Abuse in Pain Sight — Lessons from Nelipot Cottage
There is no doubt this year that horse sport controversy at the Olympics has become a hotly contentious topic. This is not necessarily good news.
Welfare in Competition
So your beloved horse qualifies for the Olympics- surely at this pinnacle of modern sport, we are privileged to watch the top equine athletes perform in all their splendour?
High level competition dressage has come so far from its roots of harmony and effortless co-operation that even children and people with no horsey knowledge whatsoever can see that the toe flinging flashy (incorrect) gaits look unnatural and jerky, that supposedly beautiful horses are moving awkwardly with dropped backs and constrained heads and necks.
Even the uneducated eye can clearly see that many of these highly trained horses look uncomfortable or even in downright pain.
The seasoned and experienced competition horses behave in wild and unpredictable ways, exhibiting clear conflict behaviours, looking like horses that are stressed and unhappy to be out at a competition, rather than seeming content and secure and behaving like well travelled, trained and well balanced athletes who have been habituated to high stress situations and whose lives have been improved by human intervention.
Despite the rules on horse welfare and the presence of stewards and vets who are there to supposedly enforce the rules, there are still horses being ridden in incredibly tight nosebands, with heavy hands creating gaping mouths and lolling tongues.
Rollkur is still ubiquitous, despite the ban
The clear effects of Rollkur training (a supposedly outlawed training technique used to obtain both subservience and unnatural but spectacular postures with flinging forelegs) were obvious both in the GP dressage and in the showjumping. These are specialist professional riders at the top of their game, the best in the world- they should be shining samples of good horsemanship and training we can all aspire to. Instead I find myself wondering if these riders are the best in the world at an entirely different sport to the one which I practise at home.
BLOOD
In the showjumping competition a rider was allowed to complete his round without being rung out of the ring despite the horse developing a nosebleed so bad that the blood was obvious from a distance, despite carefully chosen camera feed. The stewards and the vets stood silent as the horse continued to be presented at fences with blood pouring out of his nose, spattering onto his chest and dripping onto the sand.
BEATING
And this year there were ugly scenes in modern pentathlon, where the competitors are not specialist riders, which have even made the mainstream news. Most of the commentary from the non equestrian press was about how unfair it is that a random horse can ruin an athlete’s medal chances after years of training but an Aussie news channel has rightfully included questions about the treatment of the horses. There were some very uncomfortable viewing moments as the “uncooperative’ horses were punched and whipped in plain view on global television.
The Social Contract
Horse sport, and thus to some extent, leisure horse riding, owes its existence to a social contract. The social contract assumes that the owner and the rider love the horse, that the humans ensure the best possible care for the animal, that they provide the animal with the best possible life in return for the honour of using, not abusing, that animal for human gratification and glory.
“ Addressing the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) General Assembly, Roly Owers of the World Horse Welfare recommends that the equestrian community be cognizant of how the public views the use of horses in equestrian sport. Owers recommended that equestrian sport pursue a social license, which is an unwritten, non-binding contract that means society gives horse sport the right to operate.
Owers said that this would build societal trust that horse sport can operate in a transparent and ethical manner.
Owers points out that there is a small contingent of animal rights groups that believes that using the horse for any profit or entertainment is unacceptable. Animal rights groups are transposing animal welfare issues with animal rights issues; animal welfare is about improving the treatment of animals, not banning their interactions with humans.”
Now regular readers will know already that, in my eyes, and proven by science, many of our modern husbandry practises are actually bad for horses and go against their nature. But the casual non horsey Olympic television viewer has no idea regarding the subtleties of that debate. What the occasional Olympic horse sport observer can see clearly is unease, pain, discomfort and funny looking movement.
Those naive to horse sports seem to see that pain and unnatural movement more clearly than the so called informed equestrian experts and fans.
And even the casual observer can spot blood, or a horse being beaten on screen.
Personally I think horse sports in the Olympics has had it’s day.
Shipping Horses
The ethics of flying equine athletes halfway across the world for a few moments of human glory has always been questionable to me. I have never wanted to risk flying one of my precious horses across the wold, ever since I watched the heartbreaking scene in the film “International Velvet” when one of the American team horses panics and has to be destroyed on the plane. I’m sure the science and security of shipping horses has improved immeasurably over the years but we still heard this year of one Olympic horse getting stress laminitis, probably as a result of the fight, and thus not being fit to compete on arrival in Tokyo. We have yet to see if said horse will get to make the long and expensive journey home.
Shipping horses is a dangerous business, no matter how well they’re cared for in flight. Owners do still lose horses to shipping fever on a regular basis. Shipping can increase the likelihood of stomach ulcers and many other conditions.
https://ker.com/equinews/shipping-horses-effects-on-stomach-health/
In the research detailed in her excellent thesis, Dr Padalino found that up to 10% of horses get pneumonia. She also describes significant incidences of dehydration, weight loss, gastric stress ulcers and post shipping laminitis.
A southern hemisphere endurance horse was the centre of a huge scandal a few years ago when a one way ticket halfway across the world was purchased for the horse’s participation in an international event in America. There was some half baked idea that this relatively old and supposedly faithful partner could be sold or re-homed after the competition.
So much for the unbreakable partnership bond between horse and rider.
Horses at the Olympics
Equestrian sports take up a huge amount of room, resource and infrastructure and so are very expensive to stage. Flying horses to difficult climates to compete for a few days is a massive expense as well as a welfare issue. The IOC are driven by inclusivity goals and economics to facilitate the representation of ‘ More Flags ‘ at the games, meaning more countries, even those with no equestrian tradition and few top level riders, are fielding poorly prepared riders to compete. This was evident with the Thai eventing team all failing at the eventing cross country on a course that is already built well below the standard of the world’s top Three Day Events.
First and foremost distressing scenes of animal mistreatment on a global camera feed should never be allowed to occur. This should not be achieved by carefully chosen camera angles and controlling the video feed but by ensuring that these moments simply do not occur at international competition and therefore cannot be caught on camera. The animal lovers around the world will not tolerate watching horses bleeding or being beaten on camera for human glory.
As riders and horse lovers and participants in horse sports, we must not tolerate this either.
The FEI needs to enforce their own rules…
Welfare starts with the equipment. Whips are checked- we can’t use whips with stingers only those with more humane soft ended padded flappers (!) but noseband rules are not enforced and sometimes can be seen fastened so tight that the horse can’t breathe or move its tongue.
Competition Dressage should be first and foremost a beautiful demonstration of the results of good training and its ability to enhance the biomechanical performance of the horse through allowing the horse to be balanced and in self-carriage and appear to make the movements of his own accord seeming effortless.
“CHAPTER I DRESSAGE ARTICLE 401 OBJECT AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DRESSAGE.
The Horse thus gives the impression of doing, of its own accord, what is required.
Simply, because without ‘strict’ adherence to these words, all other descriptions contained in the Article and descriptions contained in the subsequent Articles ‘cannot’ be met.
How can a horse give such an impression if the horse is physically constrained by a rider pulling on the bridle blocking the forehand muscle structure? In order for the horse to give such an impression the rider must have a ‘supple & fluid’ rein connection rather than a consistently/constantly ‘taut’ rein connection.
In order for the horse to give such an impression, the horse should be on the bit [collected, in self-carriage & balanced] with poll highest point and ‘head’ in front of the vertical.
In order for the horse to give such an impression, the stride lengths of forelegs and hindlegs should be the same, as seen when the canon bone angles are the same in the forward motion of the diagonal legs, just before landing of the hooves.
WORD ORIGIN FOR DRESSAGE
French: from Old French dresser — to prepare or set straight”
FEI Blood Rules
Visible blood from the horse should surely mean a bell rings, instant cessation of participation and disqualification from the competition. How could anyone who loves horses disagree with that?
From the FEI dressage rules on blood-
“at all competitions: If the judge at C suspects fresh blood anywhere on the horse during the test, he/she will stop the horse to check for blood. If the horse shows fresh blood, it will be eliminated
Taken from a powerpoint on the FEI website
WTAF?????
Surely it doesn’t take a genius to realise that to the general public, any blood from any animal is distressing? Money pressure and prizes seems to have triumphed over conscience there? If the welfare of the horse is paramount why are we allowing them to bleed for human glory?
And the scourge of Rollkur, Low Deep and Round, Deep Stretching, Yoga for Horses, needs eliminating once and for all. Because for every horse that gets to the Olympics there are hundreds that didn’t stand up to the rigours of unhealthy short cut training. And the physically and psychologically broken horses didn’t all find classically minded amateurs skilled in rehab with deep pockets and love in their hearts to take them on and fix them.
So what can we do?
We the general horse loving amateur can first and foremost lead by example. We can do better at home. We can choose to be kind to our horses. We must be advocates for our horses. We must talk back to coaches who tighten the noseband or instruct us to „make him rounder” or whip our horses into submission.
But everything we do better at home will come to naught if high level horse sport continues to be the worst visible example of our passion and obsession.
To preserve our beloved sport and our lifestyle we also need to become activists
If we animal lovers who also ride and compete our horses do not actively campaign to make horse welfare the absolute top priority, at home and away at every single competition, the social contract will be continue to be broken at the very top level and we run the risk that all horse sports will be condemned or banned.
We must write to the FEI and the IOC and our national organisations demanding change. We must ensure that the public image and the reality of equestrian sport at all levels is beyond reproach. Otherwise the more radical animal rights organisations like PETA will make it unacceptable to use horses for sport at all.
And then what will become of our beloved horses?
Originally published at http://www.nelipotcottage.com on August 7, 2021.
