Thursday, August 16, 2012

I did it, again

I dared disagree with the FuglyMob.  :D  Welcome you fugly followers who found my comment on their WP rant. 

Yep, I said it there, I'll say it here.  That free moving in the pasture video of the groomed up Zips Chocolate Chip?  DROOL!  I love it.  He's beautiful.

Do I think the super slow jog is ridiculous?  Yup
Do I think a 4-beat lope is hideous?  Yup
I didn't see Chip lope 4-beat.  It was a beautiful cadenced 3-beat, easy, light, lope-along.  A pleasure to ride, I'm sure.

I can get Harley to lope that slow, with his neck level and nose out, usually pretty easy.  The hard part now?  Trying to lift his head up and balance that nose in so he's got the "collected dressage body". 

Come on, flamers.  Hit me with your best shot!  :) 

2 comments:

GunDiva said...

I have to agree with Fugly (God, the world is going to end, I know), but the video of the 2011 Congress looks terrible. I think that she used Chip's video clip as the standard to measure the others, I don't think she was saying that his movement was terrible.

I would wonder about the soundness of the horse if I ever felt that when I was riding. So, really, I'm agreeing with the original letter-writer who said that the four-beat lope makes the horses all look lame.

Jennifer said...

I *never never NEVER* said I liked the Congress video, did I?

I said I liked Zips' video. His movement is much like Harley's when I don't push him.

I'll have to get video to prove it. When I drop the rein contact, and "let him be", H moves just that slow at the canter, all on his pretty little own.

NOT All horses move like an Arab or a Thoroughbred. NOT all horse gallop off like a racehorse everytime the rider asks for canter.

Some horses like to move slow.
Some like to go fast.
Some like to jump.
Others would kill the rider before facing a jump (don't believe me? Ask Romeo).

Are there extremes? Yes
I am entirely sick of the total assumption that "all slow moving horses with their neck and head low or level are being beaten and tortured."