Industries Don’t Change from Within: Is Horse Riding Facing Its Social Licence to Operate?
Equestrian sports are cloaked in tradition. Horse keeping has hardly changed over the decades, with many horses rarely seeing the outside world except when they are being worked. Just attend any competition, and you’ll notice that people are still dressed as if it were 100 years ago. If the materials and methods we use hardly change, how are we going to innovate the way we train and manage horses?
Talk to any equestrian—professional or amateur—and they will justify the way they keep their horses, often making excuses for still using force in training. Yet, when you ask someone who isn’t involved with horses what they think about keeping horses locked up in stables all day, or about the practice of smacking them with whips, poking them with spurs, or pulling on metal bits in the most sensitive parts of their bodies, their reaction is likely to be one of shock and disapproval.
It will be external forces that eventually drive change. What we do as equestrians is scrutinized by those who aren’t part of our community, and ultimately, our actions are judged by society as a whole. This is what is known as having a social licence to operate. Smacking kids used to be normal in schools in the ‘60s, yet now a teacher can be fired for physically reprimanding a child. Eventually, the same standard will apply to the horse world.
Recent high-profile controversies—such as videos of Charlotte Dujardin and Mark Todd using excessive force on horses, the blue tongue scandals in the dressage world, and others—have shown that the public does not see the harmonious picture of horse riding that many of us imagine. Instead, they see animal cruelty at its finest: people using horses for their own pleasure without considering the animal’s welfare.
People want to believe that horse riding can be a magical bond—a mutually beneficial connection as depicted in movies and books. In reality, I believe most riders want that connection too; they’ve just been led to believe that force is the only way to achieve it.
If we want to keep riding horses, we need to embrace ethical horse training. We must listen to ethologists and animal behaviour experts so that we can implement training and management methods that actually benefit the horse. By doing so, we can develop ways to interact with our horses that respect both their mental and physical welfare.
If we fail to adapt to a world that demands better treatment for animals, we will eventually be shut down. Governments will slowly start to ban the use of animals in pleasure sports, and we will lose the opportunity to enjoy the time we spend with our favourite animals.
If you want to work with your horse in a kinder way, feel free to reach out. I would love to help you implement science-based training and management methods so you and your horse can thrive, while keeping your horse’s welfare as the top priority.
Learn more about how I can help you implement science-based horse training here.
