Riding with a Conscience.
Written by Pip Easton (17^th June, 2010).

A shocked FEI rider in Perth, Western Australia wrote to me recently with her disgusted observation of modern dressage, "It's amazing to see that those who have it still cannot get it! Why would you think that they cling onto the gadgets (crank nose bands, strong leg and spur, specialised bits, tight side reins and draw reins) that they need to subdue their horses in what they still try and call classical competition, competitive dressage?!

Are they really that bad a rider? Not one ounce of feel or understanding of the nature of each horse. Why is it that STILL the trainer is not saying to their pupil, learn through feel, BOND ~ or be teaching it? Is it maybe they also have no idea of how to explain it?

Has the chain of command been lost? Why still are judges feeling only powerful if they align themselves to the popular rider, trainer and least we forget, the breeder? Why should they get away with this responsibility?

Why breed the most beautiful, regal animal in the world to carry man to greater heights when instead of them being ridden in a natural state, they are too big a movement for this weak man who just climbs on and controls with harsh tools! Where have the natural free rules gone? Pitiful!" Name withheld, February, 2010.

She certainly pulled a few punches and got my attention. It is raw and real enough to share and powerful enough to evoke emotion, so my question to those reading this is, do you see what she sees or are you a rider who justifies your levels of communication with your horse by passing the blame?

All too often we hear that the horse is this and the horse is that - too spooky, lazy, tense, prone to buck and rear, heavy to the left, not strong enough, not straight, nasty, flighty, a shit of a horse... By the pure nature of equestrian sports, especially Dressage and Show Horse, it is judgmental and opinionated. Actually riders openly subject themselves to the sharp eye of the judges purely in vain of winning a blue ribbon, a title or to prove to themselves or others that they are good enough.

Does a netball or football player have as much individual focus with the judgment falling entirely on their shoulders? Or does a team sport allow the individual to participate with a broader view and rely on the team to showcase their talents in conjunction with their team mates? Do competitive riders consider their horse as their team mate and treat him accordingly, or has Equestrian sport become machine like in its approach to using the horse as a tool to better oneself?

Another question comes to mind... When we're all old and frail, will we look back upon our hours of equestrianism and be proud of how we treated the animal we said we loved or be riddled with guilt from harsh training tools, chasing the ultimate dream and prestige of the wins at the expense of an animal who seemingly took it all in his stride?

I feel like I'm on the set of Sex and the City... Carrie Bradshaw has a writing style with which I can relate to. Romantic, questioning, glass of wine on the table... Deep thought and reflection on personal experiences and every day conversations and challenges. And curiously enough, to write is rewarding to think that someone reading the words could agree, but more powerful than that even is to voice the topics to provoke a change... To say what no one wants to admit to; to make a difference and feel worthy of helping someone, some horse, somewhere, sometime soon.

A magazine aptly named Equine Excellence boldly states on the front cover "The Love of Horses" and I have to question what is present today and ask the readers and riders if they ride with 1. a conscience... and 2. Love???

It's a powerful insight into ones deeper truths as to where and who you point the blame to in any situation. Humble people, sit down and relax, you are already aware of where this is going. Egotistical people, stand up and take a look at yourselves. Unaware people, get out an A4 page and start writing notes! Some time in your life, with any luck, you are going to STOP and take notice of yourself on a deeper level of consciousness, IF you ever get the wake up call which could shock you into reality.

If pencilling at C with International Judges at State Champion Dressage competitions was enough for this little black duck to cease wanting to be a part of a sport where, spotlighted everywhere is misery in the eyes of the animal the torturer on top is supposedly said to love, then stop the bus, I want to get off... More and more people are voicing their views in this manner because, clearly, more and more competitive riders are showing their true colours!

Humanity has a very clever way of sweeping things under the carpet and pretending problems don't really exist. Horse sport is leading the world in animal abuse today and I wonder who is going to stir the pot vigorously enough for something to change... Philippe Karl is someone who is shaking the tree pretty hard at the moment, and whilst he is using his vast intelligence to teach the conscious people out there who've been searching for that better way, he's also on one hell of a mission to make a difference and to try and stop the spinning downward spiral of the money driven, winning praising and ego driven horse industry merely being a lover of horses has provoked.

But I want to go back, I want to dig into your psyche and poke a nerve to see if you even have any kind of responsible bone left in your core which can honestly and truthfully answer you this. Am I fair, kind and soft? Do I ride with compassion, intelligence and grace or am I forceful, obnoxious and rude. Do I treat the horse as I would want to be treated? More to the point, if I were a horse, would I want me as my owner/rider?

And take this pinch of salt and rub it into the wound I've just opened... If I were a horse and us horses gathered every weekend at clinics and arenas where humans were being run into the ground, around and around and judged and criticised and poked, prodded, stabbed with spurs, whipped and ripped with pieces of steel cutting into their mouths, would I as a horse with a conscious stop and stand up for the human in the ring and save him? Would you?

Would you stop the circus and save the human with the rolling eyes and the sweat dripping from his head. Would you wipe the foam from the tightened leather and loosen the cranked straps restraining him? Would you lead him away and take him to a comfortable room with a gentle touch and a warm bed. And would you sell him to the next guy for money to line your pocket and send him back into the hell from which he'd rather die than return to? Do you ride with a conscience or do you just want to win?

Writing evokes deep emotions for humans, as does some things you read, hear in music or appreciate in art or poetry. I didn't expect to have tears streaming down my face as the words spilled out from my fingers, through the keyboard and onto the screen in front of me. But I know whenever I've written a piece of poetry from my heart for the love of my life, the tears were there.

I guess I can cry from the depth of honesty it takes to know that at sometime in the past I've been harsh, I've used the whip, I've pulled on a horses mouth and I can let the tears flow from guilt, regret and acknowledgment. But I also know deeply that when you grow as a person and take a look on the inside of yourself, ego falls by the wayside and an awareness of how you act becomes apparent. There is no blaming a horse for being a horse. There is no room for force in riding when an animal as sensitive as this can vibrate a fly from his side because he feels their lightweight feet and responds to it. There is certainly no justification for the amount of work some horses are put through in the name of training to be then capable of going to shows and winning. There is no rhyme or reason to think that by pushing and shoving an animal around a 60 x 20 metre sand box means you have any kind of talent or compassion.

But there is beauty in softness. Incredible inspiration in lightness. Definite pride in harmony and a priceless gift of reward in the trust and unconditional love a horse will give you when you've won his heart. When his eye is soft and full of sparkle because he is being the best he can be for you and when he is allowed to play and show off and use his exuberance in the dance to shine with his own pride and inner glow.

Horses don't come with a conscience. They are simply there in the moment. Real in every sense. They stand in truth every day with what is there for them, second by second. Humans are supposed to be the most intelligent species on the planet today and sometimes you meet one that has what it takes to be real, true and committed to evolving into something better. Next time you meet someone with that special kind of grace, an air of sophistication and a quiet peacefulness, ask yourself if you could learn something from their way of being. Ask yourself if you would like to be a horse owned by them and then put yourself in the shoes of your horse and wake up to that reality.

What does your conscious mind say inside your head? Or don't you have one? Is your life pumping at such a fast pace that you don't have time to question yourself? Do people look at you and wish you'd be softer, lighter in your being or do they not say anything at all? Have you ever been asked to whip a horse harder or pull on his mouth more or make him do it...! Words we normally hear in many, many stables across the world. So who has the conscience? The instructor? The rider? The people watching? The horse doesn't because animals aren't born with that part of the brain developed. The horse is doing what it thinks it's being told to do, whether it be answering correctly or not. The horse is being a horse and trying to decipher the body movements of the human on top who could be adding all sorts of emotional trauma to the situation.

I've been wanting to write what I'm about to write next for so long, but have never had the courage to put the words into black and white. But I've seen enough harsh treatment of horses to wish I could put a stop to it and by harsh treatment I mean stereo typical behaviour out there today which has somehow become the norm. Imagine the scene, young horse, ridden straight and forward, novice rider asked to perform shoulder-in in trot down the long side. Instructor at centre circle firing instructions of what to do and the rider trying frantically to figure out how to do it. Horse following misguided aids and confusing stimuli, stumbling down a very awkward line with a yank in the mouth here, a kick there and an occasional whip to make him move sideways... Rider has never ridden a shoulder in before, young horse never been asked to before and instructor says, "Here. Get off, let me do it."

Already not a pretty picture turns into a scene from a horror movie with the horse subject to more leg, more whip, more yanks in the mouth, more spur, more aggression, more force and more yuk. Where does the horse go? Well, this particular horse fell out of the arena and into the bushes losing all balance, composure and ability to learn. The environment within which to learn from in a calm, composed manner was shattered and in my eyes, so was whatever respect I had for that instructor. What did the horse think? Probably ouch as he tried to put the confused pieces of what just happened into perspective from which to respond. Or to better remember for next time so he reacts with the response he thinks the rider wants to relieve the pressure. They're trainable people, how fortunate for them. Do they lose respect for humans? Oh yes. Do they shut down? You better believe it. Does the glimmer of hope in their eyes glaze over? Uh huh. You betcha. And what for again? A ribbon.

I don't want to see World Cup Dressage warm up arenas with horses forced into unnatural frames for hours going round and round in mindless circles so they can go out in public and look pretty. I don't want to see the rider claiming victory and being adorned with rugs and ribbons and trophies and sponsorships. I don't want to applaud the people on the podium receiving medals showing their greatness and incredible talents. I want to stand in the quiet of the stables and see into the eyes and soul of the animal and read his mind to see whether he thinks it's all worth it.

Something that really does surprise me in the world of horses when you take a deeper look in is the amount of trouble people go to to bandage the legs of a horse in the warm up arena, for fear of him knocking one of his knees against the other. And yet they cram his jaw shut so tightly that he can barely breathe! Then they pull left and right so hard on his mouth that his silent tears fall onto the sands of time. Don't show me a horse with the circulation cut from his tongue so severely that the muscle that it is has turned from healthy pink to blue. Don't tell me that it's okay to hyperflex a horse in training when you've bought the foal from a photo running beside him mummy with his head freely soaring above his shoulders with his gullet wide open and his eye bright. Don't try and justify that by rolling the horses chin to his chest that you're making the back work correctly. Because I'll question you to look at the photo of him as a foal with the hind legs fully through and his head and neck up and out and ask you if he isn't using his back already.

Enough of the bullshit in modern dressage competitions! I'm not the only one sick to my stomach of the abuse which is so obviously being shown to onlookers so that they're so blinded, they can't remember what it's supposed to look like. And please, let the judges know that the rules state that IN FRONT OF THE VERTICLE is a stipulation written in reason and it's so clearly being ignored that the sport is fast, if not already, become a farce in the eyes of the conscious riders and by standers. Which alienated planet are we standing on if one of the rules put in place in a sport is blatantly ignored and then rewarded?

Too much is too much. Too much money is being made from the whole cycle of it all. The breeders, the auctions, the specialised farriers. The refined feeds to make the horse perform and the vitamin companies to give them stimulants to calm down again. The leather companies making more gear and inventing new gadgets for people to have the latest and greatest stuff. The rugs, the jods, the boots, the diamantes, the bling and the sparkle! All to hide the truth of what's becoming a stronger undercurrent of major concern. The treatment of one of the world's most beautiful animals.

Philippe Karl's Ecole de Légèreté (School of Lightness) is teaching the art of dressage as it should be... Light, soft and respecting the horse.

So to the writer of the letter at the start of this article, I hear you, as I'm sure many others do too. Let's make a difference for the horses and stand up for their rights. Let spectators be the voice for the horse.

Please email me your ideas for a World Meeting, with the real horsemen of the world. It's about time we stood up consciously and put a stop to the harsh, abusive, cruel and heavy riding we see out there.

If it's not light, it's not right!

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