An Appeal to the Equestrian Community

Watching one of Warwick Schiller's training videos today ( A Naughty Warmblood Dressage Horse), I was inspired to speak out about something. The training video itself is fascinating and informational. However, when I scrolled through the comments I found a deluge of negativity. Not negativity aimed at Schiller and his training methods, but an entire crowd of people throwing metaphoric tomatoes at the rider. I won't name names or show the screenshot I originally took, because my point is not to shame or call anyone out. Multiple people commented that the rider was cruel or abusive. They said the horse's behavior was caused by her short contact.

When the video begins the horse is crow hopping and rearing and bucking. Overlaid text informs us that this horse behaves the same during every ride. Later, when Warwick begins to retrain the horse, it initial displays problem behavior - even though Warwick is riding it. No doubt the rider was contributing to the issue, but her defensive riding was most likely a fear response.  Many people wouldn't even have the courage to ride a horse that bucked every day. I would like to point out that dressage horses are ridden on short contact, that is how the sport works. Also, this poor woman came to Schiller to learn what she was doing wrong. The rider may have inadvertently taught her horse to misbehave, or the horse could have already developed this issue before she got it. We, as the audience don't know, and it shouldn't matter.

The amount of negativity in the comments struck me to the core. I am appealing to all of us as a community, lets support each other! There is no need to tear down a fellow rider who is trying her hardest to do the right thing.