1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,019 What is the vegan stance on horseback riding? Is riding horses cruel? 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,060 Well, get ready to get controversial! 3 00:00:10,140 --> 00:00:14,420 Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Today’s topic is 4 00:00:14,429 --> 00:00:17,939 something that I’ve been asked to cover by may of you out there, especially recently, 5 00:00:17,939 --> 00:00:22,289 so I’ve been doing my research. I want to first give thanks to Fair Horsemanship for 6 00:00:22,289 --> 00:00:25,380 all of her assistance and I’ll tell you how to get connected with her later in the 7 00:00:25,380 --> 00:00:25,800 video. 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,800 I’m first going to address the question of whether or not riding horses is vegan and 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,160 then I’ll move onto whether it’s cruel. As I said in my video about wool, veganism, 10 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:39,610 in general, is about opposing the use of animals for our own personal gains in any form whatsoever. 11 00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:43,760 If we look at horseback riding, it’s evident that horses do not need to be ridden. Horseback 12 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,530 riding solely benefits the rider and so it is a form of using animals for our entertainment, 13 00:00:48,530 --> 00:00:50,400 which is explicitly not vegan. 14 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:55,370 Now this is not a popular stance and there are several arguments as to how riding benefits 15 00:00:55,370 --> 00:01:00,010 the horse. One of these is that domesticated horses need exercise. The most simple response 16 00:01:00,010 --> 00:01:04,420 to this is that domesticated dogs also need exercise, yet owners are able to provide this 17 00:01:04,420 --> 00:01:09,280 without having to mount them. A second argument is that riding provides a horse with an enriched 18 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,399 environment. Again, this can be as easily be achieved without someone atop them by walking 19 00:01:13,399 --> 00:01:17,619 the horse from the ground. A third argument is one that comes in many forms but always 20 00:01:17,619 --> 00:01:22,389 starts with “By my horse loves…” and ends with: being ridden, going to shows, wearing 21 00:01:22,389 --> 00:01:26,859 a bridle, having a bit, running the barrels, or what have you. And perhaps there is some 22 00:01:26,859 --> 00:01:31,459 horse out there who actually likes to be ridden. But let’s take a look at what riding does 23 00:01:31,459 --> 00:01:35,969 to a horse's body physically. What I’m going to cover is just a cursory look into the impact 24 00:01:35,969 --> 00:01:40,049 of horseback riding on horses. I have links to additional resources in the blog post for 25 00:01:40,049 --> 00:01:44,159 this video, which is linked in the video description and I urge you to reference those studies 26 00:01:44,159 --> 00:01:47,609 if you want to delve deeper into his topic. Let’s start with skeletal structure. There 27 00:01:47,609 --> 00:01:51,850 is a saying that a horse is ready to ride when their “knees close.” This refers 28 00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:55,899 to waiting until the growth plates just above their knees convert from cartilage to bone. 29 00:01:55,899 --> 00:02:00,490 Dr. Den Bennet in her article Timing And Rate Of Skeletal Maturation In Horses, states that 30 00:02:00,490 --> 00:02:03,920 “what people often don’t realize is that there is a “growth plate” on either end 31 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:08,580 of every bone behind the skull, and in the case of some bones (like the pelvis or vertebrae, 32 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:12,190 which have many ‘corners’) there are multiple growth plates.” She goes on to detail the 33 00:02:12,190 --> 00:02:16,170 exact schedule of growth plate conversion to bone in horses. While many people start 34 00:02:16,170 --> 00:02:20,480 riding their horses around the age of 2, Dr. Bennet’s schedule shows that the last plates 35 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,180 to fuse are in the vertebral column- and this does not occur until the horse is at least 36 00:02:24,180 --> 00:02:28,450 five and a half years old, with taller horses and males taking even longer. According to 37 00:02:28,450 --> 00:02:32,100 the text Practical Anatomy and Propaedeutic of the Horse, the length of time for complete 38 00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:36,770 growth of the epiphyseal plates, or cartilage, is not until they are (on average) between 39 00:02:36,770 --> 00:02:38,250 6 and 9 years old! 40 00:02:38,250 --> 00:02:42,420 The basic takeaway of all of that is that it's incredibly easy to damage a horse's back 41 00:02:42,420 --> 00:02:46,850 and displace his or her vertebral growth plates, causing pain and lasting injury. 42 00:02:46,850 --> 00:02:51,280 Aside from the issue of growth plate fusion, riding a horse at any age causes skeletal 43 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:56,350 damage as well as muscle and tissue. Expert horseman, Alexander Nevzorov states “A horse’s 44 00:02:56,350 --> 00:03:00,150 back is not a seat, not a place for a human butt, not a piece of “meat”, not some 45 00:03:00,150 --> 00:03:04,460 sort of “terra fir- ma”. It is a very complex and tender anatomical structure with 46 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:08,780 extraordinary functions. Besides the obvious biomechanical function, the back has another 47 00:03:08,780 --> 00:03:12,810 very important function. The spinal cord’s work is to guarantee that the responses from 48 00:03:12,810 --> 00:03:17,240 the entire nervous system can communicate the senses of taste, smell, vision, hearing, 49 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,570 and vestibular function to the brain, not to get lost in too much detail. On this especially 50 00:03:21,570 --> 00:03:27,140 vulnerable, sensitive organ, onto the medulla spinalis, the brain of the back, sits a rider.” 51 00:03:27,140 --> 00:03:32,770 In a 2007 study out of the 295 horses who were considered physically sound upon initial 52 00:03:32,770 --> 00:03:38,290 examination, 91.5% were diagnosed with some kind of alteration on the spinal processes 53 00:03:38,290 --> 00:03:43,160 after X-ray. Almost always the spinal processes of the caudal saddle position were affected. 54 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:48,110 In horseback riding, the spinal damage caused by weight alone is compounded by the use of 55 00:03:48,110 --> 00:03:52,790 saddles, harnesses, bits, and whips. Saddles restrict blood flow to the arterial capillary 56 00:03:52,790 --> 00:03:57,090 bed causing tissue damage, as well as general wear and chafing. But nothing is quite as 57 00:03:57,090 --> 00:04:01,310 cruel as the use of bits and whips- which I’m only going to give a cursory nod to 58 00:04:01,310 --> 00:04:02,200 in this video. 59 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,600 Bits cause pain and damage to a horse’s complex cranial nerves as well as their teeth, 60 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:11,670 tongue and palate. Facial nerves are extremely close to the skin and thus extremely sensitive. 61 00:04:11,670 --> 00:04:16,500 It is essential to understand that there is absolutely no way to use a bit without a horse 62 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:17,370 feeling pain. 63 00:04:17,370 --> 00:04:22,010 And since I’m running short on time here, I’ll just say this about using a whip: it’s 64 00:04:22,010 --> 00:04:22,820 a whip! 65 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:27,360 Now all of this is just barely scraping the surface of the horse issue. I haven’t even 66 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,530 addressed the practice of breaking horses, horse racing, the rodeo and other topics and 67 00:04:32,530 --> 00:04:37,670 I'll cover those in future videos. For great information on horse-friendly activities from 68 00:04:37,670 --> 00:04:41,300 the ground and with positive reinforcement, please head over to Fair Horsemanship’s 69 00:04:41,300 --> 00:04:45,470 channel as well as check out her website. She's a great resource on this topic. 70 00:04:45,470 --> 00:04:48,850 Give the video a thumbs up if you likes it and please share it around with your friends 71 00:04:48,850 --> 00:04:52,610 and family. And if you’re new to the channel, I’d love to have you subscribe- here at 72 00:04:52,610 --> 00:04:58,100 BSV I address all aspect of veganism and aways in 5 minutes or less. Now go live vegan and 73 00:04:58,100 --> 00:04:58,870 I’ll see you soon!