This post is actually to do with dressage generally. I have been reading a lot of Facebook posts, particularly those of “Milestone Equestrian”, a Canadian horse training business. From the nature of my interests, I would have expected to have seen more from animal rights proponents, but what I have actually been seeing is a great deal of soul-searching, confession and self-criticism from those involved in the equestrian world.
One such post this morning notes the high rewards being given in the Olympics for “riding behind the vertical”, also known as extreme flexion, hyperflexion, overflexion and rollkur, which causes impaired breathing and vision, damage to structures of the neck, stress and anxiety.
There seems to be very little pretence that the actions of Charlotte Dujardin are not normal for the industry or at best an extreme version of what is normal for the industry. Like huntsmen with their hounds, the ethos seems to be if you’re going to hit them, hit them hard.
One can never be entirely sure that all of what follows is genuine, but they seem it. Comment seems largely superfluous and I admit to being selective but italics are mine.
From “Candid Equitation”:
Today I am feeling really quite sad and disappointed and incredibly worried for the future of horse sport. It’s a fine line we tread, between a harmonious partnership and the exploitation of animals with no voice. Nothing we do with them is natural, but as with any animal, we must do our absolute best to ensure we treat them with dignity, respect and awareness of their natural desires and individual abilities.
I have seen the saying “horse first, sport second” being shared today, and it is of course true for most of us. But the whole industry needs to take a long hard look at itself, everything is about performance and achieving it as quickly as possible. Young horse classes meaning horses are pushed too hard too young irrespective of their individual development, sponsors wanting to back success, owners pressuring riders for quick results… all of this (and more) in my opinion leads to the above saying often being lost in a sea of urgency and desire to achieve.
This is not just dressage, it is Show jumping, it is Eventing, it is showing, it is racing and no doubt many other disciplines too. This is not just one person, it is many professionals, many trainers, many amateurs.
“Saddlefit 4 Life”:
Some of my thoughts on the Charlotte thing.
Why are we shocked? You only need to look at a dressage test on these ‘high achieving’ horses to see that they didn’t get there with kind training methods. Look at their faces, their body language. Look around in your local community, local riding school. Abuse to horses is happening all the time. If you don’t see it, you are lucky!
One lash of a whip is the same as multiples. I genuinely believe this. Both say ‘you will do this or else’ and that’s not good enough. We need to get rid of them. When we are tired, pressured, angry, it’s far easier to use that whip. It starts with the younger generation. Stop buying them whips. Teach them relationship, autonomy, LIMA based training with their horses.
Charlotte is a person with feelings [but not empathy]. Let’s not take her down or we are just as bad as the abuse we witness in that video.
How can we do better? Allow this to push us as individuals to change. We can ask the question ‘What can I do for my horse right now that will have a positive impact on my relationship? This might not change the world but it’ll change the relationship we have with our horses and you never know who’s watching! This change could impact your neighbour and so on.
Unattributed:
Is riding ethical?
I find myself grappling with this question yet again, particularly in light of the troubling footage that surfaced of Charlotte Dujardin, causing her withdrawal from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
This incident comes right after a scandal in late 2023 involving Helgstrand Dressage, where undercover, heartbreaking footage showed the terrifying training conditions at their facility. It goes without saying that the evidence of Charlotte Dujardin or Helgstrand Dressage are NOT examples of ethical treatment, but it begs us to ponder where the line between ethical and unethical truly lies and why individuals, often celebrated and accomplished in their fields, transgress it time and time again?
…
As we approach the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, my hope is that we witness shining examples of true horsemanship in equestrian competitions—where partnerships with horses are built on trust and compassion. hope that we don’t see tight flashes or nosebands, horses behind the vertical, blue tongues or harsh equipment.
And if these practices do surface and sadly I’m sure that they will, I hope the governing body responsible for upholding welfare at these events (yes, FEI, I’m looking at you!) acts relentlessly against it, with integrity and accountability.
With each scandal that arises, I hope it sparks more conversation and action toward improving equine welfare in equestrian sports, urging us all to become better humans for our horses.
Simon Hester, a veteran dressage rider, on Dujardin:
“Difficult, that’s all I am going to say. It’s difficult,” Hester told reporters after his ride in the Paris Games’ first dressage exercise. “I’ve known her for 17 years. She’s a mum [relevance?]. She’s got a small child. She’s paid very heavily for this in a way you just wouldn’t believe … I just hope that she’s strong enough to be able to come back from that,” Hester said.
“We are all in shock and we all are making an effort now to show how much we love our horses,” Hester said.
From the same article as the above:
No major incident of animal suffering was reported during the first three days of Olympic riding.
The FEI, however, sanctioned a Brazilian rider for having caused “unnecessary discomfort to the horse” during a training session, while an Italian rider was disqualified after his horse was found bleeding from the mouth.
“Milestone Equestrian”:
I used to be part of the Over Tightened Noseband Squad.
I didn’t see an issue with it, I had been shown to do it by my trainers from the time I was very young.
It never crossed my mind how harmful it could be.
I did it to avoid my horse opening his mouth in the show ring.
We weren’t allowed to compete with a flash, so the cavesson was done up as tight as possible.
The nature of equestrian culture normalizing these things is so insidious that many of the people doing it don’t even realize it’s wrong.
At no point when I was doing these cruel things to my horse did I stop loving him.
I truly did love the horses I worked with the whole way along.
But, that love was misguided and far too selfish.
We all make mistakes but we can’t learn from them if we don’t address what causes them to be so prevalent.
And from, I think, the same source:
Cancelling myself.
I used to handle horses in a way different manner than I do now.
I used draw reins.
I over tightened nosebands.
I used harsh bits.
I used tie downs.
I rode in tack that couldn’t be used without causing pain.
I viewed speed of training as a sign it was good training, even if I had to rush horses and scare them to get to my goal.
I frequently used physical punishment to discourage unwanted behaviour.
I was impatient with my horses.
I subscribed to the “ride through it” mentality and would work horses into a lather if they weren’t behaving, always wanting to try to “win” a battle that I was the only one fighting.
I rode horses front to back and created very dysfunctional muscular patterns.
I ignored stress and pain signals, pushing horses to work through it and labelling it as naughtiness.
I was taught to do all of these things from a young age and continued to do them for years, largely unchallenged and mostly supported by those around me.
But, I did love my horses the whole way along.
Despite the cruelty I showed them, I wasn’t acting with deliberate malice. I didn’t want to hurt them for the enjoyment of causing pain.
I felt it was a necessary means to an end.
I felt it was the most effective way — the only way — of getting to goals.
I viewed horse behaviour through a lens that mislabelled it, thereby impeding my ability to empathize because I viewed their “bad” behaviour as an act of defiance.
I share this to illustrate a few things:
1. I don’t think I’m perfect. In fact, I know I’m not. I’ll sure I’ll find things to criticize about current self years in the future because that’s what growth is.
2. You don’t need to act with intentional malice to cause horses pain and distress. You don’t need to be trying to be the villain to be the villain in your horses’ eyes.
3. The pressures of competition, of needing to meet client expectations as a trainer, earning respect of trainers and peers or making money to afford life can lead us to doing unethical things and not even noticing in the moment.
4. I was able to learn and grow past the person I was in the past. I’ve done a lot of things with horses I deeply regret. It required a lot of unlearning. But, I did it. And that’s why I’m so sure most in this industry are capable of doing the same.
5. We all have bad photos and bad moments. Here are some of mine. The key is whether or not we actually view them as bad moments. When we defend and downplay the moments where we cause horses distress, it makes it difficult to learn from it.
I had to take a big step back from competition and even training professionally to the extent I used to in order to properly heal and grow.
The pressure of those environments was bringing out the worst in me and my chronic burnout and learned biases made it even harder to unlearn the wrongs I was committing.
Releasing some of that pressure brought me to the environment where I could grow past the stunted equestrian I was.
Learning about science based horse training and how horses think on a scientific level brought me reprieve by allowing me to outsource info that was evidence backed and less likely to carry innate bias.
This brought me confidence that meant I could hold steadfast in my beliefs, even if others tried to sway me, for I now wanted to see compelling evidence to alter my views, not just anecdotes.
Anyways this is a long winded way of saying this:
I used to be a jerk to horses. I operated in a very selfish manner and many of my goals were achieved at the expense of my horses.
I was guilty of a lot of the things I now condemn.
And I defended it all in the moment and insisted it was “just a moment in time” or that my horses were just spirited or that those criticizing had clearly never trained before.
Because that was the easy way out of doing any real self reflection.
It brought me temporary comfort in the moment but deep down, I was never happy.
I was always on edge and frustrated, which made it easier to be mean to horses and snap.
Nowadays, when I lose my patience with horses, it looks a lot different.
Instead of reacting harshly physically, I’m more likely to remove myself from the situation and take a break.
I no longer view it as letting the horse win, as previous role models suggested, because I am not in a battle with my horses.
It took a lot of work to unlearn and in the process of learning not to resort to violence, I continued to make mistakes.
But, now that I’m further along in this reflective journey, I am so glad that I have made these changes.
I’m a happier person for it and my horses are definitely happier.
We don’t have to remain the worst and most under developed versions of ourselves.
We can do differently.
I firmly believe that the vast majority of the horse industry, yes even those caught in abuse scandals, are capable of doing this.
Sometimes it just takes a bit of pressure and maybe an epiphany or two to get there.
Sometimes a very special horse comes along and gives you the reality check you desperately needed.
But, it’s certainly possible.
Feel free to air your “dirty laundry” in the comments and show your “bad” photos that show where you’ve come from.
Change is possible and all of us are imperfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s helpful to any of us to be coddled in our bad moments.
You can’t heal within the same environment that made you sick.
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