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nine really isn't very old for a dressage horse. Most GP horses are in their early teens because it just takes that long to get them up through the levels. Even with people pushing them faster now, you just can't do it without skipping steps and having to go back and fix things much faster than that.

The lift! Wow! It's like his front end was being pulled up with a string!

That was amazing!! It reminded me of blue hors matine too, because of the incredible trot movements, but unlike the mare he has just as nice of a canter as a trot. The horse must just love it. His aids were invisable.

Brace for impact of entering resident dressage rider:

The commentators were actually saying how YOUNG the horse was at 9. Also, that was extended walk, not free walk, looks very different when you look at the frames of the horse.

Stunning performance though. Absolutely amazing. Btw, HAHAH SUCK ON THAT ANKY!!! Sorry, I really don't like Anky and Edward Gal; used to be her student. I love that he now holds title of highest score in the world.

My only two complaints would be that none of his halts were square in the hind. Also, the extended walk was not relaxed enough nor was it limit-pushing enough for my tastes

Uh... Lifespan of little QHs etc is MAYBE 40+ years. Still not usually more than about 30. When it comes to warmbloods, average is 25-30. Barring any health issues

1) I would like to have seen a tad more give in the reins really, otherwise nice ride. smile

2) 40 is NOT the average lifespan for a horse. Ponies can sometimes live to be over 40; they quite frequently make it over 30, but horses have a typical lifespan of late 20s-early 30s. To see a healthy 40-year-old horse is an exceptional rarity.

My first horse died naturally at 38 and he was a Welsh pony cross. He was fat and shiny all through his old age too, very healthy until he decided it was his time to go, lay down and died before the vet could even get there to euth him. He stopped being rideable at about 33 or 34; his arthritis made him unsound for anything but leadline for small children. 38 is very old, ask any vet and they will tell you the same.

9 is still pretty young, yes (my current horse is 9 at the moment) considering that most horses live to be around 25. At 9, a dressage horse will still likely have 10 competitive years left and then 4-5 more years of use, if not more. But the point is that it's rare for a dressage horse to be competing at this level this young because of the many years of training it takes to produce a finished dressage horse, especially considering that most of them are started RIGHT: around 3.5-4 years old, when they're more mature, as opposed to these ridiculous 2-year-old futurities in the stock horse world that have people breaking in yearlings.

I don't like edward gal, that extended trot was lacking in soooo many ways (tense, 'toe flicking' with little hock action/power from the behind), and the front was far more tense than what I like to see in a dressage horse. These huge knee-action horses that are becoming more popular don't have the hind ends that a gp dressage horse should have. Not to mention that the head is incorrect- the horse is not broken at the poll, and the head was cranked in too much. The ideal head placement is with the nose a few degrees in front of the vertical, as that allows for more relaxation and freer movement throughout the body. There are extended periods of time throughout the video where the horse's hind end is strung out behind the rest of the horse.

Granted, I am not a fan of Gal at all. He practices hyperflexion to the extreme, he just isn't as open about it as Anky, etc.