Laura Graves article. Thoughts?

[Sticky_Situation]

I’m not talking about CDJ. She was caught on video abusing a horse and deserved her suspension.

I’m talking about the inevitable accusations of abuse that show up on every video or photo of competitive dressage that looks different from the carefully curated still photos of the Klassical Masters or has even the slightest moment of tension or imperfection.

But since you clearly feel that you and your fellow Facebook trainers are doing nothing but good, carry on. Just don’t be surprised if there are repercussions beyond encouraging sympathetic riding.

ETA: And I’m not talking about horse sports being removed from the Olympics. I didn’t mention the Olympics anywhere. I mean horseback riding in all forms being banned.

[Knights_Mom]

Repercussions are solely caused by the abusers.

No FB poster has the power to bring down the money machine that is international dressage unless there’s there there.

Oh and a bunch of those FB posters are riders, trainers, judges and vets so there’s that.

The trouble is y’all imagine this is us

[Djones]

It’s a bit of a word salad. The thread through it is that she has to train how she knows to train. Occasionally, a horse may hide from the contact or lose balance or or or and someone somewhere is going to lose their freaking marbles over it. Worrying about “how this looks” means you aren’t focused on your riding but on your image, and that is a distraction that dilutes your potential.

She isn’t advocating for abuse, she’s saying she’s trying to keep the main thing the main thing.

[beowulf]

@Knights_Mom

If the old guys needed abuse to accomplish things and the new guys need abuse to accomplish things AND all these people are the best of the best then I guess there’s no way to do Olympic level dressage without abuse.

I don’t interpret it that way. I interpet it as there are good and bad people at the top of the sport. Look, there’s many ways to skin a cat. You can produce an Olympic level horse utilizing abusive methods, and you can produce one by sympathetic measures. The problem is the current judging system doesn’t differentiate between the two, and there’s too much pressure to produce a horse fast.

The current system rewards the fast track and producible results. You’ll get there a lot quicker and mask a lot of problems you’d typically get penalized for, by utilizing methods that are unkind and/or abusive. The overtight noseband and the blue tongues are a perfect example of this; they are not the problem, they are the symptom of a larger problem - the current judging system rewards masking a problem just as well as it rewards a lovely test.

Instead, maybe the takeaway is that the judging system as a whole should be reworked.

The sport needs a shakeup. But it doesn’t need to be cancelled.

[Push_hands_forward]

Personally, I think Braddick is at fault here. Journalism at its best will construct an article that makes sense and provides context, not just publish raw verbatim responses. I call him out as doing a disservice to what Laura is sharing through these three stories. Do better! This feels plain lazy and irresponsible to me.

[Bogey2]

Excellent point…he is not known for clear journalism.

[Kemosabe]

@Knights_Mom

Mob? No. We are an army. And we are EVERYWHERE.

Does this army call out the stress of slaughter on meat animals? Does this army recognize the conditions of animals kept on factory farms? Lab animals?

How about the abuses to soil and water by pesticides and herbicides… the destruction of native grasses by monoculture seeds…the rape of forests…

It’s all connected.

Our culture is abusive. Want to fix the equine industry: start fixing the humans. And that begins when “your” army recognizes cruel words, meanness, arrogance and ego are a fundamental source of abuse to all living things on this planet.

[Bogey2]

I am also wondering what the Mob actually does besides social media…hopefully the Mob shows up in VT to help get starving horses away from a Freisian breeder, or raises money for the real heroes who took the animals in to try to save them.

[fivestrideline]

But that’s something that has tangible actions and tangible benefits! Preaching on the internet can go on forever and costs nothing in education or money!

[alicen]

“Their” is referring to the judges.

[Knights_Mom]

@Kemosabe

@Knights_Mom

Mob? No. We are an army. And we are EVERYWHERE.

Does this army call out the stress of slaughter on meat animals? Does this army recognize the conditions of animals kept on factory farms? Lab animals?

How about the abuses to soil and water by pesticides and herbicides… the destruction of native grasses by monoculture seeds…the rape of forests…

It’s all connected.

Our culture is abusive. Want to fix the equine industry: start fixing the humans. And that begins when “your” army recognizes cruel words, meanness, arrogance and ego are a fundamental source of abuse to all living things on this planet.

Yes. This Army not only thinks about show horses in international competition but we tackle issues of poverty, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, Chevy vs. Ford, Coke vs. Pepsi and every other issue we can think of.

[Knights_Mom]

@Bogey2

I am also wondering what the Mob actually does besides social media…hopefully the Mob shows up in VT to help get starving horses away from a Freisian breeder, or raises money for the real heroes who took the animals in to try to save them.

We all actually work out of a call center in Mumbai. In the basement. My actual name is Sammi, Operator 46.

We are scheduled to tackle world peace in September so we will get to your suggestion topic soon.

[Knights_Mom]

@fivestrideline

But that’s something that has tangible actions and tangible benefits! Preaching on the internet can go on forever and costs nothing in education or money!

Actually, I’m sponsored by Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.

[junesj68]

This whole thing is just ridiculous

[Knights_Mom]

@junesj68

This whole thing is just ridiculous

I find what goes on with some of these international show horses to be criminal.

What’s ridiculous is the push back a person gets trying to stop stuff from those who claim to love horses.

[Bearx2]

@Knights_Mom

You’re hilarious. It’s not me or the army getting horses banned from the Olympics. It’s the abusers. If no abuse is happening then there’s nothing to worry about, now is there?

Did i cause CDJ to be suspended? Nope. That was CDJ committing the act and the FEI and BD suspending her.

Same with famous rider after famous rider. I didn’t make Parra be a twisted sicko. He did that. And THEY banned him.

So perhaps your gaslighting might work on others, but it will never work on me.

Stop the abuse and aspiring Olympians have zero to worry about. How about that?

Okay but there is ( or should be ) a huge difference between calling out actual abuse and jumping all over a snapshot that shows less than perfect riding . We are not helping anyone when horse people on the internet cry wolf over every little imperfection in someone’s training or riding . Horses and humans have bad days and not every picture is going to be pretty and to judge someone harshly for every imperfect moment is not fair and is not helpful.

[Knights_Mom]

@Bearx2

@Knights_Mom

You’re hilarious. It’s not me or the army getting horses banned from the Olympics. It’s the abusers. If no abuse is happening then there’s nothing to worry about, now is there?

Did i cause CDJ to be suspended? Nope. That was CDJ committing the act and the FEI and BD suspending her.

Same with famous rider after famous rider. I didn’t make Parra be a twisted sicko. He did that. And THEY banned him.

So perhaps your gaslighting might work on others, but it will never work on me.

Stop the abuse and aspiring Olympians have zero to worry about. How about that?

Okay but there is ( or should be ) a huge difference between calling out actual abuse and jumping all over a snapshot that shows less than perfect riding . We are not helping anyone when horse people on the internet cry wolf over every little imperfection in someone’s training or riding . Horses and humans have bad days and not every picture is going to be pretty and to judge someone harshly for every imperfect moment is not fair and is not helpful.

When I see someone call out a riding oopsicle as Anky level abuse I find it just doesn’t get the traction that legit criticism of undoubtable abuse gets.

[Kemosabe]

@Knights_Mom

When I see someone call out a riding oopsicle as Anky level abuse I find it just doesn’t get the traction that legit criticism of undoubtable abuse gets.

But it still gets clicks…

I find armchair horse sports vigilantism just fuels self righteousness…like any other cult.

[DMK]

Exactly. It still gets clicks. It also happens more often than genuine abuse so those incidents can spread deeper and wider to people who genuinely do not understand riding who then join the keyboard warriors and equate an oopsicle with genuine abuse. Because not once have I seen the keyboard warriors on any topic show a measure of moderation. Extremism and conspiracy theories are the currency of the internet and everyone knows it.

[Bearx2]

@Knights_Mom

When I see someone call out a riding oopsicle as Anky level abuse I find it just doesn’t get the traction that legit criticism of undoubtable abuse gets.

I have seen people get plied on for posting things that are less than perfect and while many people might not take the critics seriously some people do. Online forums like this could be a wonderful way for people to get help but many people don’t want to post photos or videos because they don’t want to deal with the overly harsh, judgmental critics .