Anti-Rollkur Campaign 'Starts To Make Tracks'

A petition calling for an end to hyperflexion is to be submitted to the FEI within weeks, while top judges and trainers are among those joining the call for action

- Rachael Turner

A CAMPAIGN against rollkur, also known as hyperflexion, is gathering momentum, with support from top judges and the British Horse Society (BHS).

A group of BHS Fellows and dressage trainers have created a petition calling for an end to the use of rollkur. The petition, which will be submitted to the FEI in the coming weeks, also calls for the federation to define the difference between “forced hyperflexion” and “classical training systems” and their different influences on horse wellbeing and performance.

“I think we’re really starting to make tracks,” said classical dressage trainer Heather Moffett, who helped launch the campaign. “We have List One judges on board and quite a lot of grand prix riders. I think the FEI will find it quite difficult to ignore us.

“We have to be careful that we don’t lose Olympic dressage through public outcry over rollkur. Many horses in stages of training get overbent, but when you see them with their chins welded to their chests, that has come from enforced training.”

Four-star judge Christoph Hess is supporting the petition.

He said it is important to understand the different reasons why horses can be behind the vertical, and that this is not always damaging to the horse.

“A horse that’s shorter in the neck isn’t necessarily going the wrong way,” he said.