Tweet
So I was at till, as per the usual, when one of my regulars came up. We were having a discussion about our horses and the beginning of the show season. To clarify this is not the SC. She always buys a huge amount of groceries ($300-$400 dollars worth is average) and so we usually have a lot of time to catch up and chat.
We were out of stock for some of the things she wanted so I had one of the baggers write out some rain checks while I served the next customer (this is the SC).
The woman went on and on about how cruel horsebackriding is and how I should be ashamed of myself for putting a saddle and bridle on it. (Him dear SC, 'it' has a gender and that gender is male.) I pointed out that I haven't used a saddle since my first year of riding unless I'm showing (it's illegal to show bare back here) or the barn I'm at doesn't allow for bareback (liability reasons). She tried to explain that horses are 'happier in a field all day.' (I know more then a few horses who would quickly get bored of that and get up to mischief) oh, and how 'stuffing grain and carrots down their throat' (like I have to force my horse to eat carrots, the boy is a pig) is unnatural and wrong because 'wild horses don't need to eat it'. Of course arguing that the reason wild horses can get by on being grass fed is because they don't have to expend much energy unless predators show up goes unheard. The grain is to keep them fat and healthy, because show horses expend a hell of a lot of energy. Especially when it's hot out like it is these days.
That 'all horses should all be released into the wild where they will be happier and healthier'. Which is not the case at all. Wild horses have had many years to adapt to their environment whereas show horses have had many years to adapt to theirs. Breeding has resulted in certain physical characteristics that would make living wild damn near impossible. There's a reason most 'wild horses' (which if we're talking about the well known mustang is technically a 'feral horse' breed as they were introduced by the europeans coming to the new world. They are a result of domestic livestock surviving and breeding after they got separated (ie. Survived shipwrecks off the coast and swam ashore, were abandoned, broke loose for whatever reason, their rider had an accident/fell/was attacked by local wildlife and they took off, spooked dumped their rider and ran off, etc) from civilization.) are usually small (pony sized give or take) with compact bodies (https://goo.gl/images/NyDGB2 mustang. You can practically draw a square across the back down the back leg, across to the front leg and back up the leg and chest to the withers). What you don't see in 'wild' horses? Long legs like the Thorobreds (https://goo.gl/images/4v6XSV if you look at the picture you will also notice that the 'belly' of the horse curves sharply up towards the hindquarters. This was developed as a way to aid the horses speed and stride by giving the end responsible for propulsion more room to move). Horses like the Arabian were designed to shed heat because they are a desert breed originally intended for warfare. Rather difficult to wage war if your horse drops dead because it overheated standing around. (https://goo.gl/images/2G28Up the dished face, slender 'delicate' look of the Arabian all contribute to shedding heat. It is to be noted that they can and do in some places survive wild but those are places/environments that they were bred specifically to withstand in the first place. Those small hooves and longish but not too long legs do quite well on the sands or in scrub... Not so well in the woods running from a predator.) But In this climate they pretty much need a blanket in winter (or to be brought in) or they freeze. Not to mention the high strung or easily bored horses would have a hard time surviving wild because they would be constantly moving. Either from boredom (grass today, grass tomorrow, grass the next day) or because something they saw and weren't to keen on. Oh and draft horses have the problem of food. It takes a lot of food to feed a draft even when they aren't working. More then they can get on grass unless it's damn nutritious (anyone heard of winter). The average wild horse can spend anywhere from 12-16 hrs grazing just to remain healthy. So... SC, tell me again how my horse would be so much better running 'wild and free'?
Then there's things like hoof care. Wild horses have hard hard hooves for just about any terrain. Most domestic horses need shoes or they come up with problems. Saddlebreds in particular seem to have a problem with soft hooves which can result in splitting, abscesses, or other problems. Then there's the problem of temperature. An over heated horse can get medical aid or a bath if necessary when its domestic. Or a blanket put on it in the cold, or brought inside, fed a warm mash. A wild horse doesn't have that option. They might be able to find water deep enough to cool down... Might. And natural obstacles like dense tree line or natural caves could help keep them warmer. But they still have to find it. Then they have to find food nearby that can support an entire herd.
Oh, and apparently I'm cruel for 'forcing a metal bit between their teeth.' Umm, they do realize that the bit sits behind the horses teeth. Not between them? Besides, I usually ride in a hackamore. Which doesn't have a bit.
And as for 'pulling on the horse's mouth all the time', that's a sign of a very bad/incompetent rider. The reins are used to -direct- the horse not yank its head around. You shouldn't be reefing on the horse's mouth at all. That 'tenseness' in the reins that she used as an example is called 'having contact' and if you actually watch you'd notice that the wrists remain flexible and will follow the horse's action so they aren't catching the horse in the mouth.
That being said, mistakes happen. A horse could catch a rider off guard by getting a 'long distance' to a jump and the rider might inadvertently get left behind. If you look at videos of 'worst falls' or 'riding accidents' 9 times out of 10, it's the riders mistake or late reaction to a surprise. Yes, it may be the horse's 'fault' for stopping in front of the jump. But if the rider is sitting properly (heels down, not leaning forward, etc) then they won't be thrown forward and off by the sudden stop. If their horse is balanced properly the horse won't fall down into the jump (usually when that happens the rider was caught off guard and momentum pushed the riders balence forward which upset the horse's balance as the animal tried to redistribute its own weight from the sudden stop. And then the question of why? Was the horse going the right speed, was the distance weird (would he have to chip in or reach for a long distance to try to make it over), is it a confidence issue (horse or rider), were they on the right lead, was the rider clear in their communication of what they wanted, were they both properly balanced? All are really easy things to go wrong. If you're nervous at the height of the width and you squeeze with your knees instead of using your lower leg when the horse picks up on that and hesitates, then your lower leg will likely swing back and forth with the horse's stride which does not put you in a secure position and can confuse the horse. Imagine if your boss came up and started ordering you around in Spanish when you only speak English and say, a bit of Italian. There's enough crossovers between Spanish and Italian that you might be able to pick out a few key words but you're likely completely lost. And then you get yelled at for not understanding what you were asked to do or doing it wrong.
A lot of accidents are caused by a misinterpretation of what the horse thinks the rider wants. To use an actual example, when I was first learn to ride without stirrups I concentrated so much on my lower body that I neglected my upper body. I more specifically had a habit of letting my reins get too long and then I lost the ability too steer because I was too focused on staying on. My horse that day cut the corner of the ring and ended up pointed at a jump because with my reins long I couldn't steer her back to the track. She interrupted my lack of correction as my desire to jump it. Which she did. I ended up sitting on the horse's withers ahead of the saddle (I didn't fall off though) but the horse was completely confused as to my reaction. Most horses probably would have sped up and then either veered or refused from lack of direction and support so I was lucky there.
Even after I'd finished with her she stood there lecturing me while I served other customers. If I ever said half of what's in my head to a customer I would be immediately fired and probably blacklisted from working with people.
We were out of stock for some of the things she wanted so I had one of the baggers write out some rain checks while I served the next customer (this is the SC).
The woman went on and on about how cruel horsebackriding is and how I should be ashamed of myself for putting a saddle and bridle on it. (Him dear SC, 'it' has a gender and that gender is male.) I pointed out that I haven't used a saddle since my first year of riding unless I'm showing (it's illegal to show bare back here) or the barn I'm at doesn't allow for bareback (liability reasons). She tried to explain that horses are 'happier in a field all day.' (I know more then a few horses who would quickly get bored of that and get up to mischief) oh, and how 'stuffing grain and carrots down their throat' (like I have to force my horse to eat carrots, the boy is a pig) is unnatural and wrong because 'wild horses don't need to eat it'. Of course arguing that the reason wild horses can get by on being grass fed is because they don't have to expend much energy unless predators show up goes unheard. The grain is to keep them fat and healthy, because show horses expend a hell of a lot of energy. Especially when it's hot out like it is these days.
That 'all horses should all be released into the wild where they will be happier and healthier'. Which is not the case at all. Wild horses have had many years to adapt to their environment whereas show horses have had many years to adapt to theirs. Breeding has resulted in certain physical characteristics that would make living wild damn near impossible. There's a reason most 'wild horses' (which if we're talking about the well known mustang is technically a 'feral horse' breed as they were introduced by the europeans coming to the new world. They are a result of domestic livestock surviving and breeding after they got separated (ie. Survived shipwrecks off the coast and swam ashore, were abandoned, broke loose for whatever reason, their rider had an accident/fell/was attacked by local wildlife and they took off, spooked dumped their rider and ran off, etc) from civilization.) are usually small (pony sized give or take) with compact bodies (https://goo.gl/images/NyDGB2 mustang. You can practically draw a square across the back down the back leg, across to the front leg and back up the leg and chest to the withers). What you don't see in 'wild' horses? Long legs like the Thorobreds (https://goo.gl/images/4v6XSV if you look at the picture you will also notice that the 'belly' of the horse curves sharply up towards the hindquarters. This was developed as a way to aid the horses speed and stride by giving the end responsible for propulsion more room to move). Horses like the Arabian were designed to shed heat because they are a desert breed originally intended for warfare. Rather difficult to wage war if your horse drops dead because it overheated standing around. (https://goo.gl/images/2G28Up the dished face, slender 'delicate' look of the Arabian all contribute to shedding heat. It is to be noted that they can and do in some places survive wild but those are places/environments that they were bred specifically to withstand in the first place. Those small hooves and longish but not too long legs do quite well on the sands or in scrub... Not so well in the woods running from a predator.) But In this climate they pretty much need a blanket in winter (or to be brought in) or they freeze. Not to mention the high strung or easily bored horses would have a hard time surviving wild because they would be constantly moving. Either from boredom (grass today, grass tomorrow, grass the next day) or because something they saw and weren't to keen on. Oh and draft horses have the problem of food. It takes a lot of food to feed a draft even when they aren't working. More then they can get on grass unless it's damn nutritious (anyone heard of winter). The average wild horse can spend anywhere from 12-16 hrs grazing just to remain healthy. So... SC, tell me again how my horse would be so much better running 'wild and free'?
Then there's things like hoof care. Wild horses have hard hard hooves for just about any terrain. Most domestic horses need shoes or they come up with problems. Saddlebreds in particular seem to have a problem with soft hooves which can result in splitting, abscesses, or other problems. Then there's the problem of temperature. An over heated horse can get medical aid or a bath if necessary when its domestic. Or a blanket put on it in the cold, or brought inside, fed a warm mash. A wild horse doesn't have that option. They might be able to find water deep enough to cool down... Might. And natural obstacles like dense tree line or natural caves could help keep them warmer. But they still have to find it. Then they have to find food nearby that can support an entire herd.
Oh, and apparently I'm cruel for 'forcing a metal bit between their teeth.' Umm, they do realize that the bit sits behind the horses teeth. Not between them? Besides, I usually ride in a hackamore. Which doesn't have a bit.
And as for 'pulling on the horse's mouth all the time', that's a sign of a very bad/incompetent rider. The reins are used to -direct- the horse not yank its head around. You shouldn't be reefing on the horse's mouth at all. That 'tenseness' in the reins that she used as an example is called 'having contact' and if you actually watch you'd notice that the wrists remain flexible and will follow the horse's action so they aren't catching the horse in the mouth.
That being said, mistakes happen. A horse could catch a rider off guard by getting a 'long distance' to a jump and the rider might inadvertently get left behind. If you look at videos of 'worst falls' or 'riding accidents' 9 times out of 10, it's the riders mistake or late reaction to a surprise. Yes, it may be the horse's 'fault' for stopping in front of the jump. But if the rider is sitting properly (heels down, not leaning forward, etc) then they won't be thrown forward and off by the sudden stop. If their horse is balanced properly the horse won't fall down into the jump (usually when that happens the rider was caught off guard and momentum pushed the riders balence forward which upset the horse's balance as the animal tried to redistribute its own weight from the sudden stop. And then the question of why? Was the horse going the right speed, was the distance weird (would he have to chip in or reach for a long distance to try to make it over), is it a confidence issue (horse or rider), were they on the right lead, was the rider clear in their communication of what they wanted, were they both properly balanced? All are really easy things to go wrong. If you're nervous at the height of the width and you squeeze with your knees instead of using your lower leg when the horse picks up on that and hesitates, then your lower leg will likely swing back and forth with the horse's stride which does not put you in a secure position and can confuse the horse. Imagine if your boss came up and started ordering you around in Spanish when you only speak English and say, a bit of Italian. There's enough crossovers between Spanish and Italian that you might be able to pick out a few key words but you're likely completely lost. And then you get yelled at for not understanding what you were asked to do or doing it wrong.
A lot of accidents are caused by a misinterpretation of what the horse thinks the rider wants. To use an actual example, when I was first learn to ride without stirrups I concentrated so much on my lower body that I neglected my upper body. I more specifically had a habit of letting my reins get too long and then I lost the ability too steer because I was too focused on staying on. My horse that day cut the corner of the ring and ended up pointed at a jump because with my reins long I couldn't steer her back to the track. She interrupted my lack of correction as my desire to jump it. Which she did. I ended up sitting on the horse's withers ahead of the saddle (I didn't fall off though) but the horse was completely confused as to my reaction. Most horses probably would have sped up and then either veered or refused from lack of direction and support so I was lucky there.
Even after I'd finished with her she stood there lecturing me while I served other customers. If I ever said half of what's in my head to a customer I would be immediately fired and probably blacklisted from working with people.
Pity you were trying to explain it to a horse's ass. >_<
Comment