Truely awful, please make your feelings known

That guy's behaviour plus the "I'll sue you" attitude is disgusting.

Plus if this is what he's like in public, goodness only knows how he treats that poor horse in private...
 
The plight of the Big Lick TWH's is an absolute disgrace. It's supposed to be illegal and 'policed' at shows but many still suffer these unspeakable abuses and are shown like this with ridersd age two! :mad:
To the followers of this these horses are considered beautiful. How saddening is that. :(

Re Jimbol's letter. I recently heard of horses who were wet prior to being electric shocked. This is in the UK so don't assume USA is any worse.
 
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Oh dear - speaking as a rider of a mega-sensitive Tb, I couldnt watch for more than 15 seconds - appalled!
 
Just to go back to comments that other stuff might be worse. That's a matter of opinion and I think it's sad that any pain inducing training is considered ok myself.
I wouldn't want any pressure anywhere in my mouth with any of the bits on that blokes bit store. http://trainingtack.com/bits.htm

Also to the comment that a horse can get away from 'jabbing' whereas he can't from a continuous pressure... erm how does a horse get away when he's got a rider on his back, holding reins connected to those instruments of torture in the above link? Tbh even if the horse could get away causing pain is still unacceptable in my book. :(
 
awful. that's an animals mouth- someone should pull on his gob with their full body weight just to win a competition.

With all the sponsorships etc available people have become more and more desperate to win and horses being used as machines.
 
Disgusting. A friend of mine got hold of an American saddlery (torture) catalogue, mostly aimed at show and driving horses. Made the bits in this idiot's site look mild. Bike chains and saw blades-I'm not kidding, tail sets too-illegal in some States, with good reason.
 
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I read an article in German today with an interview with Nico Hormann, a German competitor also at Malmo, and although my German is a little rusty I'm pretty sure he said that the video itself was an amalgamation of a few days' activity, that the person shooting the video said that she had no understanding of reining, and that although the finished video showed just one set of stewards not paying attention, they were not the only stewards present at any point in time. I might have got that wrong, but I think it is perhaps fair to be a little circumspect about the overall video, if not about the final element of it.

I think it also fair to point out that the bits for sale on CS's website are all crafted by worldwide respected Western bit makers and are clearly labelled as to whether or not they are show-legal, and how they might best be applicable.
 
I have been in the reining scene for four years or so and this is NOT COMMON i can assure you.

However at the top level i dont know many yards/riders that dont go to far it stops being about the horses and starts becoming about winning at any cost im sad to say.

There are a few english yards (top end) i have been to and seen jumpers being trained with inverted grippers for carpets under the front bandage to make them keep there legs up leaving them dripping with blood not to mention a few years ago a certain rider caught beating his horse at hickstead.
Dressage horses tied with there faces so tight to a post for long periods or left out in the field with there heads tied to one side etc etc etc.

The western scence here is a bit of a joke in the Uk bar a few good riders but only a handfull have a bad reputation. as far as im concerned if getting to the top means breaking animals(and in most cases it does) then you can keep it the whole horse industry could do with a slap at the top level because they all push horses to far end of story be it english or western and its good to see them getting caught from time to time there should be more checks.
I have ridden at some really nice low key events and clubs and the majority at that level love and care for there horses very well.

Its not the style of riding its the idiots on top the bits used do contain high ports etc but they are only as harsh as the hand that pulls it and in western the cardinal sin is to pull to hard. they should be light and willing not broken!
 
Im begining to wonder what realy went on as the people who put the video out aparenty wont let the FEI see the unedited copy!!!! , it looked bad like the horse was being ridden roughly however maybe it was edited to look worse than it was and the full version in context bad riding but not as bad as made out???....
 
sadly in all areas of all sports you have good and bad - It is up to the general public to speak out and stamp a few feet. I have seen some awful behaviour at locals shows and when on my local riding club commitee we acted and investigated when any report of abuse or misuse of animal was made - sometimes a chat and a bit of education was all that was needed but on a couple of occasions explusion from club - start at the bottom lead by good example and start when they are young
 
Sickening. At least now I know why a certain top dressage rider, who practises rollkur, has now taken up reining. It must fit right in with her philosphy!
 
Sickening. At least now I know why a certain top dressage rider, who practises rollkur, has now taken up reining. It must fit right in with her philosphy!
What a Stupid comment moron post of the week!!! sorry but you cannot condem an entire disapline because of one well edited video of a also ran trainer surely???
 
I cant imagine how these people seriously get on a horse and do this.

In the first vid, the horse just looks defeated, but vid 2 the horse just looks so comfortable-enjoying himself.

TWH... well, i didnt watch it all the way through.

Horse diving, weirdly i was telling OH about this last night. i watched a film about it when i was younger, the girl goes blind and does it with the help of a new horse of something.

EDT; im not going mad... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103262/plotsummary
 
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Not all western riders are like this (look on youtube for the lday at the nat champs who does her whole reining run with no saddle or bridle!). The problem is the same as with dressage, the classic/caring riders end up marginalised by the 'successful' riders who dont give a toss about the horses welfare, just how much it can win.

To me the use of the bit wasnt that sever as it was the occassional tweak. There is a comment in a Phillip Karl book that the pressure from a western riening bit used for a stop was less per pound than the constant pressure on a competatiive dressage horses mouth.

The abuse in my mind was running into a sliding stop at a wall on a horse that clearly had leg problems, otherwise why the support wrap around one knee?

Add that to the fact that the head postion indicates long term use of the western version of a martingale (these are about 12 inchs from girth to rein ring) used for riding in and you kind of think YUCK. POOR BLOOMING HORSE.
 
The abuse in my mind was running into a sliding stop at a wall on a horse that clearly had leg problems, otherwise why the support wrap around one knee?

The mare's not got leg problems, that is a standard thick knee boot which 99% of reining horses wear to protect their knees when practising spins. No different to any other protective boot or bandage.

Perfect11s I have to agree, the Epona argument that they won't hand over raw footage to FEI to uphold their case because then they are doing FEI's work is so odd, they have admitted this is edited footage over a few days, and if it equally reflects the actual footage what does it matter to hand it over for review? Not that it's likely to be relevant, but I watched this man ride at WEG and he rode beautifully, in competition as in warm-ups, he showed an enormous amount of feel and timing. Good days, bad days?
 
What a Stupid comment moron post of the week!!! sorry but you cannot condem an entire disapline because of one well edited video of a also ran trainer surely???


If you have to resort to insults then I would question who is the moron!

I didn't condem the entire discipline of reining, just as I don't condem the entire discipline of dressage because of rollkur. I meant that if she could use her barbaric methods then she would feel right at home.

If you look at the video properly, he wasn't the only person doing this, just the most extreme.

Perhaps you think these methods are acceptable. I don't!
 
So horrible that some horses still have to put up with things like that, as someone has already mentioned it unfortunately happens in all disciplines. Horses do so much for us and many riders seem to forget that. More people need to stand up and make their voices heard.
 
The mare's not got leg problems, that is a standard thick knee boot which 99% of reining horses wear to protect their knees when practising spins. No different to any other protective boot or bandage.'

why does the horse have it only on one leg? I have never seen these used before.
 
Having looked at the clip again all the way throuhg I really think the guy gets worse and worse.

For an objective comparison showing what can be acheived by a true western horseman rather than a jerk being a jerk and funnily enough jerking his poor horse around , have a look at this clip. It shows what can be acheived and definetly there could be no argument about over use of the bit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7v8Ck1crg
 
why does the horse have it only on one leg? I have never seen these used before.
Two thick knee boots are going to cause a horse to knock itself in a turnaround, unless it has an extremely athletic forward reach in its front leg cross-over (I guess a bit like trying to dance in wellies). One thick knee boot protects both legs when you think about it, whether you are turning to the left or the right, if the horse doesn't reach forward and around enough in either direction it will still strike bandage, not joint.
Professionals Choice produce a thinner knee boot which is also popular but this must be used on both legs to provide the same degree of protection. The other advantage of the thicker boot, used on its own, is that you can apply it when you need it, and when not needed during general warm-up/exercise it wedges snugly behind the seat of your Western saddle.
 
I really dont think its that bad...I must be blind/mad. Its no different to many in the dressage world, and I'm sure many in the eventing/showing/SJing world too... and his sharp yanks are surely better than the constant force that some riders use? I'm not sure he's pulling that hard anyway....
 
The mare's not got leg problems, that is a standard thick knee boot which 99% of reining horses wear to protect their knees when practising spins. No different to any other protective boot or bandage.

Perfect11s I have to agree, the Epona argument that they won't hand over raw footage to FEI to uphold their case because then they are doing FEI's work is so odd, they have admitted this is edited footage over a few days, and if it equally reflects the actual footage what does it matter to hand it over for review? Not that it's likely to be relevant, but I watched this man ride at WEG and he rode beautifully, in competition as in warm-ups, he showed an enormous amount of feel and timing. Good days, bad days?

I agree with Hen, I wonder why Epona are SO reluctant to give copies of their footage to the FEI if they really want them to review the situation. Why is it that they won't?
 
A true high end reiner takes two years at least to train and not just any horse can do this thats not even worth a reply. if you can do as you say bring your horse to a competition and lets see how it stands up.

Tbh Twenty years ago i can remember seeing nothing but horse programs on the TV but now nothing and we wonder why !

All down to how expesive it has become to own a horse over the years far more than just inflation so it has become for the elite and welthy like most sports these days its about how much money you have hence why most of the good shows have been removed from main stream TV these days and only the rich can do it thats why we have so few world class riders compared to a few years ago and it has a diminshed fan base because like most sports money talks not talent. And people wonder why we are so far behind the rest of the world !

These people can push a horse untill they break it or win on it and ALL areas of top competion do it weather its reining show jumping or dressage they should be controlled better but sadly the horse does not come first.
 
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