What is a horse to you? Invitation to discussion

Flipping through the pages of the online publication www.writingofriding.com, I became interested in an article by Erika Franz.

Erica is a well-known blogger and campaigner against horse cruelty in the United States. At the moment she is engaged in training riders and training horses. She has authored many articles on equestrian topics, as well as the book “Centered Self, Centered Horse” (2008).

What is Erika talking about?

“As riders, we are all driven by different motives. We have different goals, ambitions, aspirations. And, among all these differences, there is one thing that unites us, and that is the HORSE.

When I first got on a horse, I was just obsessed with these beautiful animals. At the age of 9 I got my first “job” at the stable on a regular basis. I started as a volunteer, collecting horses before hippotherapy classes. For me, it was enough just to be close to the horses. Even when I didn’t have the opportunity to travel, I was happy to be with them.

Eventually the moment came when I was able to take riding lessons. At that time, my desire to ride was dictated by the desire to be with horses. I was a terrible rider with absolutely zero talents and abilities. But I worked hard, studied with all my might. I didn’t worry about where I was riding or what kind of horse. I did not participate in competitions and did not worry about it.

Somewhere in my teens, I took up show jumping. Not because I wanted to, but because it seemed to me that I should do it. All the most popular and cool guys from our club were engaged in show jumping.

And I hated him. I counted every second at the competition and dreamed of finally going home. But, surprisingly, I turned out to be a good athlete and showed excellent results. Probably because they didn’t interest me at all, I didn’t worry and I wasn’t afraid to lose. I won cups, but it was boring and empty. This was what interfered with my relationship with horses. It wasn’t mine. But I soon learned that I was not alone in my feelings. There were other riders who also didn’t see the point in competing but didn’t show it. They participated in them because one reason or another, like me, forced them to be there.

I often try to remember the feeling of those first moments when I first started riding. When I first entered the stable, the smell of horses and hay filled my nostrils. It makes me feel admiration and gratitude for the horse.

Now I spend time in the saddle only for the sake of communicating with my horse. It’s the only thing I ride horses for. Other athletes, competitors, coaches, judges do not matter to us. And why are you sitting on a horse?»

Erica’s point of view is quite interesting, but for me personally it causes a little ambivalence. Let me remind you that the author is not a practitioner of the Natural Horsemanship system. Is it possible to say that communication is possible only outside of sports? Can sport interfere with your relationship with your horse? For me, the presence of communication and “friendly relations” with a horse in the format of competitions is quite normal. I heard from many athletes that horses understand the fact of victory, which is noticeable by the change in their emotional state. Often riders characterize their four-legged companions as real fighters who transform on the battlefield, help, strive to show their best.

I would like to know the opinions of other riders as to whether the sport has changed your attitude towards the horse, whether it prevented you from seeing again in it the animal that you found when you first opened the stall door.

Valeria Smirnova

selfish 9 March 2017 city
I think that you can communicate with a horse in many ways, including in sports. I myself have never been involved in sports, because it is not interesting to me. I have no desire to compete with anyone, and the physical training leaves much to be desired. And in general, I don’t like when there are a lot of people around, I don’t like to do something for show. Horseback riding through the forest-fields is my everything. My daughter is into show jumping. It seems that her relationship with horses did not become worse from this. Answer
Piton4ik (piton4ik_87) 14 March 2017 city
Depending on what is meant by trusting relationships. If this is mutually beneficial cooperation and the voluntary desire of the horse to do something for a person, then in equestrian sport, alas, this will never happen. So it is better to admit that this is still the satisfaction of one’s own human ambitions. And for a horse, for physiological psychological reasons, there is no pleasure in BE, and even more so in equestrian sports. For myself, I decided long ago that I still want to ride and love (but not for sports results) and I set myself the task of doing it as safely as possible for the physical and mental health of my horse. And our main communication takes place from the ground, and there are still opportunities (although here everything is not as simple as it seems to many) for truly voluntary cooperation between a horse and a person (but not what the adherents of Parelli systems and similar ones advertise). Answer