01/08/2024
I have resisted commenting on the Charlotte video, but I have read so many vile posts and comments, I want to speak up. What is really upsetting me is our inability to show empathy and offer forgiveness. Let’s maintain some perspective here… Did you know there is a convicted ra**st of a 12 yo girl, who is competing at the Paris Olympics, is this ok? Not really, but I assume he’s served his time. However, almost all paedophiles are unable to be successfully rehabilitated due to their condition (if we can call it that) and sexual desires. It seems that we are accepting of this man, yet so damning and unforgiving of Charlotte, who has accepted she was wrong and sincerely apologised, The FEI are still investigating the case yet she has already lost everything; riding for our country, her career and sponsors, her income, and despite her wrong use of the whip in a one minute video, many of you are still so unforgiving. What does that tell us about us as humans and horse lovers? It seems that the welfare of a horse comes above that of a child, and horse welfare only hits the headlines, when a top rider does it. The video was not easy viewing and I agree she was wrong to do it, however I am quite sure the horse is not remembering the incident today, yet I’m pretty sure the 12 year-old girl will be affected by what happened to her for the rest of her life, and quite possibly has changed her ability to have a positive relationship in the future. Although cruelty to animals is awful, it comes in many guises, it’s not just this beating in a schooling session. It so often is due to lack of knowledge to care for horses correctly, such as lack of food, lack of water, lack of understanding, lack of work, too much food, too much work, not seeing when they’re suffering, or had enough of jumping for hours for our fun, but are genuine enough to do it anyway, or leaving them to be cold and wet in a tiny muddy paddock with no shelter or food to keep them warm, incorrect rugging, my list is endless. And this goes on for years and these are very unhappy horses, for years!! So many of you have chosen recently to attack Charlotte in the most hideous way, to the point I feel that will have affected her mental health dramatically and it seems you still do not care. I really hope all of you can say that you look after your horses impeccably, that you’ve never lashed out in an inappropriate way to anyone or any animal, whether it be after a bad day, your attitude, or simply being frustrated with life at that time, otherwise you are all bigots, and I feel you are using this opportunity to point the finger for all animal cruelty at one person for an outburst for one minute to a horse in a training session, remember we have no more information than that one minute video!! Everything else is complete assumption and nothing more. We do not know that she’s done it before we do not know that she was trained to be that way, we only have one minute of quite possibly the worst session she has ever taken in her entire life. As I said horses will not perform at that level because they’ve been beaten into it!
Systemic change starts with ourselves, how we behave towards others, in this case on social media where we are not stood in front of the person we are tearing down. I feel social media has desensitised so many of us to bad mannered, cruel and thoughtless behaviour, we have seemed to have lost courtesy, understanding and respect as well as the ability to converse in a way that is acceptable, dignified and respectful. Only you can address yourself on how you behave. I hope you can take this on board and remember how you are making one person feel because of your comments and your accusations right now, whether it be Charlotte or a stranger you are judging and attacking for a simple post on social media.
Bullying is how you make someone feel, nothing more. Please be polite, be respectful as only then will we see a change. Don’t allow yourself to join in as the bullies are wanting to build momentum, take the moral high ground!
Whilst on the topic, let’s talk natural horsemanship for a moment. When a horse is wrestled to the floor so it’s owner can sit on its neck in order to prevent it getting up, so it will “submit”, to me is not “natural” at all for a flight animal!! This is trained behaviour by many of the so called experts in this field. Horses will never perform through domination or fear, they have to be educated and willing to be the best they can be, not broken of their spirit. This does not mean you don’t have to set boundaries and work with them as individuals in order for them to trust you and be happy to work with you.
Another scenario…
I once arrived at a polo yard and saw a polo pony trotting on the walker, as I left the yard, 2 and a half hours later, the same pony was still trotting the walker, I immediately went back to the yard and asked that it be removed. They were embarrassed, apologised and said they’d forgot it was on there, Sorted! Would it have helped the horse that day had I taken a video and sent it to the media years later to highlight the forgetfulness of a young apprentice working there? No!! Mind you had she become famous, the talons would be out, wouldn’t they?
There are quite possibly professionals that could be deemed cruel in their training, there are also many other horse owners that are cruel through total ignorance, which is also very unacceptable, but not everyone is. My thoughts are: We see, we say something and we stop it. It is that simple, if you genuinely care! Not do nothing, and share it on social media, so you can all moan about it, when the animal is left to suffer. What good is that to the situation the animal is in?
And to add to my frustration on the subject, the immense amount of posts from many “wannabe”professionals using the topic to promote themselves being whiter than white on social media as they know the comments will go wild. They are all getting more exposure on social media because they are putting these posts out there. So it seems that even in Charlotte’s huge demise she is still promoting others, unknowingly!
I suppose that’s okay, as it’s marketing, its business.
It’s actually annoying to see how some will do anything to get ahead - and very obvious.
I will not be getting into a bun-fight over my personal views in this post. I simply hope it can help stop bullying. Thank you 😊🐎
