What can be as complex as human relationships? Human to horse interactions. They can be as simplistic as a band running on hundreds of acres of ranch land, that only encounter humans on the most benign level to the tight knit bond of a young child and their beloved pony who spend every possible moment together. There are as many different levels of the relationship as there are horse and human pairs. However, in this broad range there are some that leave you wondering.
A horse is an athlete not a motorcycle.
For example, the owner that only sees the horse as a way to entertain them during their free time. There is no deep concern for the horses welfare and sometimes no concern for the horse at all. The owner makes their semi-daily trek to the barn, saddles the horse, rides them hard, puts them up sweaty and hot while the owner goes home feeling refreshed. Meanwhile the horse stands sore and tired until the next visit. These owners will even stay gone for weeks and return one day and ride as if the horse had spent those weeks in the gym staying fit while the owner was away.
When money enters the scene, horses tend to get the losing end of the deal.
More common is the bizarre relationship where the owner treats the horse as a lap dog or worse an equal to the human counterpart. They coo and fuss over the horse as if it was a baby and then get angry when Poopsy grabs the treat, finger and all, or crushes their foot when it gets spooked and jumps into them. Yet, even with the most severe injuries, these owners will explain away how Poopsy didn’t mean to hurt anyone and doesn’t have a mean bone in its body (except the finger it grabbed with the treat).
To me, one of the saddest relationships is that of the ‘show horse’ horse and indifferent owner. The type where the horse is just a means to an end. This owner exerts no real effort into the details of the care of the horse, they have people for that, and by the way the horse is for sale. Much like the first relationship, the owner only cares to know how to ride the horse and only in such a way as to win, no matter the cost. And if that horse can’t pull magic out of the hat, sell it and buy a different one. Instead of investing time, interest, and training they go through horses like toilet paper.
When one truly considers all the horse allows humans to do to it for the love of money, status, and ego, it thrusts the horse into its own category of animal. An animal that deserves respect, nurture, and our consideration, not a vehicle that is used hard and parked in the garage, scolded for behaviors that have been allowed and even encouraged, or used like real estate for monetary gain. They are not motorcycles, lap dogs, or trophies so let’s see them for what they are, horses. They deserve to be treated fairly and as the athletes they are.
