Horses in LDR can stay in LDR with only very light rein tension because horses trained in LDR have lost (or have never had any) confidence in the hands of the rider. They’ve learned that every time they try to look at what’s happening in front of them, every time they would like to breathe freely, every time their brachiocephalicus starts to ache from painful muscle cramps (no, it’s not stretched, it’s contracted!!), every time the pressure on the vertebrae gets hard to sustain, there will be the rider’s hand, pulling (a little twitch or a clear left-right) on the rein, to make the horse keep the attitude. If you don’t understand how a 60-kilo rider can keep a 600-kilo horse in an attitude he wants to get out of, I suggest you take a closer look at the movements of your bit when someone films you riding your horse in LDR, and the anatomy of your horse’s mouth, especially at the jaw bone where the bit comes in contact when you pull back your hand a little. It is a sharp edge. And your metal bits are crushing the gum overlying this sharp edge. They also are acting as a tourniquet on his tongue, by the way. Both of these painful things happen more intensely in LDR than in a proper neck extension, which is directly related to the position itself. The angle of the forces on the bit in the mouth is different. Your horse is not happy, relaxed or confident. You confuse relaxation with a state of learned helplessness. He knows he will be in even more pain if he tries to come out of the LDR you make him run around in, be it with ‘light’ or ‘heavy’ contact. So he doesn’t even try anymore. He actually learnt he is helpless. When the discomfort of the LDR surpasses the pain in the mouth, you end up carrying his head around the arena. And then you might choose a stronger bit, for him not to lean on your hands like that… And you will be happy with that bad choice, as you will mistake a ‘lighter contact’ and an ‘improved willingness to keep the position’ with a horse creeping even more behind the bit because the contact is even more painful. 

Most of the LDR riders have never taken the time, and maybe they don’t know how, to educate the horse to be confident in the bit and to reach out to it, forward. How many horses have you seen on CDI warm-ups, performing a correct neck extension, reaching for the bit, nose forward and out, without falling apart, continuing to activate the thoracic sling, while chewing the reins gently out of the rider’s hands? Next to none. If you have videos of riders in CDI warm-ups, performing this correct neck extension, please make my day and send them to me, thank you! I will very happily use them as good examples, share them all over the place and send flowers and chocolates to the rider.

For those who ‘naturally curl behind the bit’, this education to reach out for the bit needs even more work. LDR is of course never to be used with these horses as you put them, and yourselves, in a vicious circle. It is also of crucial importance to check if this so-called ‘natural curling’ doesn’t just come from an ill-fitted bit or bridle, or a very sensitive mouth. And of course, from insensitive hands.

“…stallions with cresty necks might struggle to be poll high”

The poll is a bony structure. The poll as the highest point means the highest point of the other bony structures of the neck. But that said, several good riders  – who are not competing but who can be found on social media – actually train their horses so well that when they perform a correct and genuine collection, the poll is the highest point, cresty neck or not. 

“When I asked to see positive examples of grand prix riding, she showed me a video of a baroque horse at a lower level, making it hard for me to visualise the desired “end game”.

The video I showed you is a video of a stallion, a very sensitive one, a hot one, big personality, ‘naturally curling behind the bit’, as you would call him, during two different warm-ups and two different tests, two days in a row. It seems not quite honest towards your readers to insinuate I showed you a horse performing a circle and a diagonal while you could in fact see him performing piaffe, passage, flying changes and pirouettes. He did all this on a snaffle bit, being very hot to handle on the first day, and already more concentrated on his work and less on the environment and the mares, on the second day. This is THE example of a horse which would be controlled by using hyperflexion, in a double bridle of course, in which he would obviously very quickly arrive in the worst form of hyperflexion, rollkur, if he would be ridden by ANY of the big FEI dressage stars, and yourself. I would most certainly also put him BTV at least for several moments in time, as I am by far not as skilled as the rider on the video is.

But as his rider is one of the most skilled riders I ever came across – and I came across many – the horse stays on or in front of the vertical practically all the time, even performing correct neck extensions and zero LDR. According to the FEI rules, it is a ‘horse-friendly’ warm-up, and it should be the norm, not the exception. But if you think it wasn’t worth looking at, or if you didn’t see the ‘desired end game’ here, so be it. I thought it was quite obvious. What I showed you is a correctly trained horse, well balanced, well muscled, and very confident in his rider’s hands. I showed you a rider who doesn’t use her hands to control her horse, but to communicate with him and to keep him connected to her, without extinguishing his big movements or his spirit.

It would be very interesting to see the warm-ups of all FEI CDI riders, in public. We would have a hard time finding a ‘horse-friendly’ one, but if you find one, again please send it to me and I will share it as a good example. I actually am looking for good examples to use in the discussions during the International Meeting in Paris on the 9th and 10th of September. Do you have that? Please send it to [email protected], thank you very much.

“There were a couple of Iberian horses in the grand prix training towards her vision”

Again: Not ‘according to my vision’, but ‘according to the criteria used by the stewards and according to the FEI Stewards Manual’.

“…and she was glad to hear the judges awarded them good marks.”

I surely was! The judges are key towards the change.

Remember the comments from the survey of the equestrians and stakeholders :

→ Pain indicators in horses being ignored by judges.
→ Promoting combinations demonstrating clear violations of kind/correct training.
→ Unhealthy conformations and movements being prized.
→ Judges being biassed and giving higher marks to favourites, even for poorer tests.

“She felt the judges weren’t harsh enough when necks shortened and was pleased when I showed her my test sheet and video, when I’d momentarily “had my hands full” on an excitable Habouche and lost marks. I pointed out that with my score a fraction under 70%, the judges were saying there was much to improve.

To me, it would be more relevant and convincing to see the outcome of the training principles she suggested applied to grand prix warmbloods, via video or live.”

The ‘grand prix warmbloods’ have been selected towards incorrect balance, but that is another discussion, I’m sure the Dutch specialist of that matter, Karel Delange can explain this much better than me.

That is why many of the good riders training according to correct principles, will be now seen on ‘baroque’ horses, as for the moment, the selection hasn’t unbalanced them too much yet.

I’m afraid that for many good examples, we will have to wait until things get better – breeders stop breeding in the wrong direction, education improves, and judges score according to the rules and guidelines – as the riders who train according to correct principles are hard to find, and do not get high enough scores in the lower levels to make it to the higher levels.

Maybe Horse & Hound could call on their readers to send in videos of riders training ‘grand prix warmbloods’ according to the FEI guidelines and rules?

It is up to the FEI to show good examples.

“I have been invited to an annual conference of equestrian stakeholders she is involved with and hope I can attend to better understand the concerns.”

I hope to see you in Paris, on September 9-10!

“A boost in all directions”

“…internet trolling is a clumsy weapon…”

I’ll pretend I didn’t read that very clumsy way of rounding up this article accusing me – a veterinarian working hard for the horses and the sport – of ‘internet trolling’, as it would be a waste of time and is not a subject that would help the horses out there.

But let us finish this reply on a positive note.

I think your intentions are good, and you said it: we do have lots in common. But you seem to have difficulties saying the truth, which is that you feel that the people you address your article to, really need to engage the discussion with horse sports critics.

You are afraid ‘they’ will see you as someone collaborating with ‘the other side’. You are not free to say what you think, and that lack of freedom comes from the pressure the system puts on everybody – including you – to not publicly state that horses need to be better protected on the competition grounds. In the last three years, hundreds of competition riders and other stakeholders sent me private messages to support me. This is what keeps me going. They say I must keep going, but they can’t say that publicly, because then they would be rejected by the system too.

Already during our discussion, you made jokes with your friends sitting at the table next to us, laughing about how you were collaborating with the enemy. You actually felt the need to apologise to your friends for talking to me.

In your article, you were using the same technique. You know we need to engage in discussions, but you don’t want people to think you are collaborating with any of us, so your article has a good title but the content is not exact and a precious number of words are wasted in stereotyped paragraphs covering your back – which is only human – but not helping the horses in any way.

So if you really want to make things better for the horses, then come to our meeting in Paris, and please do bring some other professionals of the horse industry who simply want the FEI to enforce their rules to better protect the horses on the competition grounds.

Published by CONCORDIA INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE – the current issue and archived issues are free to download and read online.