On the Usage of Horses
What is the main goal of the Horse Revolution?
To ban horse sport and educate people from the horses anatomy till the correct management.
Why are we against sport and pleasure riding, eventing, etc.?It’s disrespectful and disgusting, almost perverted. Sport dressage, horses that stand all day long in a box and are only taken out when they get ridden. And then they need to walk perfectly and if they make a wrong step they get punished. Forced collection, broken horses with red eyes and dead looks in their eyes. Mouth full of foam and wide open, trying to save the tongue from the silent torture called bit. Used for communication and aid, for the horse only a pain.
For more information please see this link:
http://www.hauteecole.ru/en/nevzorov_haute_ecole.php?sid=0&id=415
There is A LOT of wonderful language about not using horses for any kind of event. (There are also plentiful references to "it–" the horse. One thing at a time.) And (and this is what brought me to the site), there’s a film and book, The Horse Crucified and Risen, which I ordered but will not get and view in time to include it in the pamphlet (re: What You Can Do. Besides, there is a statement that it is not for educational purposes, anyway). The film won a Special Jury Award at the Houston Independent Film Festival last year (in the documentary category).
The Gray Matter is that this is all about horsemanship (but without bits, bridles or halters). Nevzorov teaches people how to have the relationship we all want with our dogs, but with our horses. The only problem is that I don’t think we should have horses. However, we have domesticated them just as we have domesticated dogs, and do we not have the same obligation to rescue/adopt them if we have the means, and provide them with lots of exercise and stimulation (oh, and space)?
I have friends and clients down here who think their horses have great lives and that they "need" to be ridden the way they ride them and they "love" dressage, and I look forward to gifting them with a copy of the Nevzorov film (assuming it’s wonderful). Perhaps then they’ll realize all of their talk of what their beloved "best friends" love is masking the reality that we do what we do to horses to get them to do what we want them to do, when we want them to do it. That’s not friendship. That’s subjugation.
Mary, do you know Nevzorov's position on breeding horses? I hope he opposes it, as I think breeding horses as "friends" is still subjugation.
Ellie,
By no means do I think he's an abolitionist, although I might ask him about the breeding part. For my crew down here, though, most of whom will never even be vegans, I think his film is probably going to be useful. They need a reframing and clarification of what it is they're actually doing. I know some are on the fence and have questions of their own but don't speak up. This might be a tool to get them to their tipping point to change what they do. Or not. It's all unknown for me right now as I haven't seen the darn film yet. I just thought it was encouraging to see a horse person be so clearly against using horses for sport. One thing at a time, I guess.
I guess it's like greyhound clubs that are against racing but get together with their ex-racers to have fun and play race (if the dogs feel like it) or do some agility (that's usually not greyhounds but other dogs more interested in that stuff). They're against profiting and are there for the fun of it and so that the hounds can hang out with others of their kind (they love that). Are the people there against breeding? I doubt it. But at least they're against racing. That's a start. Maybe with some education, they'll connect the dots and someday take a stand against breeding, too.
I often hear it said that "the horse people" are the very worst—the people who'll die attempting to defend the subjugation of horses. Has been my own experience, too. Such a difficult position to argue when people REALLY BELIEVE that horses "love," "need," "must" be ridden. What does one say to convince them otherwise? What do we use as a strategy for dialogue? In my experience, this is like talking to the people who "don't believe in" global warming, which is, more or less, like not believing in science and, instead, believing in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. How do we even begin to engage these people?
Dustin Rhodes
Friends of Animals
Years ago I used to be a "horse person". I evented horses and went to pony club. I would have to agree with Dustin that horse people can be very hard to deal with. Like he says they truly have the attitude that the horses "love" being ridden or raced or whatever. I guess why I made the change away from riding horses is all encompassed in why I became vegan. That being said, before I had even been exposed to any rights theories, or even to someone who was vegetarian, I would sometimes question to myself whether my horse actually liked being made to jump brightly coloured fences with me on his back. I always shoved these thoughts to the back of my mind – a bit of my own cognitive dissonance. I think people can change -I did, and if you had asked anyone who knows me they would have said it was impossible that I would have given up riding horses as it was my passion.
The change process can take a long time though, but maybe there are other people out there like I was, questioning what they are doing to their horses, that only need a different view point to be presented to them. That is why I will willingly tell people in a non judgemental way why I no longer ride horses.
I don't know one horse person who has not expressed doubt and/or regret about what she's doing/has done to her horse. Those with doubts need to be supported and not judged, and helped along with their journey. I'm a firm believer that no one is going to be bullied out of the horse world. It comes from within, and either lives or dies based on what's around it. Because of the amount of money "invested" in horses, that makes people doubly reluctant to get out of that world. But there is hope. Every season I see it. What we really need down here is a prominent socialite to speak out against horse usage. As for us, I say we love our horse people and provide them with an ear and perhaps a film (boy this film better be worth $49). Finally, since Barbaro, I have seen somewhat of a backlash, at least against racing. I don't know if it'll last, but if we send our horserace-loving friends to the memorial of the dead and missing horses, that might help it last.
Hello. As the founding editor of the sites Mary mentions, EquusEditorial (home of Racehorse Memorial Wall, Worldwide) and the blog The Scrolls of Equus, I want to let you know something of the positioning of those sites.
Through my studies of horse history and welfare issues over the past several years, I've come to equate the horse industry today, especially racing, with the plight of countless workhorses in use prior to the automobile, in terms of the sheer numbers bred and put into unrelenting service. The Thoroughbred (and others) works daily and suffers injury, illness, and death through no choice of his or her own. And aside from the grandeur and pageantry of the sport, these horses are subject to demands sometimes as grueling as was their work as transportation on streets and highways, albeit some racehorses are more pampered than others. Many visitors to my sites are racing fans who want to know what has become of the horses they follow, and they are saddened when a horse dies. But what I'm seeing is a reluctance if not denial about the one protection these horses have, which is to CEASE RACING them.
Nevertheless, I let the horses speak for themselves, believing that their death in service to an industry speaks powerfully about that industry and the horse's plight within it. My sites are merely a reflection of the reality horses move in, providing a platform for them to show the world what is happening to their kind. And finally, the memorial honors those who have died during or shortly after a work or race, just as soldiers give their lives on the battlefield, honoring them for their intrinsic value in life, and demonstrating through their death what we as humans have been willing to sacrifice for our pleasure and profit.
It is my hope that the beauty and sensitivity of the horse will speak to hearts and minds, causing us to reevaluate our individual view of the horse, eventually bringing change from the heart up. I was a racing fan, but through my studies and work on the memorial wall, and opening myself to different perspectives, I have changed. And the horses themselves have been my inspiration and catalyst for that change.
~Connie
My experience is similar to yours, Dustin. The "horse people" I've spoken with can't fathom horses have personal interests, and carrying weight on their backs is certainly not one of them.