0:00:00.080,0:00:04.600
Of all of the controversial topics I've covered,[br]nothing has drawn the ire of the internet

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as much as questioning the ethics of horseback riding.

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In the years since my first video on this[br]topic, I've realized a few things.

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One:

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horse

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people

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are

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passionate.

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And two: there’s a lot I failed to address.

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In fact, I've been rethinking my approach[br]to this debate entirely.

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So, is horse riding cruel?

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It is vegan?

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And is there any ethical way to ride a horse?

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(cracks neck)

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Let's do this

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Hi, it's Emily from BiteSizeVegan.org, where[br]you can find all the sources for this video,

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and my entire Horse Riding Ethics series.

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Before we discuss whether horse riding is[br]cruel, I want you to think about another question entirely:

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Are horses meant to be ridden?

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You see, the question of whether horse riding[br]is cruel tends to result in heated debate

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over which methods or schools of riding are[br]best, with riders insisting that horse riding

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is not harmful if done "correctly."

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Any physical or emotional harm caused by riding[br]horses is due to inexperienced riders, poor

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use of equipment, or any other number of factors.

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But all of this debate over how to ride horses[br]"properly" presupposes that there is an acceptable

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way to use another being for our own purposes.

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Even the very question of whether horse riding[br]is cruel risks implying that the only problem

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with riding horses is whether they suffer.

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The foundational ethical issue with horseback[br]riding isn't whether it hurts horses

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—it's the presumption that they are ours to use in the first place.

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That horses are meant to be ridden.

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We'll explore this further throughout this[br]video, but I wanted to plant this seed before

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we get too lost in the weeds—and before[br]the vast majority of YouTube viewers leave

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the video entirely.

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(And they're gone...)

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Let's start by addressing head-on four common[br]arguments in defense of riding horses.

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The most basic argument in the defence of riding horses is that [br]horses need exercise.

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This also comes with the most basic refutation:[br]so do dogs, cats, and human children—yet

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we've somehow found a way to provide such[br]necessary physical activity

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without mounting any of them.

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Yes, horses—like all animals—need exercise.

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And if riding them is the only way they are[br]allowed to receive that exercise, then yes—it's

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more beneficial than being stuck in a stall[br]24/7 But the choice of being ridden or receiving

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no exercise at all is a human-created false dichotomy.

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The reason horses even need humans to provide them with exercise

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is that we have confined them in the first place.

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A second argument is that riding provides[br]horses with an enriched environment and stimulation.

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As with exercise, these are valid needs of[br]any living being—and fully achievable without

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being mounted by a human.

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Again, if horses weren’t deprived of enrichment[br]and stimulation by humans in the first place,

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they wouldn’t need to be given enrichment[br]and stimulation by humans.

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Now, I know I've been a bit flippant in my[br]responses to the first two arguments, but

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I'm going to take some time on the final two[br]because they speak to profoundly important

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dynamics in how we conceptualize our relationships with horses.

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The assertion that horses enjoy being ridden[br]comes in many forms, but almost always starts

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with "but my horse loves..." and insert: being[br]ridden, going to shows, wearing a bridle,

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having a bit, running the barrels, and what have you.

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Horse riding advocates describe how excited[br]their horses are when they see it's time to

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go for a ride, listing behavioral signs of[br]enjoyment versus those indicating distress.

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Rather than debate the meaning of equine body[br]language, let's assume—for a moment—that

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a horse does show excitement about being ridden.

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This excitement has to be viewed within the[br]context of the limitations we've placed upon the horse

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What else do they have to look forward to?

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When your options are staying in a stall or[br]getting to go outside—albeit while being

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ridden—which would you choose?

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Adapting to the limits of confinement is a[br]survival mechanism in all animals—humans included

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Think of how imprisoned people find ingenious[br]ways to fulfill the need for social and communal

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interaction, intellectual stimulation, and physical activity.

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They may very well come to enjoy any time[br]they have outside their cell and excitedly

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anticipate things that, to non-imprisoned people, seem trivial [br]or even unappealing.

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But within the limited framework of confinement,[br]they adapt to stay sane.

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This re-frames the issue entirely to the ethics[br]of domestication itself—something explored

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by former horse trainer, trader, and rider[br]Ren Hurst in my interview with her:

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Most people have no idea that the animals[br]they are spending time with are in an absolute

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state of learned helplessness, of conditioning,[br]that doesn’t even allow you to experience their true nature.

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What you are experiencing is like this empty shell version...[br]of the animal in front of you

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Even if we could accurately determine consent [br]from other species, true consent cannot be

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freely given under unequal [br]power dynamics and constraints.

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This leads us to what I think may be the most[br]painful defense for riders to confront:

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the love they feel for their horses, and the deep[br]emotional bond formed through riding.

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To those of you who ride horses: [br]I do believe that you love them.

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I do believe that you feel a deep emotional[br]connection to them.

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And I believe that the depth of that love[br]is precisely what makes it so profoundly painful

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to question the true nature of your relationship with them.

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I also understand the resistance to having[br]that bond questioned by me—someone with

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no background in horse riding.

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So, I’ll again defer to Ren Hurst,

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You have to almost experience a truly free horse…[br]otherwise, your perception of what

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horses are and how they behave is really skewed.

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This is a being you have placed in your control[br]and in your care, and then you call that “love.”

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I mean, there’s nothing “loving” about[br]using someone for your own personal benefit.

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That’s not a loving relationship, and it’s[br]not an equal relationship.

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Riding horses involves using non-human animals[br]for entertainment, emotional fulfillment—even love.

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But using someone for love is still using someone.

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Now that we've touched on some of the principal[br]defenses for riding horses, let's explore

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the main arguments against horse riding.

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I'll be honest: the most common arguments[br]against horseback riding—which I myself

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focused upon in my original video and article[br]on this topic—all center upon the physical

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harm riding inflicts upon horses.

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Yes, it's important to address the physical[br]consequences horses endure.

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But focusing exclusively on their physical[br]suffering as the reason to stop riding horses

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misses the greater ethical issues entirely.

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Instead of questioning our use of horses in[br]the first place, we end up nitpicking the

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appropriate terms of their exploitation: arguing[br]about the best and worst methods of riding,

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the proper and improper use of equipment, et cetera.

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It is the very same trap of all animal welfarism,[br]like humane, free-range, and cage-free labels.

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Our right to use these beings is seen as a[br]foregone conclusion—the only thing we question

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is the "acceptable" ways in which we can use them.

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With that caveat stated, let's look at the[br]physical impact of horseback riding on horses

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before further exploring the vegan animal rights perspective.

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The short answer is yes, horse riding does hurt horses.

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Now, The exact nature and degree of the harm,[br]the precise causality, and proposed methods

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by which such harm may be mitigated is a [br]long-standing contentious debate

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that shows no signs of resolution.

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A major problem with the scientific and medical[br]literature is that it is conducted through

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the lens of minimizing the harm of horse use[br]in order to prolong that use.

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It is also framed within the unquestioned[br]constraints we've placed upon horses.

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Before we get into more detail, I want to[br]again urge you to take a step back and think

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about another question entirely: if so much[br]has to be done "correctly" to minimize the

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harm of riding horses, and no one can actually[br]agree on what that "correct" formula is, and

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riding horses is entirely [br]unnecessary in the first place—

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why are we still so insistent[br]on doing this to them?

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For the horse racing industry, the answer is clear: money.

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But for the individual rider—for the horse lover—

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stop to question why you feel you need to ride.

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The majority of blog posts and informal articles[br]I came across discussing whether riding hurts

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horses were written by riders.

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People who obviously have concern that their actions [br]are adversely impacting the beings they love.

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Yet those posts went on to catalog—sometimes[br]in extensive detail—how, exactly, to make

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the riding experience as enjoyable as possible for your horse.

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How to minimize injury and distress.

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Some echo the journey of Ren Hurst, progressively[br]using less and less horse tack and adopting

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more gentle methods, all in an effort to find[br]a justifiable way to still use horses.

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So, let's follow this path and start with[br]the harm of horse tack.

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If you’re not familiar, horse tack refers to the equipment and [br]accessories used on domesticated horses.

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This includes things like saddles, bits, bridles, and whips.

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It's worth noting that most horse tack is[br]made from the skin of other non-human animals,

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further compounding the exploitation.

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I cover the leather industry in depth in another video.

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In addition to general wear and chafing, saddles[br]run the risk of causing vascular occlusion—meaning

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the restriction of blood flow—which can,[br]if prolonged, lead to "necrosis of the under-lying

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tissues" —meaning the horse's skin and muscles die.

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Riding bareback (without a saddle) isn't the[br]answer, as it may actually increase the risk

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of injury by putting more concentrated pressure[br]on a horse's back than with a saddle.

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So, To avoid severe consequences such as necrosis,[br]much industry and scientific research goes

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into designing and educating riders about[br]"proper" saddle fit and use.

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The option of just not riding horses at all[br]never even enters the discussion.

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Because we just have to get up on them.

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I have a video covering bits,[br]so I’ll keep this brief.

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Bits cause pain and damage to a horse’s[br]complex cranial nerves as well as their teeth,

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tongue, and palate.

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Facial nerves are very close to the skin and[br]thus extremely sensitive.

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Bits provide a perfect example of the incremental[br]negotiation of acceptable exploitation that

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occurs when viewing a horses' pain as the only problem.

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Rather than question the domination and control[br]of another being, more and more riders adopt

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and advocate for bitless bridles.

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Then, when research hints that perhaps even[br]bitless bridles cause pain, there's another

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school or device or approach ready to take its place.

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Riding advocates emphasize that whips and[br]crops should not be used as punishment

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—only as encouragement.

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As with all horse tack, there is unending[br]debate over their "proper" use, with much

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focus given to the potential physical and[br]emotional harm of misuse.

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Let's pause for a moment to consider that[br]we're now debating the proper way to whip

0:10:50.589,0:10:52.581
a being we love.

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Let's proceed.

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The most widespread controversy about whips[br]is their use in the horse racing industry,

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which I've covered in a dedicated video and article.

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While the way whips are used within horse[br]racing differs from how they're used in non-competitive

0:11:07.790,0:11:12.480
riding, recent research into horse pain perception[br]from whips is applicable to the larger issues

0:11:12.480,0:11:13.580
we've been exploring.

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There's a long-standing misconception that[br]horses have "thicker skin" than humans, and

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thus, whips don't hurt them.

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Not that we should need this to know better,[br]but research has found that this is not the case,

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with a 2020 study finding "no significant[br]difference between humans and horses in either

0:11:28.410,0:11:33.040
the concentration of nerve endings in the[br]outer pain-detecting layer of skin or in the

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thickness of this layer...although horse skin[br]is thicker overall than human skin, the part

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of the skin that is thicker does not insulate[br]them from pain...humans and horses have the

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equivalent basic anatomic structures to detect pain in the skin."

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Six years before this study, one of the authors,[br]Paul McGreevy decided to whip himself while

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taking thermographic imaging, saying: "My[br]view is that – because there is no evidence

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to the contrary – we must assume that, just[br]as I felt pain and distress from the impact

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of the padded whip, similar whipping in a[br]horse would also cause pain and distress."

0:12:06.339,0:12:11.675
While it's validating to now have the scientific[br]verification, I wanted to highlight McGreevy's point:

0:12:11.675,0:12:17.829
Why not assume that other sentient[br]beings feel pain as we do, rather than continue

0:12:17.829,0:12:22.401
to harm them unless we've proven to ourselves that it is harm?

0:12:22.562,0:12:26.339
Now that we've addressed horse tack, what about the act of riding itself?

0:12:26.339,0:12:31.370
When researching the physical harm of riding[br]horses, I found an astounding lack of consensus

0:12:31.370,0:12:36.339
and ongoing controversy regarding horse skeletal[br]maturation and growth plate closure rates,

0:12:36.339,0:12:40.863
diagnosis and treatment of injuries, and the relationship of [br]riding and training practices to injury rates.

0:12:40.863,0:12:45.500
Even a veterinary manual explaining "the most[br]common cause of back soreness in the horse"

0:12:45.500,0:12:50.050
is soft-tissue damage to the muscles and supraspinous[br]ligament in a horse's back, which "are strained

0:12:50.050,0:12:54.649
while the horse is being ridden" is sure to[br]point out that "there is considerable controversy

0:12:54.649,0:12:57.740
over the diagnosis and treatment of back problems in horses."

0:12:57.740,0:13:02.240
It’s acknowledged that "Across all equestrian[br]disciplines, the single largest reason for

0:13:02.240,0:13:08.600
wastage"—also euphemistically referred to[br]as "loss of horses"— "is musculoskeletal injury,"

0:13:08.600,0:13:14.177
Yet horse skeletal maturation rates and damage from riding [br]remain particularly contentious.

0:13:14.177,0:13:19.100
Many studies and sources declare horses "skeletally[br]mature" at 2–3 years of age based either

0:13:19.100,0:13:22.880
on the growth plates closing in their legs,[br]or their having reached their full height and weight.

0:13:22.880,0:13:27.030
None of these factors speak to the maturity[br]of their axial skeleton, which includes their

0:13:27.030,0:13:31.750
vertebral column—y'know, the part you sit[br]on—or even parts of the pubis that don't

0:13:31.750,0:13:35.899
fuse until 4.5–5 years of age, long after[br]they're already being ridden.

0:13:35.899,0:13:41.550
I spent days delving into horse skeletal development—I[br]even chased down findings about horse pubic

0:13:41.550,0:13:48.310
epiphyseal fusion not occurring until up to[br]5 years of age that were made in 1897.

0:13:48.310,0:13:53.050
Yet well over 100 years later, we're still[br]asking when horses are skeletally mature and

0:13:53.050,0:13:55.970
basing it off the earliest fusing plates in their limbs.

0:13:55.970,0:13:59.920
I've included more detail on my research process[br]and findings on the article for this video

0:13:59.920,0:14:01.300
if you want to dive deeper.

0:14:01.300,0:14:06.750
But honestly, those hundred or so hours I[br]spent digging only highlighted the utter insanity

0:14:06.750,0:14:13.639
of how much time, energy, and effort we humans[br]put into justifying our use of other animals.

0:14:13.639,0:14:19.279
In the end, the industry, scientific, medical,[br]and even lay-rider literature doesn't really

0:14:19.279,0:14:24.839
refute the harm of riding—it just strives[br]to determine the best way to reduce that harm

0:14:24.839,0:14:27.330
and prolong the use of horses.

0:14:27.330,0:14:31.580
The warring approaches to riding, endless[br]studies on training practices, and progressive

0:14:31.580,0:14:37.370
bargaining of using less and less tack are[br]all manifestations of the same incremental

0:14:37.370,0:14:42.339
negotiation of exploitation we perform with all non-human animals.

0:14:42.339,0:14:46.470
Battery cages are too cruel for layer hens,[br]so we give them slightly larger cages.

0:14:46.470,0:14:47.470
Still problematic?

0:14:47.470,0:14:48.470
How about a crowded shed?

0:14:48.470,0:14:49.470
Still too grim?

0:14:49.470,0:14:50.589
Let's raise backyard chickens.

0:14:50.589,0:14:58.534
We barter and bargain and give ourselves happy-sounding[br]labels, doing anything we can to keep using animals

0:14:58.759,0:15:00.170
—but feel good about it.

0:15:00.170,0:15:04.459
Within the horse world, a poignant example[br]of this mentality is the United States horse

0:15:04.459,0:15:10.160
racing industry patting itself on the back for a 23.5% [br]decrease in fatalities over a

0:15:10.160,0:15:13.769
decade of voluntary data collection by The Jockey Club.

0:15:13.769,0:15:15.430
Now there are going to be fatalities.

0:15:15.430,0:15:20.850
But, as The Jockey Club's senior counsel said,[br]the fact that slightly fewer horses died of

0:15:20.850,0:15:25.660
fatal injuries while racing "indicates that[br]the Thoroughbred industry's commitment to

0:15:25.660,0:15:28.930
equine safety is paying dividends."

0:15:28.930,0:15:34.050
Not only do we fail to question what we're[br]doing to these beings, but we actually congratulate

0:15:34.050,0:15:38.500
ourselves for being the heroes in the disasters of our own creation.

0:15:38.500,0:15:44.860
We swoop in to make their abbreviated lives[br]slightly less miserable—lives that we've

0:15:44.860,0:15:49.680
made abbreviated and miserable in the first place.

0:15:49.680,0:15:54.220
By this point, you can probably guess the[br]answer to whether horse riding is vegan.

0:15:54.220,0:15:58.623
The question "is horse riding vegan" is quite[br]different from the question "is horse riding cruel"

0:15:58.744,0:16:02.630
Veganism and animal rights oppose any [br]exploitation of sentient beings

0:16:02.630,0:16:05.130
It's evident that horses do not need to be ridden.

0:16:05.130,0:16:10.627
When a horse's basic needs are met without[br]being ridden, horseback riding solely benefits the rider

0:16:10.627,0:16:15.480
Whether that benefit is financial gain, entertainment,[br]emotional fulfillment, or even a presumed

0:16:15.480,0:16:18.290
expression of love—it is exploitation.

0:16:18.290,0:16:25.549
There is no way to take advantage of someone's[br]captive dependency without exploiting them.

0:16:25.549,0:16:29.800
Underlying all of the debates over the "proper"[br]way to train and ride horses is not only the

0:16:29.800,0:16:36.240
tacit acknowledgment that some degree of harm[br]is acceptable but also the deeply entrenched

0:16:36.240,0:16:41.959
and unquestioned presumption that horses are ours to use.

0:16:41.959,0:16:47.380
Confronting the exploitation of horse use is—I'm sure—profoundly painful.

0:16:47.380,0:16:52.149
It's likely as traumatic as confronting what[br]we do to animals in the food industry—and

0:16:52.149,0:16:59.589
elicits just as strong defenses and justifications,[br]even from vegans who continue to ride.

0:16:59.589,0:17:05.970
Again, I will encourage those of you who ride[br]horses to ask yourself: why?

0:17:05.970,0:17:09.160
Why do you insist on doing this to them?

0:17:09.160,0:17:15.981
As much as I'm sure you love them, is this[br]how you express love for any other being in your life?

0:17:16.192,0:17:22.209
This isn’t about shame—it’s about learning[br]to love horses truly unconditionally, and

0:17:22.209,0:17:29.396
allowing them to be their full selves outside[br]of the constraints of who we need them to be.

0:17:30.234,0:17:35.712
I'll be honest—revisiting the ethics of[br]horse riding has been an exhausting, challenging,

0:17:35.712,0:17:38.400
and somewhat maddening experience.

0:17:38.400,0:17:42.440
My hope is that this video will reach [br]those of you who are still riding—and

0:17:42.440,0:17:48.195
that you'll find a way to work through your defenses and take an [br]honest look at your relationship with horses.

0:17:48.294,0:17:52.197
I highly recommend watching my interview with[br]Ren Hurst—hearing from someone who has been

0:17:52.197,0:17:55.740
where you are is no doubt more [br]powerful than anything I can say.

0:17:55.740,0:17:57.590
Please share this video with others who ride.

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And, as much as I joked about "passionate feedback," [br]I do want to hear from you in the comments.

0:18:02.427,0:18:04.470
What are your thoughts on the ethics of horse riding?

0:18:04.470,0:18:08.809
To stay in the loop about new Bite Size Vegan[br]content and updates, subscribe to the newsletter

0:18:08.809,0:18:12.040
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0:18:12.040,0:18:14.059
Just click Subscribe at BiteSizeVegan.org.

0:18:14.059,0:18:16.179
Now go live vegan, and I'll see you soon.