This message is from: Robin Churchill <rbc...@yahoo.com>
> "training" as they tied her head to her body in a bitting > rig and left her standing in a stall. My personal opinion is that anyone who ties a horse with their head in a certain position--to a tree, in the stall, wherever should be taken out and whipped THEMSELVES. > AND you are > welcome to watch any and all of their methods from the > ground up and all of it seems sensible and logical to you > and you are comfortable with it. I had several trainers that I have ridden with that would have jumped at the chance to train Ooruk despite him being a fjord. However, even though I have ridden with some of those people, when I was riding the horse, I was there to monitor what was going on and to protect him from inappropriate actions. Two of the trainers who were interested in him are very accomplished FEI riders but I didn't send him to them because I've seen them do things like lose their tempers with horses and use the whip more than liberally and I thought inappropriately. Whips are to reinforce the leg, not to beat the horse with if you get pissed. I think when you lose your temper with a horse, it is time to get off. That doesn't mean that you should let horses do what they want, it's just that I think when you lose your temper, your effectiveness as a trainer is gone and you need to come back another time. I also don't agree that as a rider you should be willing to accept any kind of treatment from a trainer. Some of these people get results but at what price? In terms of treatment of horses, if someone is doing something that you think is cruel or inhumane, it probably is and we shouldn't stand for it. In dressage, in western, in hunters, in eventing, in saddleseat (it happens in all disciplines) people need to show the courage to speak out against abuse and stop rewarding the people that perpetuate it. Robin in Florida where it is hot again Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
