20/01/2024
Calling a spade a spade
Sometimes I think that in the equestrian world, we are very good at using euphemisms. According to the Oxford dictionary, a euphemisms is âa mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.â An example would be âhe passed awayâ instead of âhe diedâ.
Equestrian language is full of euphemisms. We say the horse is â a little off behindâ instead of âlameâ, âa bit wobblyâ instead of âlacking stabilityâ, âa bit chubbyâ instead of âoverweightâ, âa bit stiffâ instead of âcrookedâ. We call it âstallâ instead of âcageâ.
We say âencourage him to move forwardâ instead of âhit him with the whipâ, âcome through with the inside reinâ instead of âpull on the reinâ, âdonât let him get away with thatâ instead of âpunish himâ, âmore legâ instead of âkick him hardâ.
A lot of the instruction we see is a plain call to abuse of the horse, yet, because of the language we use, we justify it in front of ourselves and others.
A lot of it also has to do with the fact that we interpret the horseâs behaviour to fit our opinion or attitude. We might say the horse is âfull of itselfâ when it is actually overwhelmed or scared, âlazyâ when it doesnât want to move due to pain, âfooling usâ when in fact it doesnât understand what you want.
Calling a thing by its proper name gives it power. I think many riders instinctively know that the tales they are telling themselves about their horses are not right, but they do it anyway because it sounds better than the alternative - that something might actually be wrong. Both we and the horse are mammals with a sophisticated nervous system and we can relate to each other. I think many people have the right feeling or intuition of things, but because of the habits of language use in the equestrian world, we are less likely to call it by its name and thus become less aware of it.
I think most riders do not want to abuse their horses. And yet, we see it happening all the time. If your instructor were to say ânow cause him pain with the spurâ you might actually think about what you are doing there instead of when you hear âencourage him with the spurâ. And if we stop telling ourselves some nice sounding tales about our horseâs behaviour and instead describe it for what it is, we would come one step close to understanding them better.
I think that as instructors, we should be honest to our students and call certain actions for what they are. And as students, we should question the way our instructors sweet talk things to us in order to make us do things we donât want to do.
Language has power. Being aware of that might help changing things for the better for the horses.
