Dressage Contraversies: What Is Rolkur?

Rolkur is often a hot topic and a bit of trigger among dressage riders. I have been following a series of dressage controversy videos on TikTok done by Blonde Dressage. She does a great job of explaining some of the hot topics in the dressage world and why you should care. I reached out to her and asked her to collab on a few videos so Dressage Hub could share these videos with our fans.

You can follow her on TikTok Here: https://www.tiktok.com/@blondedressage

In this video, she talks about rolkur as a training system and how Anky Van Grunsven uses it. She then talks about the issue of blue tongues and how Patrik Kittel has been caught on several occasions with a blue tongue at horse shows. Lastly, she covers the difference between rolkur and behind the vertical.

We have featured our own series of horses with Blue Tongues as well and you can watch that video here: https://youtu.be/Gt0Ira56RU0

The difference between rolkur and behind the vertical might be difficult for a novice dressage rider to understand. This is an important piece to creating an environment with less extreme reactions. One side of the fence loves to argue it is simply one moment in time, the other side is triggered by any horse that falls behind the vertical for a moment.

In order to advocate and create change, there needs to be a middle ground in understanding and educating people as to what is right and wrong. In doing so, we hope that you will recognize the problems with training both in Dressage Hub videos and in your own training at home.