The autumn/winter 2024 newsletter is here. I visited briefly once and was impressed. They do a huge amount of good work and campaigning especially regarding live exports for slaughter, now at last illegal in Britain. And they are responsible for many, many rescues and rehomings. But I cannot put my heart into it since they actively support the use of horses in sport, including dressage. Their influence is significant and in this issue they speak out forthrightly for example about the Charlotte Dujardin scandal, the subject of several posts in this blog, and “other examples of poor training practices”. That seems a bit mealy-mouthed to me though – cruelty and abuse would be more like it. Horses do have to be ‘broken’ after all, which I have always thought was a bit of a giveaway. So, horses in sport and elsewhere are and will be better off overall because of this organisation. But their latest YouGov annual survey reveals that 20% of those responding do not support the use of horses in sport at all – one in five, So I am far from alone. Whilst writing the horse racing section of Animal Wild, supposing that believing as I do that we shouldn’t even ride horses, at all, was a very unusual point of view which would be regarded as extreme by many, I found the results of an earlier survey from the same source which revealed that 15% of respondents agreed with me, no small number.
See here for a more in-depth look:
Why it might be time to stop riding horses (msn.com)
I’ve used the picture of Popeye, above, before, a resident at Trindledown Farm animal rescue where I used to volunteer, but I always welcome a chance to remember again that gentlest of souls.
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