I have wanted to write about this topic for a while now. It is very close to my heart and something I see more or less everyday doing my job as a massage therapist. I was prompted to write about it after Nic from Rockley Farm blogged about the topic recently. Read Nic's blog here
I have for a long time had a problem with people who like to say that their horses are "just being naughty/lazy/bucking/[insert a usual complaint here] for the sake of it". These are also often the same people who say they don't believe in complementary therapies, barefoot rehab or natural horsemanship or people who see themselves as an expert on their chosen field, and hence have no room for improvement. The sort, who think that their views are always right.
It seems to me that some people still to this day hold an unconscious belief that if the pain is not verbalised (as us humans usually do), it doesn't exist. This concept was originally mentioned in the 17th century by the French philosopher, René Descartes (1596–1650), who (in)famously said "...the non-human, on the other hand, are nothing but complex automata with no souls, minds, or reason. They can see, hear, and touch, but they are not, in any sense, conscious, and are unable to suffer or even to feel pain..."
One would've hoped that in 500 years we would've evolved from such depths...
I am not saying here that horses do not have different temperaments and no lazy horses exist, that sort of thinking would be far too black and white and I would be almost thinking along the same lines with people who say "he is just being lazy". The problem is usually much more complex than that. A more useful approach is to come from an angle that I call "of not knowing". This is the opposite angle from the all knowing people I talked about earlier. It is an angle whereby you accept that you truly do not know what is going on, but will do everything in your power to understand why something is happening, before making a judgement call or putting a label on a horse. Think first - act second. Or even better think first, think second and act third.
I have had a few horse clients who have changed owners and the new owner has kept up with the massage treatments. Some of these horses who have gone from being very "naughty and dangerous" to being lovely characters with only a small hint still of that previous behaviour left, usually it was just a tactic the horse had to use to protect itself. They have been amazing reminders of my theory.
I said a few months ago that I have not been too keen to ride and I could not really pinpoint it to anything. I think a lot of it has been to do with the above. I have seen sore horses being ridden just because there is one more competition around the corner or because they are just being naughty and need to be showed who is the boss (another blog post there simmering, I feel..!) Somehow I just haven't wanted to be part of that all. And don't get me wrong, as I said before I am not quite (yet??) a person who thinks that the only way to be kind to horses is to just have them sitting on a field. Quite the opposite! They need to be worked, just like us, but right now I am not sure which direction I personally want to go and what kind of riding/work I want to do, so I am still settled to not riding.
While I am stepping off my soap box, I also want to give massive thank you to all my clients who think along the same lines with me. I really appreciate that you know that my treatment, nor any other, is not the once all and be all. Together we can make the horses a bit more comfortable - even it is only one horse at a time. I obviously wouldn't have a business without you. I don't have all the answers and because I know I don't, I 'm hoping one day I might even have a few.
