Hi Y’all, it’s Kimberly from Sunshine. Over the last week there has been massive discussion, upset and vilification of Charlotte Dujardin. I have observed and monitored the furor and done what any half decent instructor and coach should do: consider the arguments. I have been advised to stay out of “this mess because it will only hurt your business if you do get involved”. I don’t believe that. To stay quiet is to be complicit in something that I believe needs changed.
While I don’t condone what Ms Dujardin has done, I also do not believe that she is solely to blame. The entire Equine Industry – from riding schools to racehorses, has a long and volatile history. We are all products of what has come before us and what we have been taught. In truth, the whole of the industry needs to look into the mirror and consider: can we do better?
History
As some of you who know me, I will almost always start from the beginning, because as the song says, it’s a very good place to start. We know that humans and horses have had a long history. From archaeological evidence, we know that human’s first encounter with horses on the Eurasian Steppe was as prey animals. Yes, we ate them. For reasons we have yet to fully uncover, it appears humans began to ride horses between 6,500 and 6,000BC, again on the Eurasian Steppe in Kazakhstan. We have burial mounds that date back to this period and evidence that horses were being kept and domesticated as the bones and teeth of the horses show the use of crude bits and possibly whips.
Moving westward, we have depiction of an Egyptian goddess, Astarte, astride a horse in a graphic on a stone from 5,000BC. If you go to the British Museum, you can see a freize of Xerxes I (518BC-465BC) and all his horses. If you go upstairs to the East Asian exhibits, you will find all the horse related equipment from the Zhou Dynasty of China (1046BC-256BC). If you run up and down the stairs at the British Museum, you will be able to get a good idea of how humans have treated horses over the millennium and how little has really changed.
What do I mean by that? I have studied this. I was planning on writing a long paper about horse bits after watching C-drama and seeing some (poor underweight) horse in a hanging cheek bit exactly like the one I have. This drama was supposed to be historical, so that had to be wrong. En-actors don’t make those mistakes, do they? Well, not exactly. I could take the Zhou bit from the museum’s case and put it is my Pasha’s mouth and he would not blink an eye. They are almost identical. There are also whip handles that look like they just came out of my whip bucket.
So what does this have to do with Charlotte Dujardin and the whipping incident? Every single exhibit in the museum showed the use of whips, the remnants of whips, bits of “leather thong that could have been a whip”. It is very clear based on historical evidence that the use of a whip has been part of horse domestication. Does this make it right? No, not exactly.
Expectations
I, personally, think we as humans need to consider what we are wanting horses for. I know that there are people in the world who, culturally, still eat horses as a primary food source. I as a Western-European Equestrian find that most distressing, but it is their culture. I am in no position to tell a Kazak, Mongolian, or Eastern Siberian person that they should not eat horse any more than I accept someone telling me I should not eat bacon. Respect of cultures has to work all directions. So if we are not going to eat them, what is the exact purpose of a horse?
If you are on a ranch or a farm, a horse is a very sensible mode of transport. There are places and activities that still require a horse for a human to be able to accomplish a necessary task. I would rather ride a really good cutting horse around cattle than any 4×4, quad bike, or other mode of transport. Having 2 sets of eyes on cattle who are moving is better than 1.
But you don’t live on a farm? You don’t plan to herd cattle? But you are drawn to horses. That means you are looking at the pleasure industry. You want to ride and care for a horse because they have an almost magical way of making you feel good. And you would be right. Horses cause humans to naturally release dopamine, the lovely feel-good hormone we all seek on social media. So we ride. We work with them. We give them what we think is the best we can. Lord knows, I am not the first to have dedicated most of my life to these animals. They are worthy of that kind of attention.
I will also be honest enough to say that I have fallen short on occasion of their devotion.
I will put my hand up and say that yes, I have struck a horse. I will in my defense say it has been after I have been bitten hard. Nipping is different and although painful and annoying, it won’t send you to hospital or leave you bruised or scared for life. I have a few of those. Yet, if you watch horses, wild and domesticated, respond when one bites another, you will see they do the same thing back, but not with hands but hooves. Am I wrong? Maybe. Maybe not. It is a matter of self-defense and not probably an issue to be discussed in the context of the current matter. This was just for full disclosure.
I will also put my hand up and say, yes I have probably overused the whip in training. I was taught to do certain things to get a horse to respond in a certain way. Over the years, I have thought and re-thought about training methods. I have sought ways that are different, perhaps less cruel. Not because I am some virtuous equestrian, but because I have very honest horses who do tell me when they have had enough. I, like them, do not like pain and horse can inflict some of the most damaging pain a human can encounter.
So we are in the Pleasure Industry. That does sound naughty, so let’s call it the Leisure and Sport Industry – sounds better but is still the same thing. However, we are humans and we are by nature competitive. We want to be the best, or at least, the best we can be. As a society we have come to Worship The Youth. This is not a new concept, but once upon a time, humans didn’t live so long so therefore being 15 meant you were a full-blown adult and not an annoying teenager. We demand, for our pleasure, to watch and support those who go Higher, Faster, Stronger and Younger. This is a real problem.
Riding horses and training horses is expensive. We want results. We want results we can see. We want results we can see quickly. We are paying £40 pounds for a half-hour riding lesson and what are you giving us? Why isn’t my child cantering? Why isn’t my child jumping? Why isn’t my child….? Why isn’t YOUR horse/pony moving? Why isn’t YOUR horse/pony excited to work? Why isn’t YOUR horse/pony doing what he/she is supposed to being doing? “Why is it taking so long for my child to learn to ride? Can’t you do something? After all, I’m paying a lot of money for this.”
Do you see the problem here?
As a riding school owner, a teacher & coach, a trainer, I’m under pressure to produce results. If I don’t produce results then I don’t get paid. I don’t get paid, then my horses don’t eat. It is simple. It is not a complex problem. No money – No food. No food – No horse. No horse – I have no life. Once upon a not so distant time ago, an ideal dressage horse was 15 years old and an ideal dressage rider was in their mid-40s. Why? Because both horse and rider had to mature physically and mentally, understand the task at hand, and know how to produce it well without hurting themselves. This is not something a child knows.
Speaking of children, how old is a horse mentally? According several horse physiologists, a fully grown horse has the mental capacity of about a 3 – 5 year old child. A full grown horse is a horse over the age of 10 years. Horse will reach reach its physical maximum at about 6 and a half years, but will require a further 4 years for their brain to finish developing. We, as humans, are now saying that young people don’t mentally mature until they are 25 years, so there may be a coloration. We start to introduce the horse to riding or “break the horse” between 3 and 4 years old. Some people will break a horse at 2. You know this is true because there are races for 3 year olds (for our pleasure). A horse at 6 years old has been likened to the mental capacity of an 18 month old child. Think about that for a moment. What do we ask of an 18 month old child and what do ask of a 6 year old horse?
Our expectation of a 6 year old horse is to be able to walk, trot, canter, jump (sometimes up to 130cm), do a dressage test that includes all formal figures and paces including counter canter, work 4-5 hours a day in a riding school with inexperienced riders who have little or no knowledge how to train or even ride properly on a horse. This on an equivalent 18 month old’s brain. And then we get angry when they act up. Would we ask this much out of a 6 year old child? No. Our expectations need to be re-examined.
Solutions
How do you solve a problem like a horse whip (or something similar according to the song)? It sounds awful, but the first thing we need to do is lower our expectations. I, personally again, hate to see a 12 year human child competing on the world stage – be it ice skating, gymnastics, equestrians, or any other sport (I do not consider chess or rubric’s cube sports but even then….). Both humans and horses are living longer, and what I hope would be, better lives. We need to slow down and live.
When I was young(er), a Grand-Pr ix Dressage horse was usually 15-18 years old. During the current 2024 Olympics, one of the horses is 9. How did that mentally and emotionally immature horse learn everything he needs to know to compete at this level – which obviously more than just this year? I have an amazing 5 year old, actually 2, but they are also beloved fruit-loops. Some days they want to work and some days they just want to play. Do I punish them for wanting to have some fun?
Let’s talk about June. I am also, amongst my sins, a hypocrite. I didn’t want June jumping until she was 6, but she started jumping field gates at 3. She is jumping this year. We want her to jump at 30cm and she jumps everything at 70cm. I’m just sort of going with it. I’m not going to punish her, but this year I’m also not going to encourage her to jump higher. Currently she is just having fun. Also, there are only 4 people who can ride her because they are the only 4 four I trust to have the experience and patience to deal with her. Am I beating her? No. But I am also not asking her to do anything more than play in my home arena either. Can she do dressage? She can do a beautiful Prelim test. Am I going to push her? Not this year. I never had that intention. I wanted to make sure she had fun and learning slowly. She will be utterly amazing at 10. How do I know? I’m already getting offers for her. But I don’t want her ruined by 12 so that she is broken at 16 and dead at 25. So I am refusing to sell. I will find the perfect event rider for her and she will take the world by storm – June Storm.
Then there is Brian. Brian’s real name is Guitar. As Guitar, he was a jump racer. He won 2 races as a 3 year old and in his last race he fell on his knees. He was injured enough that it ended his racing career, but fortunately not enough to end his life. It is clear he was broken at 2. He was racing at 3. He was and still is a baby. When Brian was four, he came to my son. I’ve worked with my son to retrain Brian. Brian didn’t know how to trot. That was challenging. Brian still doesn’t understand that one doesn’t need to bolt at a jump and take it at 140cm. Yeah, he was doing that at 3, and we wonder why he fell over. I’ll admit I don’t like racing. I don’t like how they train. I don’t like how they “throw horses away”. I’m not saying that every trainer is an evil bastard, but I don’t like that industry. Brian is amazing and he will be the one to take my son to an amazing level. Am I careful in his training? Yes. Do I work slowly? Yes. Do I use a whip? Yes.
Hate the sin, not the sinner
So the industry as a whole needs to re-look, re-examine how we do things. This is not going to be an overnight fix. Let me give you another example that is personally uncomfortable. My grandfather (1902-1991) was a dyed in the wool racist. Yes, his opinion regarding the amount of melanin in a person and how that related to their value and intelligence was, according to his day, normal, and in this day and age, disgusting. He raised my father (1926-2006) and Dad was also a racist, but didn’t see himself that way because he “had some black friends”. I watched the civil rights movement in the USA (1960s) and remember when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated (1969). It had a profound effect on me. I took heat from both my father and grandfather for my view that people should be judge by the content of their character and not the melanin they produce. I am not a racist and take offense at anyone who says I am. It has taken 2 generations in my family end this disgusting idea and tradition. If something as obvious as racism is so hard to overcome, how are we going to stop the overuse of whips in our industry that claims to love horses?
This is going to be a generational change. I and all those of my age (59) are The Past. I don’t think we can, outside of a lot of personal drive to do so, change. Those who are the teachers and coaches currently (25-50) are The Present. They can change and need support to do so. Those under 25 are The Future. We need to teach them properly.
Those who are the Present need to look to those of us who are the Past and take what we were able to accomplish that was good and keep it. They need to feel that they can change and modify training techniques and goals without feeling they have betrayed tradition, failed to meet expectations, and are unable to produce superior horses and champions because they took more time.
Those who are the Future need to be trained properly to work with their horses. To spend time in the stable with their animal, where they own it, loan it, ride it a school, or have a holiday experience, so that they can see this horse as something more than means to their personal pleasure. They need time themselves to understand the individual who is willing to let them on their back so that everyone can have some fun. They need to know that you can be a champion in this field of sport when you are over the age of 30, and you can ride happily til the day you choose to stop. Short of injury, til the day you die!
Those of us who are the Past need accept that we have done things wrong on many levels, not just the whip. We have allowed our industry to become cruel and thoughtless. We have pushed horses and riders too early, too fast, too high and too soon. We have allowed ourselves to be pushed by unknowledgeable ambitious parents who want glory for themselves and then their children. We have let the Red Rosette become the point of what we do, and we have passed that on to The Present. We must be the grandparent to the Future who says “Please don’t do what I did”.
My last point, and perhaps the purpose of what has become a very long thought, is that if weren’t for Ms Charlotte Dujardin being so famous – to the point of being a household name, that the curtain of this type of training would not have been lifted. I have seen so many people say the most horrendous things about her that I am now starting to feel sympathy. It is important to realise that she is also a victim. No one said to her that she shouldn’t be doing that. Yes, we say that now because we can all look like heroes. But her teachers, instructors, coaches, grooms, and everyone around her should have told her not to do this. But we didn’t! We gloried in her success. She’s young and beautiful. She is the dream. We didn’t want to see the other side even though many of us equestrians knew what was happening. We were dazzled by the gold medal.
She is also the face of our shame. For every shining moment she gave us, we also need to accept that we are part of the very thing shown in the video. Yes, it is sickening. Yes, it is wrong. Yes, I am ashamed. Yes, I’ve done such things because I was taught that “method”. I was taught that the horse “doesn’t feel that much pain”. I was told that a horse kicking out was just “fighting you because it was a difficult horse and too stupid to listen”. I’ve said those same things. And upon reflection I hate myself for having said that.
Now we can all pile on Ms Dujardin and strip her of all her prizes and glories. We can make her the Devil Incarnate. It’s easy because she is famous and we are not. We’re just the small fries who will only see Olympic or World glory from the arena seats. Or we can say, there but for the grace of God go I. Now, I must be better.
We now have a responsibility to clean up our industry. We means instructors, coaches, grooms, parents, grandparents, guardians, and everyone who works with horses. This is a rare golden moment – like the 1960s with civil rights, the 1990s with Gay Rights, the 2010 and Autism Spectrum Understanding. We have improved our world for humans, so let’s do it for our horses. Let us work together to retrain and readjust our methods. Let us gently rehabilitate those who have used ways that are violent, rather than shun and shame them into a resolve of anger and hatred.
If we truly love our horses then me must take a Love Offensive to ourselves, and use love and kindness, time and humility, to fix our very broken industry before it is too late to save anyone.