Finally soemone says Rolkur, I thought I was the only one.
Top contentious issues for me would be:
1. Rolkur/hyper flexion/people who do these things getting medals...should horse welfare come first?
2. Breeding...in general, to many horses not enough homes, should there be some consideration as to restricting breeding (look at holland)
3. Affiliated competitions that novice/nervous rider can attent, is it really do the sport any good?
4. Traditonal vs moving with the time, horse's going hi tech (think prothetic limbs!)
5. Horse riding as an elite sport, should it be? How can it not be?
My top ten have probably all been covered but they are
(in no particular order):
1. Hats - to wear/not wear
2. Hi-viz - ditto
3. What should be fed for weight gain/loss?
4. Racing - cruel or not?
5. Hunting
6. Dealing with stable vices
7. Natural horsemanship
8. Barefoot trimming
9. Treeless saddles
10. When to call the vet
for me ive got to say:
1) barefoot horses
2) natural horsemanship
3) clipping - when people deem it not suitable
4) tack - gadgets/bits
5) stabling/turnout
6) no hats
7) refelective gear
Overproduction of huge competition horses too young (mostly abroad) = high occurrence of ligament and tendon damage
Gadgets
Judges STILL placing overweight horses higher than they should be
Warmbloods v TBs/British breds
Treating stress vices as vices when they should be treated as symptoms
Parelli!! I don't see IH or NH "discussed" anywhere near as much as Parelli. I recently had some help from an IH associate and whilst that was useful and sorted out my problems, I still wouldn't touch Parelli with a barge pole.
Even though it's been banned, I would say hunting is still a contentious issue as well. There is still plenty of debate about it, especially I would guess with the repeal etc.
Indiscriminate breeding. I stongly disagree with people who just want to breed from their lame mare, because she is a 'sweetheart' completely forgetting the conformation that predisposed her to the condition in the first place.
RSPCA, and the preception (mine anyway) that they are now a political organisation, and spend a huge amount of their budget lobbying instead of saving all of the animals they can.
Parelli, how it can turn novice horse owners into zealots who in a lot of cases ruin their horses - a little knowledge can be a terrible thing.
i'm glad people agreed with mine and it's not just me!
what about loose schooling? safety reasons? or the people who just let the horses run about like a loon rather dangerously in a small school and then call it loose schooling - what exactly is the horse learning?!
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Indiscriminate breeding. I stongly disagree with people who just want to breed from their lame mare, because she is a 'sweetheart' completely forgetting the conformation that predisposed her to the condition in the first place.
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People who generalise
I want to breed from my 'lame' mare because she is very intelligent, a great mover and a good example of her breed. She is lame because of an injury and nothing to do with confo. I've spent a LONG time trying to find out her breeding history and researching breeds to try and get something decent out her!
Please don't generalise!
A hot topic at the moment must be "Can a horse ever be wasted?"
Some people think horses with potential must be used competitively - not just trotted around by rich women who daredn't canter them!
Twinkling_Kringle I'm sure the person you quoted wasn't generalising that all lame mares should not be bred from, rather that someone will see a mare whose conformation makes her unsound and decides to breed her as she is good for nothing else.
1 Barefoot versus shod
2. Breeding minis and coloureds with poor conformation
3. Treatment of retired horses--do you throw your Granny out in the cold and wet when her teeth are done
4. 'Rescuing' horses from abroad--aren't there enough here.
5. The truth about the UK horse meat trade
6. The dangers of importing diseases which can threaten our whole equine population--we see foreign bred horses for sale on web sites, are they tested for any diseases eg equine piroplasmosis before being imported. We have just watched some farmers import cattle from blue tongue disease areas, why can some people risk the health of their neighbours stock.
7. Management of horses in some racing and competition yards, no socialising between horses, no turnout, no access to forage for many hours each day. 'Resting' racehorses given very basic care.
8. Behind the scenes use of gadgets, strong bits, draw reins etc is some yards
9 That Strangles is not a notifiable disease and can be spread by the stupid, selfish and the unscrupulous.
10 Clipping off a horses whiskers
11. Horse passports
12. Putting you and horse in danger by not using fluorescents/reflectives
Think that's enough
Thanks for all your input. I've created an online poll to discover which are the topics you feel most strongly about in the horseworld. Please vote here - it will only take a minute!
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Indiscriminate breeding. I stongly disagree with people who just want to breed from their lame mare, because she is a 'sweetheart' completely forgetting the conformation that predisposed her to the condition in the first place.
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People who generalise
I want to breed from my 'lame' mare because she is very intelligent, a great mover and a good example of her breed. She is lame because of an injury and nothing to do with confo. I've spent a LONG time trying to find out her breeding history and researching breeds to try and get something decent out her!
Please don't generalise!
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People who misread what I posted then have a pop when they fail to comprehend.
I specified the ones who ignore the conformation fault that predisposed them to lameness, which wouldn't actually put you in the category of people I was talking about.
'Rescuing' horses from France.......we know of one that died and one that's about to from a trip made by idiots bringing aged unfit to travel horses to the UK last w/e
Overproduction, all disciplines from racing to SJ to dressage