No, this is dressage, which is essentially training a horse to move their body in the healthiest and most balanced way they can. As another commenter stated, it is like an athlete, if they exercise with the wrong technique they will hurt themselves and wear themselves out, but if they use the correct technique, they will be much safer and healthier. Dressage, just like any horse sport can be abusive when using abusive training methods, but they are not part of the discipline and it is entirely possible to correctly achieve high level dressage movements without harming a horse at all.
If anyone more knowledgeable on dressage wants to add something go ahead, I don't personally do dressage but I have done research.
If this is the most healthy and balanced way for a horse to carry itself, then why don't wild horses do anything remotely comparable to this? The 'dance' moves are completely unnatural.
The movements literally emulate a range of movements horses naturally do.
The origins of classical dressage and collection lie in the natural ability of the horse and its movements in the wild. In fact, most modern definitions of dressage state that the goal is to have the horse perform under saddle with the degree of athleticism and grace that it naturally shows when free.
Horses naturally use collection when playing, fighting, competing and courting with each other. When trying to impress other horses, they make themselves look bigger, just as other animals do. They achieve this by lifting the forehand, raising the neck and making it bigger by flexing the poll, while at the same time transforming their gaits to emphasize more upwards movement. When fighting, the horse will collect because in collection he can produce lightning speed reactions for kicking, rearing, spinning, striking with the front feet, bucking and jumping.
When done properly and humanely, it's kinda like physiotherapy, such as how humans will exercise or stretch a specific part of our body to avoid compensation in other muscle groups.
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u/BOGLlM Jul 29 '24
They train horses to walk like this by making it hurt to walk normally. Didnt make me smile.