A major study by British Equestrian found that public confidence in horse sport is driven by welfare, ethical regulation, and visible concern for a horse’s well-being: not just performance.
Education is at the heart of this trust.
Anyone who is involved with horses, in any capacity, has a duty of care. By definition, this means that we are responsible to make decisions and take actions which are in the best interest of the animal. There is often an argument you hear between people who believe experience is greater than knowledge in horses – but where this argument falls down is that even the most experienced horse person who has met hundreds of different horses – can never know everything if they have never picked up a book. Education, therefore, becomes an essential element of that duty of care.
We look to the powers above to create rules which equestrians should follow in order for the sport to be seen as ethical. We expect there to be checks put in place, rules to follow – and yet so often, when there are things in place – equestrians are first to say that “things used to be simpler,” “it never used to be this complicated,” or “this never used to be a problem, so why are we now creating one?”
Education.
Every day equestrians must learn to identify welfare concerns. You would be surprised at the number of horse owners out there who do not know how to poultice a hoof, check for a digital pulse, treat mild thrush, or even identify a subtle lameness. You would be surprised at the number of people I have spoken to who have said “this is just how they go,” about a chronically lame horse. And don’t even get me started on how normalised mare-ish behaviour is.
We each have a responsibility to identify things when they start to go wrong, not when they become a problem. We must not accept things ‘are just like this,’ because they have always been this way. If something doesn’t look right, we have a responsibility to speak up. In the words of the British Transport Police – see it, say it, sort it.
The only way that we can protect our tradition and legacy in this sport is if we all become more aware, better educated, and more literate about discussing these sensitive topics. Nobody gets into horses because we want to hurt them – and yet inadvertently through our own ignorance that is when some of the greatest harm is caused.
That’s why, at Lingfield Equine Distance Learning, our courses go beyond technical skills. We teach modern, humane principles that reflect the “Charter for the Horse” – which emphasises empathy, care, respect, ethics, and learning. Our course focus on the importance of the ‘Five Freedoms’ and how we as modern day horse carers take these into account in every decision we make on behalf of our animals.
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