TarrSteps
Well-Known Member
I have nothing to do with showing but I've been involved in possibly more areas of the horse industry than most people on here ("American" hunters, dressage, eventing, show jumping, racing, western/AQHA, Arabs, Connemaras, a bit of driving . . .) from "grassroots" to top end International winners and I have seen good and bad in all. I'd say, from my personal experience, there are two factors affecting abusive practices in horse sports (and everything else in life, I suspect).
One, individual personality. Some people are just b*******s. Plain and simple. If they didn't hurt their horses they'd kick their dogs or hit their kids or gang up on the slightly different kid on the school ground. They are bullies, through and through. They feel success comes through force, although I suspect in most cases they actually enjoy the force on some level and then justify it by "excusing" it as necessary to success.
Two, lack of ability/wherewithal to make the top grade. The worst I've seen are people who are "just good enough" to be not completely useless but who lack the resources to make that step up and they're angry, frustrated and blaming anyone they can - usually other than themselves - for their failings. They often want to do things more cheaply/faster than they can really be done and often, life being unfair sometimes, have just enough success to allow them to justify their moral failings as necessary evils. Unfortunately horses are easy victims because they don't withdraw their custom or call the authorities.
And in that way of life, like attracts like. I've seen "nice" owners send horses to people they've been warned repeatedly about and in the end I have to conclude they really aren't that nice.
And I have to say, I've seen as much bad on "happy hacker" yards where people justify and excuse their practices by saying they "love" their horses but simply "can't" do things the way they should be done for whatever reason. I'm not sure in a weird way that's worse than ignoring what's right in the name of ambition.
And just to have a mini rant for a sec, I HATE that these conversations so often turn into "all showjumpers do blah, blah, blah" or "all "xxxs" and cowards/crazy/spoiled/stupid. That, by the way, is discrimination. I have met many people in many areas of horses and I have to say, the great horsemen in any group have far more in common than they have keeping them apart. They love horses, they love riding and they are consumed by their passion. The next few tiers down, most are lovely, some . . . well, see my original points above.
The fact is a great deal of what we do with horses is NOT in their best interests, strictly speaking. Firstly, sitting on them. They are suspension bridges not load bearing mechanisms (built for their weight to hang from their spines, not for weight to be carried from above) and it's their bad luck they have a spot for a saddle. But this is what they are "for" now and we've - hopefully - bred and produced ones that can do the job. But it carries and ethical obligation for us - all of us - to do our best. I agree it's important to examine and hopefully eradicate "accepted" abusive practices but I also think if more people gave OBJECTIVE, unemotional thought to how they can improve the lives of the horses around them, that might be a good thing, too.
Hmm, too much coffee for me this morning, it seems.
One, individual personality. Some people are just b*******s. Plain and simple. If they didn't hurt their horses they'd kick their dogs or hit their kids or gang up on the slightly different kid on the school ground. They are bullies, through and through. They feel success comes through force, although I suspect in most cases they actually enjoy the force on some level and then justify it by "excusing" it as necessary to success.
Two, lack of ability/wherewithal to make the top grade. The worst I've seen are people who are "just good enough" to be not completely useless but who lack the resources to make that step up and they're angry, frustrated and blaming anyone they can - usually other than themselves - for their failings. They often want to do things more cheaply/faster than they can really be done and often, life being unfair sometimes, have just enough success to allow them to justify their moral failings as necessary evils. Unfortunately horses are easy victims because they don't withdraw their custom or call the authorities.
And in that way of life, like attracts like. I've seen "nice" owners send horses to people they've been warned repeatedly about and in the end I have to conclude they really aren't that nice.
And I have to say, I've seen as much bad on "happy hacker" yards where people justify and excuse their practices by saying they "love" their horses but simply "can't" do things the way they should be done for whatever reason. I'm not sure in a weird way that's worse than ignoring what's right in the name of ambition.
And just to have a mini rant for a sec, I HATE that these conversations so often turn into "all showjumpers do blah, blah, blah" or "all "xxxs" and cowards/crazy/spoiled/stupid. That, by the way, is discrimination. I have met many people in many areas of horses and I have to say, the great horsemen in any group have far more in common than they have keeping them apart. They love horses, they love riding and they are consumed by their passion. The next few tiers down, most are lovely, some . . . well, see my original points above.
The fact is a great deal of what we do with horses is NOT in their best interests, strictly speaking. Firstly, sitting on them. They are suspension bridges not load bearing mechanisms (built for their weight to hang from their spines, not for weight to be carried from above) and it's their bad luck they have a spot for a saddle. But this is what they are "for" now and we've - hopefully - bred and produced ones that can do the job. But it carries and ethical obligation for us - all of us - to do our best. I agree it's important to examine and hopefully eradicate "accepted" abusive practices but I also think if more people gave OBJECTIVE, unemotional thought to how they can improve the lives of the horses around them, that might be a good thing, too.
Hmm, too much coffee for me this morning, it seems.
