Unconscious Abuse

by

Jane Zubia

JaneZubia.com

Unconscious abuse is what many horses experience daily. What is unconscious abuse? It’s anything (neglect, mishandling or improper use) horse owners do to their horses. We seem oblivious to how our actions are affecting them.

I look back at the things I did to horses and wish I could apologize to ALL of them for the unintentional abuse they experienced from me. The only way I can put things right is to never do it again.

Years ago when I was first apprenticing with a trainer, she taught me to pay attention to many things in order to become a better horseman. She taught me my saddle should have enough room in the gullet to push the saddle blanket up into it so I didn’t put too much pressure on the top of my horse’s withers. Make sure the saddle was adjusted so there was enough room for the horse to use his shoulders without any kind of interference. Also the horse and all my tack needed to be clean of any dirt before cinching up. There was one time I was riding and noticed my horse was short striding and beginning to get a cinch sore on one side. Come to find out I hadn’t made sure the cinch was evenly spaced. One side of the cinch was set at 7/8’s and the other side was set at full.

What about leaving mane under the saddle blanket? Yes, I have done that. Every step my poor horse took he had to deal with hair pulling. I have a very sensitive head when it comes to hair pulling so I know how it feels and I really felt awful when I discovered what I had done. Another thing I did was poke my horse in his side with the toe of my boot when trying to mount. It took me awhile to realize why he was walking off when I tried to mount. To him, the poke in his side meant he was supposed to move forward. I was getting pretty upset with him before I realized I was the one at fault. He took my apology better than I would have and went on as if nothing bad had happen but I made sure I didn’t do that again.

I also remember being an inconsistent rider. There were days I just wanted to ride for fun and didn’t care what gaits my horse did as long as they were smooth. Then other days I decided I wanted to participate in a horse show and knew my horse had to be consistent. He was now expected to automatically change to fit my desires. Naturally a conflict occurred while I searched for that “quick fix” to our problems. Finally I realized my inconsistency was causing a lot of mutual frustration. I realize I was actually physically and psychologically mistreating my horse. It was time to take a break and sort out what I really wanted and then stay on track so my horse knew what was expected of him. Inconsistency of intent by any rider can be a form of unconscious abuse.

Watch out for lead ropes with heavy metal clips banging your horse on the chin. At competitive trail rides your horse probably won’t want to trot in the proper position for inspections. Wouldn’t you think the handler would notice that something was wrong when his horse didn’t want to trot and was throwing his head to avoid getting hit? Nope! What usually happens is the horse is accused of misbehaving.