I was born and raised in Sydney – a big city. My dad was not a handy fellow. He couldn’t fix things or build things. He had many skills and many accomplishments, but being able to repair or construct things was not one of them. When stuff broke or he needed things made, he called somebody. Whether it was servicing a car, building a fence, painting a room, or fixing a light switch, dad relied on somebody else. 

As a result, he never taught me to be handy. In that regard, I am definitely my father’s son. I envy friends who can pull apart an engine or watch and fix them. However, since we moved to a more remote area and bought 150 acres and have lots of machines and tools, it has become necessary for me to pick up some skills as a handy guy. I have learned to service the generator and chain saw. I have figured out how to build a fence, hang a gate, and lay a water pipe. 

The thing that made this possible for me that my dad didn’t have access to is the internet. There is hardly anything that I can’t find on how to do from the internet. Even wading through the complexity of building my web site or publishing my books was figured out via the internet.

I don’t know anybody who does not have access to the internet – even if it is through a public library. There is so much information out there for everybody to access – unlike it was for my dad.

So my question is, with the easy access to all this information in the world, why do some people still use barbaric training methods on horses? 

I’m not talking about just a bias for one type of training over another – like choosing the difference between Pat Parelli and Klaus Hempfling. I’m talking about choosing methods that are abusive and inherently cruel, such as tying a horse’s head around to one side for 4 hours to teach them to give to the bit or spurring them until they bleed to teach them to go forward, or tying their head down to a set of hobbles between their front legs to teach them to lower their heads. I’m talking about methods that everybody can recognize as obviously cruel.

Why do people still tie up horses to big posts and flood them with plastic bags? Why do people still start 2yo and compete with them? Why do people still beat horses to make them load into a trailer?

A few nights ago I was having dinner with some friends and a story came up about a child’s pony that was competing and routinely ridden with a twisted wire bit to control the horse.

A few years ago I had a horse in training that I noticed had a lot of scarring in its mouth from the harsh use of bits. Another trainer told me he had a horse that had calluses on the bars of the mouth because the previous owner would slice the mouth with a knife to make it sensitive to the bit. 

A trainer in Australia has a video available showing a horse with heavy bolts hanging from its halter to teach the horse not to weave. Anytime the horse moved its head it would be whacked in the face with one or more bolts. 

There are videos of a well-known Dutch trainer who breaks in horses with no preparation. As soon as the horse stops bucking with the saddle, he gets on and rides the horse while another fellow on the ground drives it forward with a whip.

In some states of Australia, there is hurdle racing where horses are made to gallop flat-out over jumps and several are killed each year.

There is so much information about good training methods and horse welfare that just about everybody can access easily, that it bamboozles me that I sometimes still see methods being used that belong in medieval torture chambers. How can this still be happening?

When I was younger, all we had were books and lessons for learning about training. But nowadays, there are DVDs, books, YouTube, internet forums, clinics, and even online courses that are within reach of nearly everybody. It’s almost impossible to avoid them. People no longer have to rely on their fathers or uncles to learn all there is to know about horses and horsemanship. So what is stopping people from learning a better way? Why do some people still resort to barbarism? Is it just a refusal to change or a belief that they are right or a romantic idea about the good ol’ days and tradition?

I know most people have good intentions towards their horses and probably nobody sets out to be deliberately cruel or abusive. However, despite good intentions, some people seem to be unaware or lack empathy for how a horse feels. They treat them like they are dumb, disobedient, and even spiteful. They act as if they don’t even like horses.

How can this thinking still be so prevalent at a time when there is so much convincing information that horses are not like that and there is a much better way to approach horses? The best relationship a person can have with a horse is based on empathy and an understanding of how it thinks and feels. Why would anybody want a relationship based on conflict, intimidation, and helplessness?