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which_chickLook, I am a judge-y person. I judge everyone. I don't generally TELL people I'm doing it. I don't generally offer my unwanted opinions. If you DO ask for my opinion, I will try to be nice about delivering it. (Due to ass burger problems, I might well fail at the being nice part. I will definitely not fail at clarity, though.)
I will judge your horse-human relationship starting with the three F's.
Freedom: does your horse get a reasonable amount of turnout? Like, more than eight hours a day?
Friends: does your horse get to socialize with other horses on a daily basis?
Forage: does your horse consume primarily a forage-based diet (preferably grass though hay is also workable in areas where pasture is not a thing)?
Best: Horse lives in full-time turnout, with pasture, in a fairly consistent social group.
Workable: Horse lives with half-day turnout, with pasture and hay and sometimes a buddy.
Poor: Horse lives in a stall, with an hour a day solo turnout in a small paddock or a covered riding arena. There is no friend.
If you can manage the 3 F's, you're doing OK on the absolute basics. The 3 F's are things that should be prioritized AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE for overall welfare of domestic horses.
After that, I look at other things.
Does the horse seem comfortable and relaxed in the human’s company? (If the horse is continually tight and worried around the human, there's a reason for that. It is the human's job to see to it that the horse is OK about life.)
For a horse that Does Work, does the human see to it that the horse is fit enough for the work, mentally able to understand the work, and physically capable of doing the work? (When a human asks a horse to do work, it is the human's job to see to it that the horse is ready to do the work, and that readiness is both physical and mental.)
Does the human see to it that the horse has correctly-fitted tack and equipment?
Does the horse appear confident and relaxed in his efforts, especially when learning and/or possibly uncertain of the “right” answer? How’s the horse’s “try”? How long does he make efforts to “find the answer” when he doesn’t know it? Does he get frustrated? When the human is training the horse, do things ever escalate to a bad place? What happens then?
When things don’t go the way the human would like, how does the human approach the situation? Is it “I need to break this down smaller, re-explain the idea, try to buff some prerequisites, or revisit this in another way” or is it “Horse done screwed up, he is dumb” (I exaggerate for effect.)
When working, does the horse seem comfortable and “happy”? Does horse offer any visible sign of resistance (not like a single tail flip with lead change, but like a helicopter wringing tail)? If I can HEAR YOUR HORSE grind his teeth while you’re riding the pattern, I’m gonna judge you.
Is the horse easy to catch? (If you continually have trouble catching your horse, that's not a great thing. I ride my horse four to six days a week in the summer and he lives in full turnout with friends. He knows he’s getting ridden when I go out there to get him. There aren’t any treats for catching and never have been. He’s still easy to catch. If your horse doesn’t want to be around you, might could be you should look into that.)
How’s the horse to handle in ground manners, in and out gates, on and off trailers, etc.? Is he easy to be around? Does he need to be sedated for the farrier? (I’m gonna side-eye that, too.)
How does the human handle the horse when it’s not “for riding”. Are the horse’s experiences and preferences taken into consideration where possible? Example: I only haul one horse. He travels in a gooseneck three horse slant because (while I was trailer shopping) he got off every ride in a bumper pull two horse straight with splattery poop, even with a super-careful driver who did NOTHING WRONG – I rode in the cab. We tried multiple times. He just… couldn’t. He likes the gooseneck slant better. (Okay, he gets off with normal poop. He seems happier. He settles down faster and eats his hay bag sooner when it’s a gooseneck slant.) I bought the used gooseneck slant and not the new bumper pull two horse straight.
How’s the horse’s musculature and what kind of gear do you have on him? If you have huge bulging muscles on the underside of the neck, I’m gonna judge you and your martingale/tie down. I will judge you by your horse’s topline and his willingness to engage his abs. Gonna judge your elevator/gag/massive-shanks/bike chain bit, too.
I think it's ethically OK to keep and ride horses. I also eat meat and eggs. I'm not a PETA fanatic or something. But, if you are going to have a horse, you need to do your best to be fair and reasonable while working within their needs and wants. Horses are OK with doing work. Horses DO NOT mind doing work. But they DO need... lots of outside time, buddies, and a forage-based diet.
I will judge your horse-human relationship starting with the three F's.
Freedom: does your horse get a reasonable amount of turnout? Like, more than eight hours a day?
Friends: does your horse get to socialize with other horses on a daily basis?
Forage: does your horse consume primarily a forage-based diet (preferably grass though hay is also workable in areas where pasture is not a thing)?
Best: Horse lives in full-time turnout, with pasture, in a fairly consistent social group.
Workable: Horse lives with half-day turnout, with pasture and hay and sometimes a buddy.
Poor: Horse lives in a stall, with an hour a day solo turnout in a small paddock or a covered riding arena. There is no friend.
If you can manage the 3 F's, you're doing OK on the absolute basics. The 3 F's are things that should be prioritized AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE for overall welfare of domestic horses.
After that, I look at other things.
Does the horse seem comfortable and relaxed in the human’s company? (If the horse is continually tight and worried around the human, there's a reason for that. It is the human's job to see to it that the horse is OK about life.)
For a horse that Does Work, does the human see to it that the horse is fit enough for the work, mentally able to understand the work, and physically capable of doing the work? (When a human asks a horse to do work, it is the human's job to see to it that the horse is ready to do the work, and that readiness is both physical and mental.)
Does the human see to it that the horse has correctly-fitted tack and equipment?
Does the horse appear confident and relaxed in his efforts, especially when learning and/or possibly uncertain of the “right” answer? How’s the horse’s “try”? How long does he make efforts to “find the answer” when he doesn’t know it? Does he get frustrated? When the human is training the horse, do things ever escalate to a bad place? What happens then?
When things don’t go the way the human would like, how does the human approach the situation? Is it “I need to break this down smaller, re-explain the idea, try to buff some prerequisites, or revisit this in another way” or is it “Horse done screwed up, he is dumb” (I exaggerate for effect.)
When working, does the horse seem comfortable and “happy”? Does horse offer any visible sign of resistance (not like a single tail flip with lead change, but like a helicopter wringing tail)? If I can HEAR YOUR HORSE grind his teeth while you’re riding the pattern, I’m gonna judge you.
Is the horse easy to catch? (If you continually have trouble catching your horse, that's not a great thing. I ride my horse four to six days a week in the summer and he lives in full turnout with friends. He knows he’s getting ridden when I go out there to get him. There aren’t any treats for catching and never have been. He’s still easy to catch. If your horse doesn’t want to be around you, might could be you should look into that.)
How’s the horse to handle in ground manners, in and out gates, on and off trailers, etc.? Is he easy to be around? Does he need to be sedated for the farrier? (I’m gonna side-eye that, too.)
How does the human handle the horse when it’s not “for riding”. Are the horse’s experiences and preferences taken into consideration where possible? Example: I only haul one horse. He travels in a gooseneck three horse slant because (while I was trailer shopping) he got off every ride in a bumper pull two horse straight with splattery poop, even with a super-careful driver who did NOTHING WRONG – I rode in the cab. We tried multiple times. He just… couldn’t. He likes the gooseneck slant better. (Okay, he gets off with normal poop. He seems happier. He settles down faster and eats his hay bag sooner when it’s a gooseneck slant.) I bought the used gooseneck slant and not the new bumper pull two horse straight.
How’s the horse’s musculature and what kind of gear do you have on him? If you have huge bulging muscles on the underside of the neck, I’m gonna judge you and your martingale/tie down. I will judge you by your horse’s topline and his willingness to engage his abs. Gonna judge your elevator/gag/massive-shanks/bike chain bit, too.
I think it's ethically OK to keep and ride horses. I also eat meat and eggs. I'm not a PETA fanatic or something. But, if you are going to have a horse, you need to do your best to be fair and reasonable while working within their needs and wants. Horses are OK with doing work. Horses DO NOT mind doing work. But they DO need... lots of outside time, buddies, and a forage-based diet.
