I have come into some interesting things in my life recently. For reasons totally unrelated to covid, my family life has changed immensely. My home of six people has become a home of four. I have spent more time at my mom and stepdad’s farm, outside. Enjoying the simplicity that it brings. We have also spent a lot of time recently at their neighbor’s house where my mom is boarding her horse.
I’ve found myself in the Youtube rabbit hole of equestrian videos. I have come to learn a lot by viewing these videos, and in hindsight realize all the ways I could have been a lot kinder to the horses I used to ride when I was a young kid.
I used to ride a Shetland pony named Cricket with a standard bit, a crop, and spurs. I am learning now that bits are not necessarily something that is required for a horse and can be cruel when used incorrectly. Bitless bridles are becoming more popular — I even ordered one for our horse to try out… After I get acquainted with the horse more and build a partnership with him. I am also learning how spurs are wholly unnecessary and crops should only be used as a correctional tool if at all.
I might get more into this as I learn more. Right now, I am not anywhere near educated enough on the equine world to really disseminate information. I just wanted to talk about my re-entering the equine world and how grateful I am to be learning these things now and maybe even take you along with me for some rides and horse meetings.
I would love to share one last thing before I end this blog post. Horses are not to be broken. You need not force a horse to lay down in order to have a good horse. You can gentle a horse and partner with them to establish a good relationship. Horses have more nerve endings that we do and their skin is actually thinner, so please keep that in mind if you are working with these prey animals. I found this website helpful in understanding the signs of pain in horses: