Is the horse world resistant to change?

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somethingorother

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I think about this a lot. Considering how far the rest of the world has come on over the last couple of hundred years, do you think the equine world has matched it? To say computers have been invented, and developed to the point where they re in tiny mobile phones etc....

What has changed so much in the horse world? (aside from vet treatment, obviously) And if not, why do you think?

The traditions still seem largely the same, we still nail shoes on and use bits for the most part. Personally i think it is just starting a transition, but i think there is often a disproportionally large amount of resistance to this change. And are we just changing back to the even older ways when man first sat on a horse with just some rope to control them??

Just some late night ponderings for you all. Feel free to join in, on either side of the debate :D
 
From my own experience,things have moved on quite a bit since I was a child, not always for the better but there are a lot of positives. Saddle design and saddle fitting has improved, there is more choice for tack, styles and quality. Rugs are more sophisicated, breathable with high tech fabrics. More people use EDT's and Physio's as a matter of course. Nutrition has become a science and education is more widely available to all horse owners.
 
I think there is an element of resistance. The classic example is bitting. We have many alternatives to a basic metal eggbutt these days which suit different horses. The top class horses are rarely seen in a basic bit, but beneath pro level there's still a big push for sticking to tradition, with the simple snaffle seen as better instead of new traditions being embraced.
 
MissSBird said:
I think there is an element of resistance. The classic example is bitting. We have many alternatives to a basic metal eggbutt these days which suit different horses. The top class horses are rarely seen in a basic bit, but beneath pro level there's still a big push for sticking to tradition, with the simple snaffle seen as better instead of new traditions being embraced.
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I think that snaffle is far better than a fancy bit which may be painful for the horse in the wrong hands, and generally lower level competitors are novices, though it is only ever the 'novice' class that requests the horses ride in a snaffle. Even in aff dressage, some bits are banned.
 
But i find the most commonly used bit in lower levels to be a jointed snaffle, which is actually not as 'mild' as people think with the pinching action and the possibility of the joint rising into the roof of the mouth. I agree with MissSBird, there's lots of alternatives out there now which are more thoughtfully designed for comfort.
 
I have seen webbing bridles which I personnally couldn't use in a million years. Leather only for me. Rugs such an improvement from heavy New Zealand rugs and blankets with jute rugs and tight fitting rollers. Some new things I embrace and others I just cannot.

I also wear a lot lot of pink :o

Jane
 
I think the horse has become a commodity as much as anything else has since the 80's. I find the billion pound industry that surrounds us now quite distasteful. Constantly pushing stuff that horses and owners don't need. The BHS posted a message recently saying they were no longer arrogant, I preferred them when they were arrogant, if it aint broke etc. Horses haven't suddenly become complicated and mystical, but the billion pound industry prefers us to think that way.
 
I think the horseworld has come on alot over the years but not all the progression is perhaps that good?

When I am sitting at work and the computer has decided not to work and I'm desperately bashing keys in an ever hopeful fashion whilst wishing with all my heart that the info I want was on a piece of paper in a file that I could access in 30 seconds I sometimes wonder if progression is such a good idea. Was the pencil and paper such a problem???

With horse progression, yes nutrition is now a science, but alot of people are now going back to straights for both cost efficiency and because horse do well on them. Rugs are great now but you still can't beat a jute rug inside out to dry off a horse and the warmth of them and wool blankets is unbeatable. Do we need all the gadgets that are out now? Was there anything wrong with the way horses looked and were looked after 40 years ago? Do racehorse go any faster now? Do show jumpers jump higher? No, basically alot of horses these days do far less than in years gone by and old horse masters would say we are far too soft on horses. Look how far people used to hack their horses to go hunting, miles and miles then a full day and miles home.

Sometimes change is for changes sake and maybe not necessary?
 
I find the way decent caring folk are suckered out of every last penny by the horse industry really disgusting. You are a bad owner if your horse doesnt have X,Y and Z . And as for the feedstuffs industry, I am just amazed that all our horses in years gone by didnt just keel over and die,let alone produce some of the most magnificent horses ever seen . Race horses fed on Oats and bran that could still trash anything on the track today.
 
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