A New Wave of KeyBoard Warriors?

[Equestrian24]

This is a big reason why I’m not very involved in horse-related social media pages (outside of here and another forum). There are a lot of people that seem to have a lot to say, none of which is kind or constructive, and more often than not, they don’t seem to be as educated as they want others to perceive them as.

IME, both online and in real life, it seems the ones that are the biggest critics and always trying to make others feel inferior tend to be the ones who don’t know much about what they’re talking about, but desperately want others to think they do. Those who are actually knowledgeable don’t need to criticize others for the sole purpose of making themselves look superior, are not nearly so narrow-minded, and are typically too busy actually riding/training/etc. to obsessively comment on every social media post they see. It’s generally best to take opinions from these types of people with a large grain of salt.

Also, I concur that a lot of people seem so used to obese horses that they see a fit one as skinny, and tend to judge different breeds by the breeds they’re used to.

[Equibrit]

I am surprised that knowledgeable normal horse owners waste their mental energy on these rabid horse saviours. They are clearly uneducated and don’t have the chops to carve out a living in the real horse world. So - they make a stab for your horse dollars and eventually have to return to their job at Walmart.
Their loss.

[enjoytheride]

There’s fit TBs and then I have seen horses at shows where I can count all their ribs, they have hollows in their hips and their hip bones stick out. Oh he’s a hard keeper since he’s a TB. That to me is not fit, that’s your management program. I think it’s easy to tell if a horse is FIT or if he’s THIN.

[Bearx2]

I got curious and listened to this podcast and Dr. Declue is coming across as a wack job . The number of contradictions in that podcast where unbelievable. For me the biggest one being that vets need to do better but I am not going show/educate other vets on what to do. No way would I give her money if that is her attitude.

[OverandOnward]

@Scribbler

To improve your metrics you need to improve audience and the easiest way to do this is to create controversy and raise the anxiety level of your audience.

This is where we are in the whole world of social media, any topic. Unfortunately I think too many people are not seeing it for what it is.

Find something, anything, that is commonly accepted by the gp, or by the audience in your area of interest, and make a show of exposing and debunking it. It’s not necessary to know what you are talking about (general you).

I have stopped following the pumping-up and the tearing-down of every kind of food item – potatos, eggs, milk, on & on. For a few years it is the worst thing ever, and then a few years further on and it’s a perfect food. Whatever is the current vibe, somebody goes hard against it, for clicks.

@MadTrotter

The social media algorithms will create a loop that gives the user “more” and more extreme, and then promotes it to the users networks. So in this case, there was probably one “power” poster with a lot of followers, they posted/engaged, then the story was boosted to their feed with their outraged/negative comment shown first. And then their like-minded network piled on. Then the algorithm showed all those people more posts and cross-pollinated.

The Algorithms actually do influence people’s thinking, even if they think it doesn’t.

Honestly, a lot of the “dangers of eventing” tropes are due more to the algorithm than the actual risk level of the sport. Especially from people who know f-all about eventing. IMO

Between the algorithms and the chronic alarmists, the people just cruising the internet to see more content about something they are interested in are being dragged into some dark and scary places.

[OverandOnward]

@Scribbler

There are also the Need Hay Now!! rescue groups that foster an ongoing sense of urgency and go to heroic lengths to save very insound horses.

There’s another concern to address with these internet rallies. Why do they “Need Hay Now!!” ?? Too many horses? Not rehoming? Not sizing the rescue to the available resources? Terrible planning?

The sense of urgency, even emergency, is a super-powerful way to sweep in donations. BUT it’s a red flag to a poorly-run rescue that may be a risk to the horses it maintains. AND it’s also a red flag to possible grift by the principals, who start to enjoy the donations machine.

I am very cautious with ‘rescue the rescue’ calls to action.

[Scribbler]

@OverandOnward

@Scribbler

There are also the Need Hay Now!! rescue groups that foster an ongoing sense of urgency and go to heroic lengths to save very insound horses.

There’s another concern to address with these internet rallies. Why do they “Need Hay Now!!” ?? Too many horses? Not rehoming? Not sizing the rescue to the available resources? Terrible planning?

The sense of urgency, even emergency, is a super-powerful way to sweep in donations. BUT it’s a red flag to a poorly-run rescue that may be a risk to the horses it maintains. AND it’s also a red flag to possible grift by the principals, who start to enjoy the donations machine.

I am very cautious with ‘rescue the rescue’ calls to action.

Oh 100 per cent this.

[AmmyHour926]

It’s interesting that every single FEI instagram post since the trot-up one, that has now been taken down, Is getting the militant equine welfare army after them. But what I don’t understand is what do these kids expect FEI to do in the moment? Do they not realize global orgs like this have complex marketing and PR departments that aren’t going to drop what they are doing to respond and issue a “statement” (not that I even think one is needed). Or if they are pushing so hard for rule changes do they not realize those typical only happen once a year at annual meetings?

It’s like me complaining that the my city government isn’t fixing a problem when our next board meeting isn’t for 30 days. No unpaid social media intern is gonna fix it over night.

Make it make sense.

Love to see the body workers that are jumping on the mob to peddle their “online program”. Idk maybe show your work on an actual client horse or yours first.

[sherian]

to be honest whenever the local body workers show before and after pics of the horses they have worked their miracles on I am ?? horse always looks identical to me

[Texarkana]

@sherian

to be honest whenever the local body workers show before and after pics of the horses they have worked their miracles on I am ?? horse always looks identical to me

This is so true. Sometimes I think the after looks worse.

[K_VanOlst]

@sherian

body workers show before and after pics of the horses they have worked their miracles on I am ?? horse always looks identical to me

Sub in TTHW and her BTMM - that is one of the biggest annoyances I have with all her groupies. The horses look NO different.

[OverandOnward]

@sherian

to be honest whenever the local body workers show before and after pics of the horses they have worked their miracles on I am ?? horse always looks identical to me

Boom. What are they changing or accomplishing, really ???

If the horse enjoys it like a nice massage, awesome.

Otherwise they are just annoying an animal that we sometimes fail to credit for their patience with us humans. I mean, the horses could flatten us in a heartbeat, but out of the generosity of their hearts, they let us live, and tell them what to do. Maybe we shouldn’t take too much advantage of that just to be able to bill an owner for an hour’s work.

I am all for the right kind of equine bodywork. The right procedure, on the right horse, at the right time, can sometimes do good that transcends medication and vet treatment.

Sometimes the very best treatment for an NQR horse might be to just. leave. him. alone. (or her, of course) Quit all the pushing, pulling and flexing. Going by the horse, if it isn’t helping.

Some of the bodyworkers acknowledge and support this. But some always have to be pulling, pushing, flexing … they won’t even try leaving the horse alone for a week or a month, to see how things go from there.

[fivestrideline]

@sherian

to be honest whenever the local body workers show before and after pics of the horses they have worked their miracles on I am ?? horse always looks identical to me

Identical, or clearly from a different angle, or most often the horse has simply fallen asleep in the aisle.

GOOD bodywork has changed my horse for the better. But it hasn’t replaced turnout, and good feed, and good farrier work. And it won’t replace proper riding and strengthening.

I saw a TikTok the other day comparing FEI event horses to some backyard pets. The tone was “look how terrible FEI horses look vs my out of shape unworked ones!! Ban the FEI!!” - all I saw were some super fit (and not even particularly angular) event horses compared to zero muscle and very fat pasture pets. Anyone with any business evaluating horses would be rolling their eyes. It’s like comparing a competitive swimmer to someone who doesn’t workout but floats around in the backyard pool .

[Bearx2]

This!!!

‎The Jon and Rick Show: Marcia Kulak, Buck Davidson and Forestier S4 E12 on...

Jon and Rick talk about social license in the first part of this podcast and one of the things they make clear is how much damage can be done to a sport / organization when you don’t get out in front of stuff like this. Unfortunately this is the information that will come up if a non- eventing member of the public googles three day eventing. No, you can’t respond to every stupid / misleading post and yes you will find people who mind you can’t change . But if putting correct information out there changes the mind of one person it worth doing it ,

[libgrrl]

Yeah…but…

Tone matters. Too much earnestness/“virtue signalling” can just as easily turn folks off and make them more entrenched in their opinions. So called “call out culture” has engendered a ton of backlash. It takes a deft hand to communicate in a way that may change minds, rather than switch them off.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Here is another example of faux-fluencers sending their brigaders. Look at the time stamps on the comments. The colours represent the a person - the faux-fluencer was sooo concerned about the photograph that she tagged her own insta-handle AND hashtagged her name in the post.

Also it was an eventing trot up, NOT a dressage competition

[Bearx2]

Totally agree with you that it’s a fine line between just enough information to educate and sounding defensive and whinny.

[Bearx2]

That horse doesn’t looked distressed at all and the level of ignorance is just a bit frightening.

[Willesdon]

Well, IMO they do have a point about the position of the buckle on the flash. Sometimes there is just enough truth in these posts to make an immediate defence of “Doing no wrong, nothing to see here” a bit problematic.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

It’s the trot up, that may not be the horse’s actual bridle. Maybe it is ridden in a double for the dressage? Who knows. Maybe they didn’t adjust the buckle because it is just the trot up.