Have you ever taken on the shame of the horse industry? The feeling of being shamed because you love a certain part of the horse industry, a part that uneducated people don’t understand, the part they target as inhuman, wrong, ugly, unnecessary, and maybe say things like “it should be illegal”.

If you have posted your horse riding videos on social media you may have experienced shaming and “ouch” it sometimes really stings to hear what others say about your efforts to train your horse.

Things like” Why does that horse look lame” sometimes makes me want to say things back like “Why you wearing such an ugly shirt” but I don’t, I do the adult thing and mind my own business because maybe that’s their favorite shirt, maybe they spent their whole paycheck on that shirt or grandma gave it to them.

The thing is we have a choice about what we say to other people even people on social media. Dreams are destroyed everyday with the littlest remark from an outside person who actually knows nothing about horses or how hard it is to put the daily hours into training and caring for that horse. As a coach and trainer I see way to much of this and telling people to get a thicker hide isn’t the answer. Brush it off isn’t the answer. Don’t post videos isn’t the answer. Knowing the difference between what’s really abusive to the horse and what’s not might be the answer.

There is a real difference people between you thinking a horse is an ugly mover and calling that wrong and something that is really wrong like a video of a horse being tied down, beaten and later dying on video. Some of you need to save your shaming words for the people who are the real horse abusers. When we cry wolf too many times at things that don’t matter then the things that do matter won’t really be looked at.

I like honesty just as much as the next person but not at the expense of others. I’ll speak up when I see real abuse, maybe then my words will count. Whats your opinion on this subject?