Study on Riding School Horses
A massive Canadian study has taken a hard look at riding school horses.The results? Surprisingly hopeful, occasionally worrying, but also painfully familiar for anyone who’s ever worked in a lesson barn.
Riding lesson horses often get painted as the martyrs of the equestrian world, overworked, under-loved, and held together, almost by duct tape and bute.
But according to a new Canadian study surveying more than 1,500 lesson horses, the truth is more nuanced.
Most riding schools are trying their best, and many facilities seem to follow the Canadian Code of Practice better than private horse owners do
Horses get proper turnout, regular farrier and vet care, and even massages, supplements, acupuncture, chiropractic work, and PEMF sessions that many owners would never dream of affording for themselves.
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The big problems remain universal
Money, or the complete lack of it, is the number one welfare threat. With horses being caught between school budgets, and client expectations.
Beginner riders unintentionally inflict physical and mental chaos, and lesson horses still show poorer welfare than other groups despite decent management.
The issue isn’t how lesson horses live, it’s how they work.
Being ridden by a endless stream of unbalanced, unpredictable, occasionally furious humans takes a toll no amount of supplements can mask.
Coaches also play a huge role.
Some protect horses like precious gems.
Others not so much.
But people believe their lesson horses live the good life, it’s always the others who are suffering. Classic horse world energy.
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Order NowThe study ends on a hopeful note, cause most barns want to do better, and many already are. But lesson horses still carry the emotional and physical load of the entire equestrian ecosystem.
Which means if we want the sport to survive its ongoing social-license crisis, lesson barns can’t keep being the underfunded heroes propping up the whole pyramid of equestrian sport.
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Horzing Around
Horzing Around
