Julie Taylor of EponaTV was recently interviewed by Susanna Forrest and she made some really wonderful remarks about the whole of our horse culture, not just Grand Prix Dressage.
Julie points out that the FEI is making rule changes, and despite not enforcing any of those rules they're at least doing something out of the discomfort created by our opposition.
But I think the best statement of the interview was more broad and speaks to the motivations behind many horse sport competitors.
My father was a harness racing jockey and he went into horse breeding and training. I know for a fact that he wasn’t always above board, and he’s the reason why it means nothing to me when I’m told some person’s been in the business for fifty years and therefore they can’t be doing it wrong. I grew up around very successful people who made a lot of money and I know that’s no guarantee of admirable ethics.People argue that these horses are worth a lot, so harming them doesn’t make sense, but you have to look at human athletes and what they do to their bodies in terms of drugs and physical breakdown. If they’d do that to their own bodies, then what would they do with a body that’s replaceable, even if it costs a lot of money? You can just buy another one.
I think the people doing these things don’t care. They are in love with horse sport, which is not the same as being in love with horses. My father was in love with harness racing. He was an encyclopedia of the sport. He used to share his bed with studbooks, so that if someone called from America in the middle of the night he could sit up, put on the light, and look up a pedigree.
I was never into racing. I have warmbloods but when I proudly showed him my horses he couldn‘t see them. They weren’t his kind of horses – they might as well have been cows or bicycles. If I see a horse I don’t care what kind of horse it is, I want to pet it and touch it and smell it. Some people in equestrianism don’t see the horses, and they don’t feel pity.
Julie Taylor of EponaTV
Be sure to read the full article. Also, this article about the true purpose of Rollkur to gain submission, not for gymnastic benefit.
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