Dressage Disaster P2: Valentine Loses Heart - Rolkur, Anoxia & Trigger Stacking Explained

This dressage disaster of Ashley Holzer & Valentine triggered a lot of people. There are those who endlessly support a big name and bad decisions and those who see that there is a problem with this ride. Where the opinions start to really vary is whether you believe that this is merely a simple spook or if you believe that this horse is running through the Grand Prix in a state of sheer and utter terror.
To help people understand what we here at Dressage Hub see is happening in this test we posted a few additional videos.
One is a veterinarian talking about Anoxia and fear is triggered in horses that are trained using rolkur. You can watch that video titled - That Horse Is Not Spooking, He Thinks He Is Dying here:
• That Horse Is NOT Spoo...
The second video we published discussed trigger stacking and how to understand the elements of fear in horses and how this test is not a simple spook but rather a combination of triggers to send this horse into a state of fear and flight. You can watch the video on the basics of trigger stacking here:
• What is Trigger Stacki...
What happened in Part 1.
Olympian Ashley Holzer has switched teams and it is a 'hard no' from her horse Valentine as she loses heart during the Grand Prix Special last week at the Global Dressage Festival.
You can watch that here: • Dressage Disaster: Val...
After representing Canada at the Olympics on Breaking Dawn and Pop Art. Ashley Holzer has officially become an American Citizen and is now campaigning the Tokyo in 2021 for the United States Dressage Team. Valentine has a different agenda.
Valentine went through the Grand Prix test slow, tired and unresponsive to the leg aids. With a day off in between the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special. Valentine came in hotter than we have ever seen her before. Spooking at the VIP tent and highly responsive to the aids, Ashley Holzer and Valentine were off to a whole different start to the Grand Prix Special.
Ashley Holzer was not able to contain the electricity and excitement that Valentine maintained throughout the test and was forced to retire.
In Part 2 of this Dressage Disaster: Valentine Loses Heart we are have asked PATH Equestrian to do a voice-over and apply the concepts of trigger stacking to this ride. In doing so we get to use this grand prix test as a case study of what not to do when things go wrong and why the competitive dressage world is not always about ethical training and riding.
/ pathequestrian
While there are millions of opinions about how this rider should have handled this ride, the end goal for everyone should be to have happy and healthy horses, regardless of age or ability.
You can watch other videos of Ashley Holzer here:
• Ashley Holzer Nails Th...
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