Bailando(Dancing in Spanish)

Bailando Caballo(above) or dancing horse has been an equine art that has been around for a long time. How long, I don't know for sure but I first saw something similar years ago in a wonderful Antonio Aguilar movie. It has become all the rage in the last 10-15 years, but in my opinion has gotten completely out of hand, and is badly in need of an association or governing board to regulate and monitor it. I realize a song is a certain length, and lay folks are supposed to "think" that the horse is dancing to the music but what start's out in these bailando horses as a breathtaking athletic accomplishment after 30 seconds of sheer beauty turns into ugly franticness that is painful to watch. What a magnificent, magnificent horse in the clip above.



Folks who practice and appreciate bailando horses will often reference clip's like the one below of the albino Lusitano as an example of how much the animal loves bailando and enjoys it. Give me a break. Animal trainers, in the circus and out have used better justifications than that for years for certain behaviors/practices, and they are equally lame. The only "fact" is that these horse's have had the physical ability to "bailando" bred into them for many decade's. The negative is that the horse in this clip is also "wired and frantic." The single mission of an animal trainer is to harness and develop that pure, natural physical beauty by conditioning it to happen either through a voice command or silent signal without the "wired franticness." If you can't, you have done something real wrong and a noble animal doesn't deserve that. Find a way to develop and strengthen the natural ability of the bailando, and bury and stay away from the equally natural "wired franticness." No, Allen Pogue(or anyone else) your horse's do not enjoy/like sitting by you on a bean bag. What they enjoy is the "reaction" from you when they do which is a positive thing. Don't confuse their emotion's with yours. Their emotions are much more complex then those of simple man.



I have eye witnessed the awful occurrence of an animal dying suddenly for no reason, and following a necropsy it was concluded that all died of a heart attack. In the "old day's" it was concluded that the animal's heart exploded from trying to hard, but we have since learned it was nothing more then a heart attack. The first time I witnessed it 12 elephants were drinking water after a performance when one of middle age and in good health otherwise, suddenly dropped to it's knees and instantly died. The second time was a 6 year old colt, also in good health who had bred his first mare 5 hours prior and was later standing in his stall eating hay, when he suddenly fell to his side in convulsions and died about 2o seconds later. The third time I witnessed it was also an elephant, of middle age standing with 22 other elephants enjoying morning hay and grain when she suddenly dropped glassy eyed. She heaved one big sigh and died instantly. I have heard and read of it happening also after a hard physical work out. The point is it can happen for any number of reason, and like a heart attack in a human unpreventable for the most part. To the bailando trainers/owners, you better find a way to explain things like what happened in the clip below. If you don't folks are going to blame the art of bailando instead of rightfully blaming the few who didn't practice the art properly. I know because I watched my industry implode when things happened, and they either couldn't explain it or alibied for it to protect a few "sacred cows". Our answer, our "change" was to present an inferior product. Guess what, folks don't like that any more then they liked what they used to see. Hopefully some of the great bailando trainers can find a way to develop skillfully and humanly the dancing horse without grinding them up and driving them into the ground. It is a beautiful art, but without the excess and extreme.