Why should anyone listen to me? I don't know. I care?
The changes are "easy." In judging, follow the rulebook. That will require some serious protection of the judges who will not get work if the powers that be don't win. (IW and Heglstrand have a LOT of money in the sport.)
Ban all nosebands. That solves most of the "abuse" issues with "rolkur" and clearly shows if the horse is correctly working through the back and from behind and not being pulled into a frame. ANY correctly trained horse doesn't noseband. And there is nothing wrong with a horse opening their mouth ocaisionally, but it will clearly showcase mostly when they are being pulled together. Some of these horses are so hardened to it all, though, they are used to just closing their mouths and pulling.
Eliminate the young horse tests. Get rid of all impetus to start horses young and fast. There's no reason to back a three year old. Start a four year old slowly and take a year, and go a year up from there. By the time their spine closes at 6 and the skull at 7, they will start the collected work at 3rd.
Minimum age to compete GP is 10, or even better, 11 or 12. No CDI's/ world level competitions before 12. Again, it gets rid of all impetus to push "naturally" talented horses who can just "do" the work incorrectly, and forces everyone to take the time it takes (YEARS) to correctly develop strength and balance to do the correct work for a long time. We should be regularly seeing the top horses doing their best work into their 20's if it's about correct TRAINING. Look at the Lippizanners who routinely left them in the fields until 6, then pull them out and condition and train correctly. They routinely do ALL of the highest level work, including the airs above the ground, into their late 20's and 30's. It's about soft and correct, not flashy.
That's just me and nobody cares about me. But, I will keep putting it out there and try to start a conversation and get the powers that be to answer. Maybe if we all keep speaking up and get educated on the real issues, we can make a change from the bottom up, instead of hoping the powers that be at the top do the right thing, despite the money in not. We all have to care about the real foundation of horsemanship and not get distracted by the easy cries of abuse and the bling.
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