This article was originally written in response to the video of an Olympic equestrian athlete coaching a young rider by repeatedly whipping a frantic horse in order to encourage a desired movement.
Humans love sports. We love working hard. We love achieving. We love winning. We love ribbons and trophies and titles. We have timelines and goals. These are all concepts that a horse can absolutely not grasp. A horse has no concept of performing and has no idea that it has been entered into a competition. It does not care if it wins or loses the competition. It does not care if its hair is beautifully braided or its coat is shiny.
We delude ourselves into thinking that our horses love competing. I can’t tell you the number of frazzled, completely crazed horses I have seen with a rider on board professing how much their horse LOVES to run barrels, jump the course, pull the skier, chase the cattle… insert any other activity here. If people received accurate education regarding the emotional states of horses AND competitions disqualified horses who exhibited such anxious behavior, the nature of competitions might change rapidly.
People often intentionally or mistakenly ignore the horse’s emotional state for the sake of competition. I watched a woman spur her horse incessantly for an extended period of time — both legs straight out to the side, kicking as hard as humanly possible — attempting to force it into the starting area of a local competition. The horse was clearly incredibly distressed — backing as fast as possible, wide eyed and mouth agape. If this woman had been handling a dog in this manner, she would have likely been rushed by an angry mob. This is conduct we can see and change at the local level. We can change it by example, demonstrating something better — how it could be. We can change it by complaining when we see such behavior. We can change it by refusing to participate in competitions that allow such behavior.
As we contemplate the aftermath of the recently released video — do we want to participate in and watch a sport that rewards this type of over-exaggerated movement — essentially condoning these high-pressure training methods? If no one is participating or watching, these organizations will be pressured to change their rules of conduct and their reward structure.
I do believe we have greater power than we may think in this area. And after some time to reflect and digest, we might even determine that competition and horses are at odds and cannot responsibly coexist. I don’t like to think that this is true, but a good number of people I respect have come to this conclusion.
