Dangerous Domestication - Comments

My horses are NOT abused by domestication via my personal actions.

There's our silly ISH named Odin. He's my big, sweet baby. He loves his paddock crew but thinks he's my big puppy.

There's our delightful Saddlebred named Yoshi. He's three gaited but prefers jumping. His hooves are normal. Since he's not worn a tail set in 7 years, his tail is normal. He's my youngest daughters favorite horse and he's excellent with her.

There's our prissy Arab named Renae. She's my older daughters favorite. Renae is stubborn but a great horse.

There's Renae's son, Maxwell. He's a good horse, starting under saddle but he's young.

There's our PMU duo named Pinky and Brain. They've been good boys from day one. DH and my son ride this goofy duo.

And their momma, now named Savannah, who just mosey around the paddock. That's all she has to do.

Odin and Yoshi are from excellent breeders. The rest are shelter or rescue.

Then the BLM gelding, Alistair, who came out of a prison program. He is a nice boy who is bomb proof and the kids all ride him. He also has scars from prior life as he was low horse in the herd. He's still not the leader, but Renae won't tolerate anyone picking on him. At intake, he has a body condition of 2 (1 being morbidly underweight, 5 being normal, 9 being morbidly obese). He's now at a high 5 coming out of winter. He's the horse who has had the various birds perch on his back without a concern. Wild/feral life for Alistair was a far worse reality than domestication.

Thank you all for your amazing feedback(:
This was my research paper this year, my senior year of high school (thank heavens) and I got a pretty great review from my teacher so I thought it was worth sharing(with some editing to make it a little less formal). I'm glad it provoked thought, and thank you for the comments. Good or bad, feedback gets me all warm and fuzzy inside :D
By the way I feel I must say I was not trying to bash all horse owners. I volunteer at a rescue and I've come in contact with some amazing horse people. At the same time I can truly say I've seen the worst of the worst. But my original topic for the paper was supposed to be how wild horses so outrank the domestic ones, and why sloppy care by humans has caused this. Not all humans, but enough to make it count in a very negative way.

I agree that some horses are mistreated and misused but all animals are. (And I'm not saying it's right) And those few idiotic people are not everyone in the human race. Most people treat their horses with kindness and respect because they realize they have feelings too.
Horses are a lot bigger, stronger, and faster than humans, even if they don't realize this, which is why most people treat them with kindness. I don't think humans have "ruined" horses, and I feel like that is a strong word. Humans have "domesticated" horses (yes for our own use) but still.

I feel that unfairly characterized all domestic horse owners as being harmful. I have worked at two barns and ridden at many more. The second barn I worked treated the horses well, and nearly all of the horses there were rescues (no stallions were on the property and no horse there was bred). Horses rarely spent time in their stalls. They were brought in for thirty minutes to eat and in most cases turned out to pastures with grass to graze. If they were kept in their stalls it was because they were injured or it was too hot out so they were placed in a stall with a fan. Colic or thrush wasn't a worry for most of the horses. The few that we did worry about were in bad shape after previus abuse and neglect. There three horses over 20 there out of fifteen. All three were still going strong. None of the horses cribbed or had other behavioral issues.

The first barn I worked at was a different story. The horses were rarely turned out and spent days in their stalls. The pastures where they were occasionally allowed in were right on a busy street with no grass, just rock hard Georgia red clay. Every single one of the horses cribbed, even when fitted with cribbing collars. Colic was a constant worry. I would do anything in hindsight to get them out of that situation. You could tell that the horses were depressed. Few wanted to interact with you, and one was so terrified of crops she began to buck and rear at the sight. I was on her when a riding instructor told me to pick one up for her because she was being stubborn.

There were riders at both places who did not need to be riding. They needed to do a lot of ground work and get comfortable around horses before getting back in the saddle. I am against the use of crops. I have had other riders tell be hit the horse as hard as I could. At most I would press the crop against the horses side. I wanted to whack on girl as hard as she hit her horse. The sound was so loud the barn's owner could hear it inside her house. I got on the horse the next day and barely walked for fifteen minutes because the horse was so nervous. There are also those who yank at there horses mouth with the bit. Leg pressure is far more effective. I always rode the trouble horses. I got along just fine. All they needed was someone who listened to them and get out of their mouth. Bits can seriously bruise a horses mouth if you do not have soft, quiet hands.

As for the breeding aspect it is the same for all domestic animals. Even if their were laws to regulate, they would be broken. Many associations have their own policies that are better enforced than any law would be. Selective breeding will occur wherever humans feel they can breed the best. Look at what we do to food crops and salmon. Adopting horses from rescue would also cut down on breeding. You hear adoption campaigns for cat and dogs constantly. Many people now adopt from shelters. However in the case of horses most people go to a breeder. Breeding may also not be the main component. Horses who stand in a stall all day never have to do much. Wild horses are forced to think on their own. I think the intelligence aspect had more to do with nurture than nature.

I think you have a good case, but need more facts to back up some of what you say. Their are many kinds of people who work with many kinds of horses, who all have different views on the subject. In order for this to be more valid, you need more facts and less bias.

For all horses have done for us (with nothing in return but the care given to keep them alive enough to continue to serve us, unlike dogs whose relationship with humans was MUTALLY beneficial) over the past how many centuries, I feel we should really strive to treat them better. We should be past the point of "they're nothing but dumb animals here to cater to people's needs" (freaking humans) and should be on the track of realizing that animals have emotions and soulful needs just like us. We see the proof over and over again (a mother dog mourning a still born pup, an elephant gently touching the bones of another elephant who was killed by poachers and making low, mournful rumbling noise... A monkey saving a puppy from a fire) yet we choose to, what? Ignor it? Horses having been breaking their backs and giving their lives for us for centuries. Let's give them a break. Maybe find a way to use a leather bit or train them to be ridden with no bit at all and save them from the pain of that metal bit against their sensitive, nerve riddled gums. Give them routine massages (especially work and sport horses) since it's been scientifically proven our riding them is more stressful on their backs than previously thought.
Anything, really. And stop carelessly over breeding!
Anyway, that was just a rant. I have loved horses (and animals in general) my whole life and have always hated how us humans have treated and taken advantage of them. Thanks for writing this article. Hopefully it can help set forth some change.