The most obvious form is harsh punishment used out of frustration, human ambition, or because we’ve run out of things we know how to do. But abusive riders are not always the ones who beat horses with whips or rake their sides with sharp spurs until they bleed. Abuse does not have to take the form of blatant violence. A much more common form of abuse is causing constant or repetitive pain. Riders usually do not inflict it on purpose, but because they either don’t know better, or because they think there is no other way. Here are some examples:
A spur that pokes the horse’s side every single stride.
A rider’s unsteady hands, bumping the horse’s mouth for the entire duration of every ride.
A forced “head set” that limits the horse’s field of vision, causing neck pain and anxiety.
A rider’s unbalanced or rigid seat that bounces around on the horse’s back every stride.
A saddle that constantly pinches the horse’s shoulders.
A lack of consistent boundaries, which makes the world appear random and haphazard to the horse.
But a tap with the whip, delivered without anger, as firmly as necessary, when a horse's hind end swings toward me? An immediate correction for behaviors that jeopardize my or someone else’s safety, like biting or kicking? A firm tug on the lead rope when a horse charges into my personal space, followed by a release? Well-timed feedback, given without holding a grudge, with the goal of establishing consistent, clear boundaries? This is is not abuse, even if it does cause pain for a moment.
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