Horse Abuse

Different Types Of Abuse

Riding Abuse:

Riding abuse is when a horse is forced to work for a long period of time without any breaks, or many stops in between causing them to overwork themselves. They will be whipped and spurred more than they should, normally causing them to have blisters are noticeable spots where these actions were formed. Another way to hurt them would be riding them when they are lame (hurt leg or hoof) and especially when they don't get to have an easy ride on the foot. Riding is more common then you would think and happens in many different forms. Riding abuse is more common than many people would think because horses don't normally have the opportunities to fight against the person riding them. When riding, they can be used with the wrong tack which can cause their skin to build around the tack which can cause pain and sever unconfines. A big riding abuse is just in a bridle, a bridle when used correctly, can be very useful but when they are used wrong it hurts their face and mouth. People will tug on the bit and it will abuse their mouth, causing sever pain and confusion. People think that moving their face the way they want will get the horse to do what they want but using the reins and pulling on the horses face only will just cause pain.

Training Horse Abuse:

When training a horse, the face equipment could be yanked and pulled, causing them severe pain in their face and mouth. Another way is when they are young in training and are hit or whipped with objects to scare the into listening, hurting them into obedience. The equipment used to train horses can easily be a form of training abuse because they can make it too small, they can hurt the horses, or they can make the horse too scared to disobey. People will use too small of equipment which causes them to get indents in their skin, or causes their skin and body to form in the wrong and painful way. Over training or incorrect training: Pushing a horse to muscular fatigue is abusive and will cause injury. I'm not saying you shouldn't grow a horse's fitness. I'm saying you shouldn't push leg muscles and joints to their maximum, day after day. And the same goes for all the other muscles. Such as neck, jaw and back muscles. Which are needed to create flexion and roundness and performance power. Some trainers work on their horses beautiful posture and balance to the point of fatigue. Which in the end, causes the horse to hollow his back and brace against your suggestions, therefore increasing the risk of physical and psychological injury. Some trainers don't do anything at all to help their horses balance while in motion or carrying a rider, which can be abusive all by itself. We have to be careful about how long and how hard we train. We have to be careful about a horses physical balance, and other physical needs such as oxygen, and heart rates. A horses brain, muscles and joints, as strong as they are, aren't indifferent to pain and injury.

Horse Slaughter:

Horse slaughter is the way by which irresponsible people get rid of their unwanted horses quickly and for a profit. Every year, ten of thousands of equines from the United States are slaughtered for human consumption to satisfy the taste for horse meat in Europe and Japan where it is considered a delicacy. Due to an ongoing movement by small, but powerful special interest groups that have successfully blocked passage of Federal legislation banning horse slaughter for nearly a decade, our equines continue to be transported across the Canadian and Mexican borders where they are brutally slaughtered and their meat is then exported overseas selling for between $15 and $25 per pound. Slaughtering or sending a horse to a slaughterhouse also includes abuse in many other ways. Most of the time, the places horses are housed can be extremely unhealthy.

Big cons of this business:

1. It allows slaughterhouses to continue the practice of horrifically killing horses.

When horses are brought into a butcher house, they run all over the place to avoid being restrained. But once they are caught, they will be hung upside down and its throat will be slit. In some places, horses are shot with a gun or captive bolt to the head. Aside from that, the unwanted equines will be crammed in small compartments and force fed with food that are normally included in their diet. In other words, a lot of the slaughterhouses in operation could cause a great deal of suffering to these poor creatures. Opponents of horse slaughter believe that this morbid act is inhumane.

2. It can become a major industry.

If the practice of slaughtering horses becomes widespread and the demand for horsemeat gets higher, abuse of these animals will become a commonplace. This means that more and more horses will be forced to live in poor conditions for the sake of increasing production. When that happens, an industry based on animal cruelty will be established.

3. It can pose severe health risks.

Horses have more blood in their system than cattle or any other animal. Experts say that blood is so hard to neutralize and to dispose of it in a non-toxic manner. This makes slaughterhouses a risk to the environment as well as to people’s health. Without proper supervision, people who are hired to slaughter the animals can get sick.

Unwarranted physical striking:

This means you kick or strike a horse for not doing what you want. It's that simple. Let's say he won't go across a stream, so you beat (him hardly and aggressively) to cross the stream. This is abuse! There is a better, slower, and healthier way to achieve goals like this. I'm not saying there isn't a time and place to be firm. Sometimes, if you're life depends on it, you have to be firm. Horses need to know boundaries just to be safe around humans. It's one of the first lessons dolphins get with a good dolphin trainer. You can't have a thousand pound animal slamming and crushing you into the ground. But once boundaries are clearly set you almost never have to be firm again. Especially in a learning situation. Just because a horse won't get in the trailer for instance, it doesn't mean you should smash him with your stick. I want my readers to take my courses and learn a better way to be direct and firm, with better timing. Please help me make a difference for ignorant riders, owners, and trainers, by sharing this article, reading my book, and taking my on-line training courses.

Neglect:

This means leaving a horse to fend for himself without any resources to survive, let alone thrive. Have you ever seen a starving horse? I have. It's horrific! Have you ever seen a horse's feet grow so long they look like look like curly skis? I have. The horse can barely walk. There are certain health concerns that all horses need, including food, water, safe fencing, some form of shelter for harsh elements and hoof and dental care because their feet and teeth (just like our finger nails) never quit growing.

Isolation:

After a horse meets her need to survive, she desperately needs positive stimulus. That can come in the form of companionship. Horse are herd animals and although, they can easily injure each other by kicking and biting, they still need to connect socially. Even if it's from the other side of a fence. Have you ever seen an isolated horse try to chew his way out of his stall? Have you ever seen a horse develop cribbing, weaving, pawing, and other psychological problems? I have. And it's terrifying. Too many horse owners (probably not you, if you're reading this) don't even consider the horses brain. It's one of the saddest things I can describe to see a horse behind bars. And what did she do, to deserve this treatment? Did she commit some crime or is it more likely the insecurities of her owner that prevents this horse from enjoying companionship? I have a hard time even writing about this. But I feel I have to. Please help me share my passion for making horses lives better in the future, than they are today.

Confinement:

Different from isolation, although not always separate, is confinement abuse. This means the space in which the horse lives is simply too small. I've seen as many as ten horses living it a space no bigger than a fifty foot round pen. I'm not talking about training. I'm talking about "living." Some people collect horses and don't have space for them. Other people simply don't care. They think their beautiful facilities will be appreciated by their horse. But horses don't care how nice your wood paneling is. Horses need space. They don't need thousands of acres. They just need enough space to express themselves with movement and speed. If you don't have the space, you can add other types of daily positive stimulus (such as trail riding) to counteract the effects of confinement. I hope you see the value of space. Horses need room to move. Horses in confinement develop all the same negative psychological traits that horses in isolation develop.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• DONATE! Donate to help animals in need. Funds are one of the biggest things that hold rescuers back from being able to help more animals, so you could be rescuing an animal from a REALLY bad situation.

• Foster!

• Rescue!

• Adopt!

• BE AWARE OF POSIBLE ABUSE SITUATIONS