Light a few candles for me :-)
Here is some recent Totilas footage -- too brief to really assess much, but it looks like he's schooling passage to extended trot.
I've read that horses should show equivalent movement in front and hind legs -- with that flashy front end there's no hope for the hind legs to "match up," but the hocks do look a tad sluggish. Is it just me?
Anyway, that's the amateur critique -- he's just gorgeous and I love watching him.
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Personally, I've always though he was all flashy front end and lacking in activity in the haunches. But then, I'm an advocate of classical dressage, or, as recently accused, old-fashioned.
ReplyDeleteNever quite know with horses like that. The front is so extravagant it is not matched with the hind end. He almost looks a little tired in the video...or he is just not moving with his "showring" brilliance.
ReplyDeleteI think he's a fabulous horse who puts his all into doing what is asked of him.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I just prefer a horse to rock back more onto its haunches than he does. I enjoy watching him, and he is incredibly gorgeous and powerful, I just prefer the way some other horses use their back ends. He makes me anxious to watch, rather than wistful and wishing I could do that. (Ravel? I see Steffen riding him and think "I could totally be capable of riding a horse like that so well! In 20 years. If I could afford the daily lessons I'd need to get there.")
I'm not sure it's a fair critique, since how matched his front and rear are changes several times throughout this brief clip, and that appears to be one thing he's specifically working on at this moment. At the end, when he's moving out a bit and headed away from you, you can see there's actually a lot of power there.
ReplyDeleteHe is just stunning and I cannot wait to hopefully see him at the WEGs in a couple of months!!
ReplyDeletePurina just has to pick you! I want to read "Behind the Bit" LIVE from the WEG. I loved the post about Harvey's trail ride (new one for me).
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about this clip was the moment where Tortilas thought the answer was "canter" and his rider quietly brought him back to the passage and then Tortilas tried "extended trot" as the answer. He was right! That was neat to see. He is one powerful horse and probably not an easy ride.
Its not just you, photographs have proven that his movement does not match up. (pictures were featured in Dressage Today awhile back) He is still spectacular to watch though.
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