I call this High Class horse abuse because socially no one dare say to these people "What you are doing to this horse is hurting him or her." This is a pic I took a screen shot of off of a racehorse breeder or trainers instagram. I often make comments to try to educate them. I of course get snarky comments back from people who just worship the wealth and prestige that comes with the racing world and either don't notice the pain these horses endure or choose to turn a blind eye.
I strongly believe that even if it is socially uncomfortable for us as humans to say something to help educate people about what horses feel and to help ease some of the physical and emotional pain horses experience due to us as humans stuck in outdated abusive ways of attempting to control.
This horse here is rearing because of the pressure of the stud chain being pulled tight across his upper gums and teeth. When I made this comment on the instagram photo- one of the fans of page said that no the horse was probably spooking at something and I shouldn't make comments like this on a "Nice" person's picture. My response was I'm sure they are very "Nice" people just steeped in tradition and doing things the way they always have been done. This doesn't change the fact that-while the horse may have spooked-I guarantee you the response of the handler here was to "shank" him hard with the lead rope which tightens the chain on the gums-the chain doesn't release well in this position, so likely it stayed tight. The only choice a horse has to try to get away from the painful pressure is to go up and back away from it.
No matter how uncomfortable or un-PC you are being never stop being their voice-they can't do it themselves!
#BETHEIRVOICE
