puddleshark
Well-Known Member
I can't speak for competition riders and their horses - the riders have different motivation and the horses are subject to different pressures.
I'm just a happy hacker, and the operative word is 'happy'. My pleasure is to be out and about with a calm but alert horse who also enjoys being out and about. I've ridden horses in the past who have not enjoyed their work and they have made their feelings abundantly clear. There is a real ethical issue in what to do with such horses - sell them on to a stronger rider? Give them away as companions?
I'm just a happy hacker, and the operative word is 'happy'. My pleasure is to be out and about with a calm but alert horse who also enjoys being out and about. I've ridden horses in the past who have not enjoyed their work and they have made their feelings abundantly clear. There is a real ethical issue in what to do with such horses - sell them on to a stronger rider? Give them away as companions?