Today, I figured I would write about something I think is something all horse people and non-horse people know about, at that is horse abuse. Why I thought of writing about this today is, I was on youtube nothing weird about about that and I was just watching horse training videos and when the video was done, another video popped up saying horse abuse very disturbing... I decided to watch it, And what I saw was just Horrible. What i saw was hopeless horses defending themselves because, humans were beating them, putting acid on their hoofs, the Tennessee walking horse stuff abuse, Just all these things and I feel really disappointed in these individuals, and groups of people because how is that human?
Now before I go on I don't really know where this is going... but I've heard sooooooooooooooooo many times that spurs are abuse, bit are abuse, Blankets are abuse, but what one of these are really abuse?!!!!
Lets first talk about spurs, Now many people that are reading this might really think spurs are abuse, But I'm not of those people but at the same time I am.
The person that thought me how to ride used spurs and still uses spurs and I know he DOES NOT abuse the horse with them, but spurs CAN be abuse. Let's say This person was ridding this horse with spurs, and he or she is kicking the horse continuously with the spurs because the horse won't do what he or she wants. THAT is when spurs are abusive they are not when you use them right.
The next thing we are going to talk about is bits. Now, this and spurs are the ones I mostly hear in the horse world that are abusive, but are bits abuse? My opinion again is yes and no. Why, I say bits are abusive is, When people are unexperienced or just have hard hands even when they are experienced, they tend to pull on mouth either if they are turning right or left or trying to make them stop, and sometimes they don't really realize what they are doing and when someone try to correct them they don't always listen and they think they are perfect or whatever. But, I believe if someone said to that person,
"You can destroy the horses teeth, gums and more..."
I believe that they might be like," oh if I really want to keep this horse rideable then I better stop doing what I'm doing."
But, bits are not always abusive. I ride with a bit on both of my horses and I have tried to train my mare to ride in a hack, but she always tossed her head and didn't respond to anything, but when I put her bit back in she stopped tossing her head and knew what todo. People have said that I abuse my horse because I ride in a bit, not because of what I do, but because I just ride in a bit, but for both my horses they are more comfortable with bits and Equine people need to know that, a horse can like a bit.
Another thing I would like to talk about are Horse blankets, and I truly don't think horse blankets or "rugs"( in other countries refer to them to) are abuse, they are just something to protect the horse from, harsh weather, or if they have stitches and need to be protected from the flies, but I do believe that there is a line to when not to use them. On a warm 67 degree day in Colorado there are people at the ranch that I was previously at, that had blankets on their horse, Now, this really bugs me because, it wasn't windy it WASN'T cloudy, It was sunny and warm. These poor horses were sweating and their owners were there and didn't care they thought it was perfectly fine. WHEN IT IS HOT OUTSIDE DON'T, PUT A BLANKET ON A HORSE! In Colorado it defiantly can get cold, but I believe and other people that i know agree that if it is below 0 then you put a blanket on a horse OR if it is snowing and cold or raining. Because that can mess up a horses fur system. Let me explain, when it is winter they obviously grow their Winter coat, and when it is summer they obviously shed their Winter coat and go into their summer coat. If you have a blanket on a horse all throughout the year it can mess up the horse cost system, because if you have it on in Summer, Spring,Fall and then winter the horse gets used to the warmth, so they don't grow the winter coat when it becomes winter and then if ONE day you forget to put it on or what ever happens our horse can be in LOTS of danger......
People ask me what I want to be when I grow up or what I want to do... and I never answered because I never really knew what I wanted to do, But now I do I have a true answer. I want to stop horse abuse not only horse abuse but animal abuse in General.
IF YOU LIKE WHAT I WROTE: Please comment more things to write about. This was the first thing that i have written in awhile and I would LOVE to write more. I'm sorry if I offended anyone in anyway but this is my opinion. :)