>>>> Remember the video of the guy in Iceland beating his horse? What about the abuses in the Icelandic show world mentioned above? Are they even red-carded?
No, there's no punishment...they win or score highly...and/or they are in demand to ride horses in evaluations. I think there's plenty to find wrong in any show environment, but I have to say, when Emily was showing hunters and dressage, most of the kids she showed with had nice quiet hands, and didn't use ungodly pressure or make rude, abrupt movements. And when we did see something undesirable like that, the kids almost never placed, and sometimes would even get reprimanded. But mostly, we just didn't see much of it. I can't remember ever seeing a hunter or dressage class entrant whose horse was so obviously fighting the bit during the whole class -possibly for a moment during a spook or during a jump refusal, but not during a whole class. It's a given that sort of reaction from horse means that there's a big problem and the horse and rider has no business in a show ring until it's addressed. Of course I can't say exactly how these kids schooled their horses, but they knew better than ride rough in public. If this rough riding weren't tolerated and even rewarded at Icelandic shows, I just betcha it would go away quickly. So... where ARE the judges looking while these nosebands are so tight, the mouths are gaping, and the horses are swishing their tails and bobbing their heads in discomfort? Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] (704) 516-3179
