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Why are there so any abusive horse trainers2007-11-24 21:23:15

It seems like every show I go to, there is big name trainers (with perfect horses- always western pleasure) that are litterly getting beaten for not doing something right. They jam spurs into their sides, yank the horse around in circles in the bit, correct them really hard for not squaring up, and they never praise. But the thing is, these horses win everything- they are the perfect ones you see with the perfect jog and lope. most of them belong to snotty rich girls, they have somebody beat their horse, then wallah the horse is perfect for them when they get on. I've ony ever seen one person get kicked out for abusive behavior, most trainers do it when nobody is looking. It doesn't matter if i report them because appearantly the huge cuts on their sides from spurs and ripped lips from the bit- are not enough evidence. Why do they train like this? Is there no other way to get a perfect horse or something? People are sick.

Answers:

thats a good question but it dosen't have any concrete answers. a big part of it is just a matter of what wins in the ring. if trainer A abuses his horse and they win and he spends 20% less time training, that puts trainer B in a tight position, if he dosen't go with the flow he may still win but he cant train as many, the fewer he trains, the less horses are out there winning with his name on them, the fewer horses he has winning the worse he looks as a trainer, the worse he looks, the fewer clients he gets , the fewer he gets the more he has to charge which causes people to look and say "well trainer A has more winners and charges less and gets the job done quicker, why should i pick you"? and it goes round and round again. part of it is laziness as well and greed and a general lack of decency. bottom line is as long as riders continue to use these trainers and as long as judges continue to pin abused horses, abusive training will continue. its almost to the point where to be competative you have to abuse. the way aqha shows are set up imho only makes it worse. no horse should be washed up at 5, i just feel way to much emphesis is placed on the 2 and 3 year old futurities not to mention the pressure on weanlings and yearlings. i wish i could say things were better in the gaited horse world but they aren't. soring hasn't went away, its just gotten smart. its still around for the same reason, sored horses place, if you dont sore its unlikely you'll place. not to mention it gets results and fast, results that otherwise might never occur or would take much longer to accomplish. as long as judges place them, it will keep happening. you are not crazy, they are and those horses are only ticking time bombs, they are normally far from perfect. those poor horses are just waiting for the chance to blow. beating isn't teaching, and if they dont ever learn they will always have it in them to lose it.

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It's part of the old school way of thinking that hasn't changed yet and because it's working for them, they keep doing it. What you don't see is how broken in spirit these animals get as they get older and what happens to them when they are too old to show.