Rollkur: Facts, Fiction, and Horse Health Implications

New research suggests rollkur is probably no more harmful than the “standard” dressage head position.
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Rollkur: Facts, Fiction, and Horse Health Implications
Recent research using new technology, including special treadmills for studying detailed biomechanics in motion, now suggests this controversial position is probably no more harmful than the standard vertical head position required in dressage competitions | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse
There is a copious amount of controversy surrounding rollkur, also known as hyperflexion of the equine neck, but science is providing us with some facts that one equitation scientist said reveal that this position could be wrongly criticized. That said, the researcher stressed that there’s no compelling evidence that the technique should be implemented into training arsenals until additional research on the subject is completed.

Researchers have never fully tested in a scientific setting the discomfort, stress, injury rates, respiratory difficulties, and back problems frequently attributed to hyperflexion, and thus, these factors can only be considered assumptions at this point, said Paul René van Weeren, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECVS, professor in the department of equine sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

But recent research using new technology, including special treadmills for studying detailed biomechanics in motion, now suggests this controversial position is probably no more harmful than the standard vertical head position required in dressage competitions, he said.

“Thus far, there is no compelling scientific evidence based on which using the hyperflexed position can be condemned,” said van Weeren during his plenary lecture at the 2011 International Society for Equitation Science Conference, held Oct. 26-29 in Hooge Mierde, The Netherlands

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Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

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