08/09/2024
An FB friend of mine postet a video with a famous rider (at a show a few months ago) who ended up not doing the Olympics because of a video that got surfaced with her whipping a horse of a student she taught at the time.
I usually stay out of these issues, rather focussing on my own work with horse/rider and contributing to a better understanding of each other and a harmonious exploration of movement together.
However, there was the statement of the need to get more
balance into this narrative' and that did trigger my response here.
Balance ? I do not want to discuss the video of her riding – but how can there be balance when somebody with medals and a big name works as a trainer and is conducting herself in the way that is shown in this video?
This was not just one unfair hit with a whip or one kick with a spur or a pull on the double bridle – this was a serious whipping, in a completely uncultured use of a whip – taking so long that it is not excusable with the argument ‘committed in ‘the heat of a moment’. This was deliberate, and it took a long time – the horse was overfaced – didn't know what it was supposed to do, the rider, as well.
The only thing I could see as a framework for any kind of explanation for this situation (not as an excuse! ) is that she is a very talented rider and has climbed high at a very young age – with a lot of ambition (from interviews with her I would definitely see more ambition than love) , a famous trainer teaching her and a horse that would suit her. If she is going out there as a trainer and is then so overfazed by a situation that she is resorting to this level of violence she has no business doing training.
Latest after this incident it would have been mandatory to withdraw, do some deep self-reflection and study and then go through change. Which apparently she did not - and only drew consequences after being caught.
But: this is not about one person and her situation (she is just another one in a long row of individual persons that got caught on camera and scandalized – at least for a short time).
If this is the system that brings out international level competition horses – involving money up the w***o, lots of money being put in, lots of money being earned by various participants in the circus, lots of egos and ambitions being boosted and fed by these events – then we have a systemic problem. And it is definitely working at the cost of our beloved horses. And: in the end: every human has to take responsibility for their actions – even if caught in a system that is not conducive to empathy and deep caring for the ones involved in it.
Balance? Horses that function in these systems (and you can go to any kind of competition with horses) can do so due to their breeding, their talents, and their willingness to give it their all even when being forced with pain, and their ability to suffer that has been bred into them over many generations.
For every horse we see at these high level competitions there are countless others that did not make it and left the respective selection process through the back door broken in mind, body and spirit. (I know many cases from simply being around in the horse world in Germany in different regions: training for auction, training for competition, training for sales at all levels, etc. And over the years I have worked with quite a few of those with this background, working with caring riders to restore health and healthy movement and joy to these horses.)
It is a question of where we place that ‘balance’ in dealing with the situation. And it is the question what this means for the horses, not just as a group, but for each individual one.
