When winning is the only goal

I am not a dressage person (yet), but follow a couple sites for training purposes and because the dressage folks in my life are starting to rub off on me. (Karen...)

One of the posts that popped up in my blog roll was this one from Behind the Bit and it hits on a theme near and dear to the heart of this OTTB owner--harsh, even abusive, training methods with the only goal being the blue ribbon or prestige or whatever high it is that rider/trainer/owner needs.

We hear a lot about the Thoroughbred racing industry because it is very public and very flashy, but it's not the only offender out there. Nor is Dressage the next worse on the list.

Whenever a horse breaks down on the track, the cries of horror are loud and sometimes uninformed. I've had several people tell me how horrible it was to watch a horse being euthanized "right there on the track," not realizing it is the safest and most humane thing for that horse. No, the racing industry is not perfect. Yes, looking at why horses break down is absolutely necessary. But racing is not the only offender out there and not every trainer is the devil incarnate. In fact, I personally know some very caring trainers who didn't toss a particular TB in the trash just because he had a bowed tendon. They found him a pretty nice home, as a matter of fact.

But, yes, there are bad things that happen in the racing industry. I don't know if the Dressage industry is more public now, or if I'm just noticing it more, but Stacey Kimmel-Smith's comment in response to the furor over this one particular incident compares it to another high level Dressage competition, perhaps to widen the focus for the rest of us:

"I was at Devon today and saw some moments of riding that, if caught in a still shot, would look pretty abusive. Nope, not rollkur, but still unpleasant to see, and surely uncomfortable for the horse."

If we look at the human element involved in any competition, it becomes easier to see how these things could happen. Not acceptable, no, but if we understand it, maybe we can start to come up with better strategies to fix it.

Some human athletes are competitive enough--so focused on the win versus the journey--that they damage their own bodies with steroids, etc., just for that moment of victory. For someone that driven in any discipline, the win is the only thing that matters. Not the process, not the learning and improving that comes along the way. Just the winning.

That it translates into showing and competition on horses is not surprising, it just means those personalities now have to do whatever they think it takes to get cooperation from 1,200 pounds. Actually, probably not cooperation as much as capitulation. They don't want a relationship--even if they say they do--they want the horse to carry them obligingly onto the next victory without giving the horse any reason besides, "Because I said so." Being a parent, I can tell you how well that line works with other sentient beings. Not so well most of the time.

There are people who have to win no matter what. It's not about anything else, certainly not the relationship with and welfare of the horse. Dressage and racing are more public, but I have heard the same basic stories from friends in the cutting and even Western Pleasure disciplines, too.

As I said in my comment on Kimmel-Smith's post, this is an important conversation to have. We won't be able to eliminate it completely, but shedding a little light on the dark and ugly can go a long way.

Horses and humans and competition

Saturday's Breeder's Cup race was awesome. Great horse, incredible riding by the jockey Mike Smith, and a truly, truly, historic race. Her ears are the best part of the whole video. (If you want a great view between the ears, check out this 7+ minute video of a workout.)

But on the flip side of the racing industry, we have Phoenix. A horse that had raced, had to have raced to have the tattoo that was too worn to identify him, and ended up nearly starved to death before he was rescued by NorCal Equine Rescue.

But it's not just the Thoroughbred racing industry that is hard on horses. All, and I do mean ALL, competitive horse disciplines have their dark side. They are all drugging horses to perform better. They are all treating horses as lesser creatures just to win the big prize. Thoroughbred racing has a lot of money behind it and is much more public, but that just means they will be brought up short faster by the outrage of the general public.

Humans are generally not moved to act until extreme emotions come to play, it's just the way we are. Horse racing is big and that makes it an easy target. But if you talk to people in the cutting world, the Quarter Horse world, you'll get the same story. It's just better hidden.

It's not that competition is bad. Horses themselves are naturally competitive. It's tossing humans in the mix that makes it get wonky.

Zenyatta is a horse made to do what she does, and a horse that loves what she does. To deny her that would be to cut her heart out--a sin above nearly all others.

What we need to ask ourselves is what we can do, all of us, to make it better. Really make it better. Not deny the horses their nature, not regulate it to make ourselves feel better, but strike some balance in between.

Because I can't watch a horse like Zenyatta, or Rachel Alexandra, or my own two Man O' War descendants, love them like I do, and not embrace that wild, powerful part of their being. Not just embrace, but honor and revel in it.

Otherwise, what's the point of sharing the planet with creatures like horses?