Food for thought

[issywizz]

Ok,this guy is a first rate fruitloop,but nevertheless he has some valid points and this certainly made me think;
http://www.hauteecole.10gb.ru/NHEEA/ATLAS/HR-Atlas-ENG-0706.pdf 

We can all sit back and say " oh well those pics are just unfortunate moments,its not really like that" But look around and notice how many of these sorts of unfortunate moments there are,and consider also how many have we had ourselves?
Just something to reflect upon.

[Larri DB]

Horrific photos well designed for maximum impact ....However coming from him with his utterly nonsensical ideas about how to keep horses in the most un-natural way possible it really is pots and kettles.

If we are going to keep and ride horses what we can do is keep our own houses in order: Treat our horses with empathy, listen and learn.
Knowing how quick B is to react if she is upset by something I'm quite happy to stand up and say I don't believe I am physically abusing my horse by riding her. From day one of backing her she has every opportunity to say no and never has  - she was hardly forced into submission and servitude.

[Wendy]

He's dead right of course. This is something that troubles me every day. The dressage pics were quite gentle compared to some of the RK pics that are about. I didn't know there was so much bad treatment in trotting, the equipment they were using was truly shocking.

Horrible.

[Wendy]

Also, I like the fact that he put a pic of ponies standing in a muddy field. This is a pet hate of mine, people seem to think it's OK for horses to spend the winter like this. 

[TashaKat]

I totally agree that he has a point and some of those photos are appalling in the extreme but he is too extremist and wants to ban all horse sport rather than tackling the issue of abuse, cruelty and neglect.  As Larri says, pots and kettles!

This is a pet hate of mine, people seem to think it's OK for horses to spend the winter like this.

Try telling that to Saffy!  At a previous yard we had a circular 'swamp' that she, and others, would choose to stand in rather than on the non muddy part!  They also liked to drink out of it so it was obviously more than just 'regular' mud (there was an underground stream so it was probably something to do with that).

I agree, though, we have awful clay soil round here and though the gateways are generally poached and horrid they've always had drier ground elsewhere in the field 

[epona]

i know its done for maximum impact...........but still.......its just horrible 

[Wendy]

But I think he could have found still worse pics. 

[issywizz]

I think the guy is bonkers and whether hes come to these conclusions genuinely because hes been such a b*****d to horses himself ( which he has) or hes pretending to have come to them in order to test how much control he has over his 'disciples' Im not sure.
Im not especially interested in most of the nonsense he comes out with.
BUT I think we should all bear in mind the pictures and consider what picture we present with our horses in all our dealings with them because we are all human after all and we are all capable of presenting a less than harmonious picture at times.
Nobody is perfect and sometimes we have to take control to avoid accident/injury etc but just something to keep in mind I think.
And yes wendy I agree there are worse pics in the dressage world and there always have been-not just rollkur.

[siskin]

Thanks for posting the link, it's horrible but so easy to see those wide open mouths and u-bend necks at any show or rally. I decided to send it to everyone I know, and suggest they do the same, because maybe that way it would travel beyond our circles of "nice horse people" and find a place in someone's conscience.

It may not but what else do we do. 

I really believe most amateurs at least would be genuinely contrite if they saw an image of them and their horse like this, there is just something preventing them from seeing what goes on in the heat of the moment.

Really really sad.

[happy-horses]

 

[Trudi]

Yep it's certainly the pot calling the kettle BUT yep it's also horrific  but I think, pretty much, that here on EE we all abhor that sort of treatment of horses. It is a dilemma I have with the riding here in France  at equestrian centres and racing (trotteurs and galopeurs both as bad) and why my littley currently spends more time riding her pone in a head collar  to get some sort of balance between my belief system and theirs.

Shame he's keeps his own horses locked away without other horse contact, weird guy.

[Mandeigh]

Well I look after horses and everything I do IS for their benefit...right down to exercising the mecahnically lame pony as a form of physio......but this guy is an arse in the extreme, the very fact that he abuses horses in his own way means that he can post the worst pictures ever and I would still have absolutly no respect for 'his' words of wisdom.

oh yeah...... note the mouth...does he look like he's being pulled around...


Its not like we don't know there are a multitude of abuses in the horse world, Like TK's recent post on why we need a tight nose band    But if you are going to use abuse as propoganda to further your own career, you need to be whiter than white which this guy if far from.....w***** 

[ChrissieW]

Sorry I didn't get past the picture of the racehorse with its leg hanging off - I found that unnecessary - yes it happens and a lot of racing I find distasteful, but also accidents happen and to show that in my opinion is very poor taste for propaganda's sake.     Lost my attention after that.

Extremists of any kind, in any topic, any end of the spectrum, just don't do it for me I'm afraid.

Change doesn't happen by hammering home the bad all the time, yes it sometimes needs to be pointed out, but change happens by people seeing good things IMHO far more readily.

[siskin]

I think the images could be useful and thought provoking, I suspect for example that many people can hear the figures for injuries in racehorses without connecting with the actual suffering and waste of life behind those figures, and not just people in the horse world.

[Wendy]

But I think the ethical issues in racing really should be aired. It is such a huge industry and the people that support it (the man in the street who likes a flutter) should be made aware of just what these animals are put through for their amusement. I think shocking racing pics should be 'out there'. Why should the truth be hidden? Just MHO.