I'll take your dressage action.....I could use the extra cash I'll make off you.

Nenad! Where ya been?

Nenad?

I've been working on making figures for internal fractions at a couple winter tracks.

I'm watching the Nets game and you had literally just appeared on my TV before you posted.

Ah!

The sexy Nets player.

He's hot - I have a total Man Crush on him!

Are they losing again?

Ashkal was retired quietly early this year. The idea was bandied about that he didn't go to the Mile last year because of a nagging issue (suspensory, I think) and after the Citation, he never got back to "right." Jeannine has had him for months now.
Being a dressage horse is hardly a terrible fate. If he has suspensory issues, then he may be limited in the amont of jumping he can do. Dressage poses challeneges to horse and rider without the risks of jumping.

There are much, much worse fates for a retired racehorse than becoming a dressage horse. At least the horse has been given a chance at a second career instead of ending up at the killer's or being bored to death in a corral for the next 20 years. Dressage is the equivalent of weight-lifting and gymnastics for horses and requires an athletic, correct moving horse with a great mind. Personally, I would love to see OTT racehorses being promoted as dressage, show or pleasure mounts.

WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dressage

U.S. DRESSAGE FED:
http://www.usdf.org/Menu/index.asp

DRESSAGE TODAY:
http://www.equisearch.com/dressagetoday/

GERMAN MASTERS WINNER VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggeaZ...eature=related

For some reason when I saw this thread I thought to myself....they should let War Emblem try this....

I don't think a horse should ever be forced to wear a dress.

Regardless of it's age.

I'm not sure what turning him into a dressage horse has to do with cruelty of man?? Man, what a world it would be if that were the cruelest thing man did...make horses do dressage!!!!

Port Conway,
Dressage is a very skilled riding style that originated with cavalry officers and mounted troops honing their riding between battles. Very tough to do correctly and the rider and horse must be in complete harmony. When done correctly, it's amazing to see.

I take it they don't do three day events in America?

Cross country, showumping and Dressage?

I'm not a fan on dressage and because i don't know a great deal about i never really likely to get into it. However, after going to an Equine college, i know several people that have their own dressage horses and ponies and i know how hard they have to work to do it.

Having a thoroughbred to do dressage isn't exactly the easiest thing, although some t-breds take to it really well.

It is a very difficult pursuit for both horse and rider, but not in a physical way, unlike cross country and showjumping. I know i certainly couldn't do it. How some of these riders remember all of the things they have to do in a dressage ring is beyond me.

Ashkal Way has had many problems through his racing career, and if it really was risky to keep racing him, i'd much prefer him to become a dressage horse than being stuck in a paddock somewhere being ridden once or twice a week for the rest of his life.

I hope he goes an wins some good shows for his new(ish) owner.

Dressage and three day eventing do happen here in the US, but it's not as popular as in Europe.

My uncle, who was a mounted police officer for many years, and did some stunts at the annual Farm Show in PA (he would jump two horses over a car, no kidding) always said dressage was where the real riding was.

Look at it this way, MMSC- clearly they think Ashkal Way is naturally a good mover, and very, very smart, or they wouldn't bother. And if you love him, dressage horses have much longer careers than racers, so if he turns out to be good at it, you'll get several years to enjoy watching him in his second career. It'll probably help keep him limber and healthy into old age, just like yoga and things like that do for people.

And here's my favorite youtube dressage video- and I'm not even a particular fan of the sport- I love how, at the end, they comment the horse is "only nine!" What a difference from us calling Evening Attire an old man. We've posted it here before, but it's worth a rewatch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgT...eature=related

My favorite part of the video Steve posted was watching the horse's ears flick back and forth during the routine- not to anthropomorphize, but the horse seemed to be having as good a time as the rider!

It's an interesting topic to bring up- second careers for racehorses. I think we forget how very young they are when they're retired, and also that they probably have more of an inner life than we really give them credit for. I work at a zoo (as most of you know) and stimulating the animals' minds is one of the major concerns at good zoos- in the wild, an animal is usually barely two steps away from starvation, so there's no time to be bored. You can't be bored if you don't have free time, and retired horses, I think, can be given too much free time, depending on the horse.

I imagine the motivation for Tagg & Co. making Funny Cide a track pony was partly that they love him and want to keep him around, but it's probably also good for him- he has something to do every day and had to learn some new skills to do it. I think those Japanese stud farms that see that most of the stallions are ridden every day are really smart to do it- I know they do it to keep the stallions more docile, but it's probably good for the stallions' minds, too- gives them something to do.

My uncle's best mount (best as in easiest) when he was a cop was a former racehorse, named Seven (his star was in the shape of the number 7) and the horse could do just about anything. Long memory, too- when Seven was in his 20's, the police did a parade or something at Penn National and my uncle said the second they stepped out on the track, Seven's nostrils flared and his eyes got big and it was all my uncle could do to keep him reined in while they were on the track. Tee hee.

dressage is a very difficult type of competition, for horse and rider. as was said above, nine is considered young for a top dressage horse. takes years of practice to become top notch.

i find it somewhat boring to watch tho. altho the flying lead changes are pretty cool.

many of Coolmore's horses do dressage as part of their training regime.. they also listen to loads of music..

Given the title of this thread I assumed it was about someone serving up Ashkal Way on a burger bun. They should all be so lucky as to end up dressage horses if they've got the mind and aptitude for it.

When did Seattle Slew do dressage work and since 9's pretty young for a dressage horse, to what degree can we try to use it with active racehorses? I really think it could help some of them out.

Kinda agree here... dressage is actually very tough and teaches a horse how to use their hind end. A lot of t-breds off the track are very heavy on the forehand and it's a tough habit to break.