JOSEPHA GUILLAUME, AUTHOR/TRAINER
The Sham of 'Isolated Incidents' is Over
The video of Charlotte Dujardin’s ‘training’ method is what I have been talking about for the past 15 years.
This is not an ‘isolated incident’ within equestrian sports. There are many out there, like me, who have been banging the drum endlessly, showing proof of horses being mistreated again and again. And yes, also by the ‘elite perfect idols.’
Horses within equestrian sports, in general, suffer:
lonely, isolated lives in boxes (what is the difference from jails?)
forceful, harmful, and violent training, starting much too young, often aged two;
deprivation from the necessary freedom of movement for at least 12 hours a day (but rather 24) with herd buddies;
deprivation from foraging 24 hours on a species-appropriate diet;
deprivation from having functional feet.
These are NOT isolated incidents; this is standard practice.
The ones that offer horses a species-appropriate lifestyle with Freedom, Friends & Forage, species-appropriate diet, functioning feet (which is the result of the former two) THOSE are the isolated incidents!
The likes of Epona TV have been showing evidence to the world of the terrible torture horses have to go through, under the public eye, for almost two decades. Photos and video.
Yet the majority of equestrians, including the FEI, turn a blind eye.
They resort to:
‘Whataboutism’
‘Isolated incidents’
‘Moment in time’
‘Only people winning at the same level can judge’
‘You are destroying the sport by putting it in a bad spotlight’
‘You cannot force horses; unhappy horses do not win’
‘Keep going like that, and no one will be allowed to ride’
‘These horses are treated like kings’
‘These horses love their jobs’
‘These horses are so loved and receive the best care’
‘You are just jealous’
And my absolute favourite:
‘If the sport cannot continue, all these horses will be slaughtered’
This is 'proof' of how much sport horses are loved. Yes, really.
Prisoners
Just because other forms of abuse occur, does not make this abuse okay.
These are NOT isolated incidents; this is considered standard practice.
These are not moments in time, because out of a thousand photos, there are hardly ‘good’ moments in time. Next to that, the development of the muscles and the way the horse is going, tells us that the horse is trained forcefully and wrongfully. Yes, even in one photo!
And what about the endless hours of video, all over the internet, which, by the way, the FEI has made illegal to share on social media?
Winning Olympic medals says absolutely NOTHING about HORSE WELFARE, species-appropriate management or horse health. It only says that people have the resources for the best horses; the resources for the best facilities; that they can spend all their time training these best-of-horses at these best-of facilities; and they are very good at getting the results wanted from these horses by – dare, I say – any means possible.
Kings are not treated like this. Prisoners are.
This is also not love.
Love is unconditional.
When one loves someone, this person does not need to perform anything for you. You do not pressure, force, push, or torture someone to get what you want or think you need, when you love them.
Ashamed
Now before people go off on me with the usual, ‘May we not enjoy our horses, horses love to have a job, they would be wasted as field ornaments’ and what have you, I want to be clear that this is not what I am saying.
I do not want to take your precious sport away from you. First and foremost, should it be taken away, it will not be by me, but via the people who are considered ‘elite riders’, the ones who are repeatedly caught abusing their horses, but are still being lauded as some sort of hero, not to mention rewarded with winning places by judges.
When their horses have blue tongues, they still win first, second, and third place. The normal pink tongues finish last.
When their mouths or sides bleed, then, all of a sudden, the FEI has a rule to rule them out and it is considered ‘an accident’ or ‘unfortunate.’
Do you even hear yourselves? Are you not ashamed?
Survival
For 6,000 years, horses have built our society, fought our wars, everything to their colossal own detriment. Nine million equine victims in WW1 alone! Take that over the course of 6,000 years. However, we had the excuse that we needed horses for our survival.
Well, we do not anymore, not in the 21st century, so why are we continuing to use horses as if we do?
If we truly wanted to repay horses for their past service over the next 6,000 years, we have all the resources available to do that because all they would ask for is:
to let them live species appropriately with Freedom, Friends & Forage;
to let them grow up and out with their equine family, so they develop physically, socially and mentally, before they start working (which should start between four to five years old);
that we feed them species appropriately;
that we train them according to their nature, biomechanics, and without punishment and force, but rather positive reinforcement.
Then they will gladfully still do their ‘jobs’ for us.
Furthermore, the whole mind-blowing aspect of this is that if we allow them the things I just listed, they could do their ‘jobs’ SO much better!
Whipped
The standard practices that are now common within equestrian sports only serve to destroy a horse’s physical and mental health. Imagine any human athlete in solitary confinement, eating an unhealthy diet, and having their feet clamped in metal shoes 24/7. How would they perform?
Imagine these human athletes being whipped and punished for not performing well enough or fast enough which, ironically, they could if allowed to live and eat the way that is actually healthy to them?
You want to keep your sport, your FEI, your equestrian sport participants, and fans?
Start with getting to know horses as animals with species-appropriate needs, not sports equipment, and put the lifestyle needs of the horse FIRST before you do anything else.
Speak up when you see people forcing and hurting horses, no matter the level. Film and send to the police. The more of us who do this, the more it will be taken seriously by the relevant authorities.
Project X has paved the way for that! Let us all end this today.
Whistleblower
If you truly love horses, you will say, ‘No!’ You will always choose their side. And you will fight to have their basic needs met FIRST, before anything else is asked of them. No matter which sport or use you have for them.
And let me thank those who step forward, including the whistleblower in this latest incident. These are the heroes because they know they will likely be attacked by all those self-proclaimed ‘horse lovers.’
But I thank you for bringing darkness to light. Thank you for being brave and thank you for being part of the great transition that the human-horse relationship is currently in because you are a big part of that transition, and it’s one that will end in favour of our horses and their wellbeing.
We may end up losing the ability to ‘enjoy’ horses at a competitive level, we maybe end up not being able to ride them at all. Just so you know, I do not care either way, as long as the horse comes out on top, that the horse is the winner for the next 6,000 years.
But if you want to keep your sport, stop the abuse and put the horse first, it is actually mind-blowingly simple to do – by supplying the 3Fs and not torturing them.
For the Love of Horses,
Josepha.
Josepha Guillaume is an award-winning equestrian author (Dressage in Hand: What Horses Want You to Know) and an international trainer specialising in horse welfare, physical and trauma rehab, and equine empowerment. For more on Josepha’s book and work, click here.
