At least four horses have died preparing for this year's Kentucky Derby. In the last 13 years, over 7,000 race horses have died from racing related causes.
99.9999% of all so called "horsemen" or "horse people" live in massive denial of how they treat their horses. They hammer steel shoes onto their hooves. While this doesn't hurt directly, it cuts off a key component of a horse's way to experience the world directly, and through what we call proprioception.
They put steel bits in their horses' mouths which almost always cause sores or lesions. They whip them and beat them and kick them while riding. A large percentage of horses spend 23 hours a day, every day, in small boxes (stalls), smaller (relatively speaking), than a prison cell. These naturally social, herd animals spend almost all, or all of their time isolated from their fellows.
When "horsemen" train their horses they almost all use variations on the "carrot and stick". Even the most "gentle" trainers ultimately use the carrot and stick. This approach ignores the horse's innate play drive. This approach denies the horse any autonomy, it's a glorified master / slave relationship.
If anyone treated any other "pet" this way, they'd be reported to the ASPCA.
None of this treatment is necessary. Most horses can be barefoot. If not barefoot, there are many alternatives to steel shoes. We know that world class riding can be achieved without the use of bits or whips or spurs. We know that the benefits of letting horses live together far outweigh the risks of horseplay. We've learned how to create long "track systems" so that horses can run whenever they want to, and we can achieve this on a very few acres of land. We can train them by tapping into their intrinsic motivation systems, give them true autonomy, and have them lining up for play time.
Instead, 99.9999% of "horsemen" trot out (pun intended), a long list of justifications for why that have to treat their horses badly and maintain their master/slave relationships.
These are folks who claim to love horses.
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99.9999% of all so called "horsemen" or "horse people" live in massive denial of how they treat their horses. They hammer steel shoes onto their hooves. While this doesn't hurt directly, it cuts off a key component of a horse's way to experience the world directly, and through what we call proprioception.
They put steel bits in their horses' mouths which almost always cause sores or lesions. They whip them and beat them and kick them while riding. A large percentage of horses spend 23 hours a day, every day, in small boxes (stalls), smaller (relatively speaking), than a prison cell. These naturally social, herd animals spend almost all, or all of their time isolated from their fellows.
When "horsemen" train their horses they almost all use variations on the "carrot and stick". Even the most "gentle" trainers ultimately use the carrot and stick. This approach ignores the horse's innate play drive. This approach denies the horse any autonomy, it's a glorified master / slave relationship.
If anyone treated any other "pet" this way, they'd be reported to the ASPCA.
None of this treatment is necessary. Most horses can be barefoot. If not barefoot, there are many alternatives to steel shoes. We know that world class riding can be achieved without the use of bits or whips or spurs. We know that the benefits of letting horses live together far outweigh the risks of horseplay. We've learned how to create long "track systems" so that horses can run whenever they want to, and we can achieve this on a very few acres of land. We can train them by tapping into their intrinsic motivation systems, give them true autonomy, and have them lining up for play time.
Instead, 99.9999% of "horsemen" trot out (pun intended), a long list of justifications for why that have to treat their horses badly and maintain their master/slave relationships.
These are folks who claim to love horses.
Column: Stench of death overwhelms Kentucky Derby
They came 150,000 strong for the party of the year, adorned in the gaudiest of hats and sipping on mint juleps, witnesses to what, at its best, is the most thrilling two minutes in sports.
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