It never ceases to amaze me what our horses will allow us to do, but then when I step back and consider what we as people are willing to put up with in regards to one another I am less surprised. And still, do I always appreciate how much my horses are willing to do for me – simply because I ask?
From my perception, it seems that the general view is if ‘it' (whatever that may be) can be accomplished, then it is good. I can't agree with this. Admittedly there are many things I ask my horses to do that probably seem crazy to them, but the point is that I *ask* – how many are not so much asked as *made* to perform in a certain way?
No matter the driving force behind it, I see this trait show up in our treatment of animals in general. How many cats are forced to endure our attention while they display obvious annoyance, anger, fear? All the while we offer a dismissive excuse towards our actions, rather than taking ownership of the fact that we have stopped listening altogether in what should be a conversation, have chosen to be selfish and attend only to our own desires and create a monologue-led-dictatorship.
Balloon Horses Credit : Andrea Galvani
I laughed when I found these pictures, for several reasons. The first was because of their stark, lonely, enigmatic quality. That they are perfectly balanced – a black horse, a white horse, each opposing the other – and effortlessly maintaining the quality of ‘balloon animal.'
We use our horses for all sorts of displays and strokes to our ego – it is an essential component in the horse industry. Franchising the horse, the exploitive qualities of an animal that we are so naturally drawn to. They make us laugh, they make us cry, and even land us on our butt from time to time.
Horses have changed drastically and not at all in a very short period of time. They have always been exploited, but for different purposes. We used to use them to aid in the toil and trouble of farming and travel. They fought wars with us and helped us to explore new continents and meet new people.
Today, however, the brunt of horsemanship is surrounding entertainment purposes. We race our horses to win money and have a day at the track. We show and compete horses – again for money, but also to prop up businesses, prove that ours is better than theirs, that we are a better rider/trainer/competitor than everyone else, to prove that we know more than someone else.
I remember distinctly the thoughts that crossed my mind when I first saw pictures of a lion and tiger riding a horse in one of China's zoos. There was no shock or surprise, perhaps some curiosity about how they went about it, but to me I see nothing different (other than cultural conditioning) from a lion riding a horse and man. We are both predatory creatures – equally as deadly in the horse's mind, and if people can tame horses why would there be any reason a lion couldn't also become a ‘normal' companion for the horse as well? Maybe the outrage over the lion and tiger images is because the zoo is using it to entertain people, to draw a crowd, to make money. But we do the same thing every day when we use our horses for marketing purposes. I even do it myself, knowingly and frequently with much discontent…
Do the two horses above look terribly different in attitute from one another? We cannot see the sorrel horse's ears, but their posture is similar, tails both trailing behind them. The first horse gets the unfortunate challenge of trotting on cement and bearing a brunt much greater in weight than the second horse. Maybe he just prefers to be ridden by the tiger, where he appears nearly relaxed, and no worse (probably even better I would say) than the emotional rollercoasters I see at most horse shows.
Maybe that is why we are so drawn to the horse, because no matter how many mistakes we make, how much we hurt him or exploit him, trade bits and pieces of his being for our own gain, or interact selfishly – they always act in a way that seems like unconditional love. They might put up a fight in the interim, but when we open our eyes and change the horse is right there by our side ready.
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