WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.600 Of all of the controversial topics I've covered, nothing has drawn the ire of the internet 00:00:04.600 --> 00:00:07.250 as much as questioning the ethics of horseback riding. 00:00:07.250 --> 00:00:10.534 In the years since my first video on this topic, I've realized a few things. 00:00:10.534 --> 00:00:11.034 One: 00:00:11.034 --> 00:00:11.534 horse 00:00:11.534 --> 00:00:12.100 people 00:00:12.100 --> 00:00:12.600 are 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:13.960 passionate. 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.785 And two: there’s a lot I failed to address. 00:00:16.785 --> 00:00:20.439 In fact, I've been rethinking my approach to this debate entirely. 00:00:20.439 --> 00:00:22.330 So, is horse riding cruel? 00:00:22.330 --> 00:00:23.349 It is vegan? 00:00:23.349 --> 00:00:26.156 And is there any ethical way to ride a horse? 00:00:26.156 --> 00:00:27.161 (cracks neck) 00:00:28.534 --> 00:00:29.734 Let's do this 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.710 Hi, it's Emily from BiteSizeVegan.org, where you can find all the sources for this video, 00:00:39.710 --> 00:00:42.309 and my entire Horse Riding Ethics series. 00:00:42.309 --> 00:00:47.071 Before we discuss whether horse riding is cruel, I want you to think about another question entirely: 00:00:47.071 --> 00:00:49.239 Are horses meant to be ridden? 00:00:49.239 --> 00:00:53.500 You see, the question of whether horse riding is cruel tends to result in heated debate 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:58.109 over which methods or schools of riding are best, with riders insisting that horse riding 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:00.760 is not harmful if done "correctly." 00:01:00.760 --> 00:01:05.470 Any physical or emotional harm caused by riding horses is due to inexperienced riders, poor 00:01:05.470 --> 00:01:08.270 use of equipment, or any other number of factors. 00:01:08.270 --> 00:01:15.030 But all of this debate over how to ride horses "properly" presupposes that there is an acceptable 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:18.920 way to use another being for our own purposes. 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:24.509 Even the very question of whether horse riding is cruel risks implying that the only problem 00:01:24.509 --> 00:01:27.259 with riding horses is whether they suffer. 00:01:27.259 --> 00:01:31.700 The foundational ethical issue with horseback riding isn't whether it hurts horses 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:35.350 —it's the presumption that they are ours to use in the first place. 00:01:35.350 --> 00:01:38.020 That horses are meant to be ridden. 00:01:38.020 --> 00:01:41.700 We'll explore this further throughout this video, but I wanted to plant this seed before 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:46.030 we get too lost in the weeds—and before the vast majority of YouTube viewers leave 00:01:46.030 --> 00:01:47.500 the video entirely. 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:49.301 (And they're gone...) 00:01:49.301 --> 00:01:53.981 Let's start by addressing head-on four common arguments in defense of riding horses. 00:01:53.981 --> 00:01:58.320 The most basic argument in the defence of riding horses is that horses need exercise. 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:03.079 This also comes with the most basic refutation: so do dogs, cats, and human children—yet 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:06.601 we've somehow found a way to provide such necessary physical activity 00:02:06.601 --> 00:02:09.629 without mounting any of them. 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:12.750 Yes, horses—like all animals—need exercise. 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:18.629 And if riding them is the only way they are allowed to receive that exercise, then yes—it's 00:02:18.629 --> 00:02:23.910 more beneficial than being stuck in a stall 24/7 But the choice of being ridden or receiving 00:02:23.910 --> 00:02:27.310 no exercise at all is a human-created false dichotomy. 00:02:27.310 --> 00:02:31.337 The reason horses even need humans to provide them with exercise 00:02:31.337 --> 00:02:34.940 is that we have confined them in the first place. 00:02:34.940 --> 00:02:39.340 A second argument is that riding provides horses with an enriched environment and stimulation. 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:45.390 As with exercise, these are valid needs of any living being—and fully achievable without 00:02:45.390 --> 00:02:47.319 being mounted by a human. 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:53.500 Again, if horses weren’t deprived of enrichment and stimulation by humans in the first place, 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:57.349 they wouldn’t need to be given enrichment and stimulation by humans. 00:02:57.349 --> 00:03:01.550 Now, I know I've been a bit flippant in my responses to the first two arguments, but 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:05.500 I'm going to take some time on the final two because they speak to profoundly important 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:09.530 dynamics in how we conceptualize our relationships with horses. 00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:14.459 The assertion that horses enjoy being ridden comes in many forms, but almost always starts 00:03:14.459 --> 00:03:19.940 with "but my horse loves..." and insert: being ridden, going to shows, wearing a bridle, 00:03:19.940 --> 00:03:22.500 having a bit, running the barrels, and what have you. 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:26.080 Horse riding advocates describe how excited their horses are when they see it's time to 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:31.159 go for a ride, listing behavioral signs of enjoyment versus those indicating distress. 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:34.530 Rather than debate the meaning of equine body language, let's assume—for a moment—that 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:37.269 a horse does show excitement about being ridden. 00:03:37.269 --> 00:03:42.730 This excitement has to be viewed within the context of the limitations we've placed upon the horse 00:03:42.730 --> 00:03:44.770 What else do they have to look forward to? 00:03:44.770 --> 00:03:49.550 When your options are staying in a stall or getting to go outside—albeit while being 00:03:49.550 --> 00:03:51.980 ridden—which would you choose? 00:03:51.980 --> 00:03:56.997 Adapting to the limits of confinement is a survival mechanism in all animals—humans included 00:03:56.997 --> 00:04:01.739 Think of how imprisoned people find ingenious ways to fulfill the need for social and communal 00:04:01.739 --> 00:04:04.629 interaction, intellectual stimulation, and physical activity. 00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:09.099 They may very well come to enjoy any time they have outside their cell and excitedly 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:14.079 anticipate things that, to non-imprisoned people, seem trivial or even unappealing. 00:04:14.079 --> 00:04:18.470 But within the limited framework of confinement, they adapt to stay sane. 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:23.090 This re-frames the issue entirely to the ethics of domestication itself—something explored 00:04:23.090 --> 00:04:27.280 by former horse trainer, trader, and rider Ren Hurst in my interview with her: 00:04:27.280 --> 00:04:32.570 Most people have no idea that the animals they are spending time with are in an absolute 00:04:32.570 --> 00:04:37.756 state of learned helplessness, of conditioning, that doesn’t even allow you to experience their true nature. 00:04:37.756 --> 00:04:43.250 What you are experiencing is like this empty shell version... of the animal in front of you 00:04:43.250 --> 00:04:48.800 Even if we could accurately determine consent from other species, true consent cannot be 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.720 freely given under unequal power dynamics and constraints. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:57.430 This leads us to what I think may be the most painful defense for riders to confront: 00:04:57.430 --> 00:05:01.840 the love they feel for their horses, and the deep emotional bond formed through riding. 00:05:01.840 --> 00:05:06.030 To those of you who ride horses: I do believe that you love them. 00:05:06.030 --> 00:05:10.270 I do believe that you feel a deep emotional connection to them. 00:05:10.270 --> 00:05:17.229 And I believe that the depth of that love is precisely what makes it so profoundly painful 00:05:17.229 --> 00:05:20.419 to question the true nature of your relationship with them. 00:05:20.419 --> 00:05:24.790 I also understand the resistance to having that bond questioned by me—someone with 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:26.540 no background in horse riding. 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:28.620 So, I’ll again defer to Ren Hurst, 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:33.900 You have to almost experience a truly free horse… otherwise, your perception of what 00:05:33.900 --> 00:05:37.520 horses are and how they behave is really skewed. 00:05:37.520 --> 00:05:42.199 This is a being you have placed in your control and in your care, and then you call that “love.” 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:47.880 I mean, there’s nothing “loving” about using someone for your own personal benefit. 00:05:47.880 --> 00:05:52.400 That’s not a loving relationship, and it’s not an equal relationship. 00:05:52.400 --> 00:05:58.275 Riding horses involves using non-human animals for entertainment, emotional fulfillment—even love. 00:05:58.275 --> 00:06:03.190 But using someone for love is still using someone. 00:06:03.190 --> 00:06:06.850 Now that we've touched on some of the principal defenses for riding horses, let's explore 00:06:06.850 --> 00:06:08.930 the main arguments against horse riding. 00:06:08.930 --> 00:06:13.660 I'll be honest: the most common arguments against horseback riding—which I myself 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:18.479 focused upon in my original video and article on this topic—all center upon the physical 00:06:18.479 --> 00:06:20.720 harm riding inflicts upon horses. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:24.210 Yes, it's important to address the physical consequences horses endure. 00:06:24.210 --> 00:06:29.710 But focusing exclusively on their physical suffering as the reason to stop riding horses 00:06:29.710 --> 00:06:32.880 misses the greater ethical issues entirely. 00:06:32.880 --> 00:06:37.460 Instead of questioning our use of horses in the first place, we end up nitpicking the 00:06:37.460 --> 00:06:42.720 appropriate terms of their exploitation: arguing about the best and worst methods of riding, 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:44.980 the proper and improper use of equipment, et cetera. 00:06:44.980 --> 00:06:51.500 It is the very same trap of all animal welfarism, like humane, free-range, and cage-free labels. 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:57.000 Our right to use these beings is seen as a foregone conclusion—the only thing we question 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.370 is the "acceptable" ways in which we can use them. 00:07:00.370 --> 00:07:04.889 With that caveat stated, let's look at the physical impact of horseback riding on horses 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:07.740 before further exploring the vegan animal rights perspective. 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:11.800 The short answer is yes, horse riding does hurt horses. 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:16.930 Now, The exact nature and degree of the harm, the precise causality, and proposed methods 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:21.132 by which such harm may be mitigated is a long-standing contentious debate 00:07:21.132 --> 00:07:23.370 that shows no signs of resolution. 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:27.720 A major problem with the scientific and medical literature is that it is conducted through 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:32.980 the lens of minimizing the harm of horse use in order to prolong that use. 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:37.400 It is also framed within the unquestioned constraints we've placed upon horses. 00:07:37.400 --> 00:07:41.610 Before we get into more detail, I want to again urge you to take a step back and think 00:07:41.610 --> 00:07:47.699 about another question entirely: if so much has to be done "correctly" to minimize the 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:53.900 harm of riding horses, and no one can actually agree on what that "correct" formula is, and 00:07:53.900 --> 00:07:57.885 riding horses is entirely unnecessary in the first place— 00:07:57.885 --> 00:08:03.301 why are we still so insistent on doing this to them? 00:08:03.301 --> 00:08:06.930 For the horse racing industry, the answer is clear: money. 00:08:06.930 --> 00:08:10.224 But for the individual rider—for the horse lover— 00:08:10.224 --> 00:08:14.009 stop to question why you feel you need to ride. 00:08:14.009 --> 00:08:18.910 The majority of blog posts and informal articles I came across discussing whether riding hurts 00:08:18.910 --> 00:08:21.349 horses were written by riders. 00:08:21.349 --> 00:08:27.215 People who obviously have concern that their actions are adversely impacting the beings they love. 00:08:27.381 --> 00:08:34.080 Yet those posts went on to catalog—sometimes in extensive detail—how, exactly, to make 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:38.160 the riding experience as enjoyable as possible for your horse. 00:08:38.160 --> 00:08:41.330 How to minimize injury and distress. 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:46.320 Some echo the journey of Ren Hurst, progressively using less and less horse tack and adopting 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:53.149 more gentle methods, all in an effort to find a justifiable way to still use horses. 00:08:53.149 --> 00:08:56.990 So, let's follow this path and start with the harm of horse tack. 00:08:56.990 --> 00:09:02.810 If you’re not familiar, horse tack refers to the equipment and accessories used on domesticated horses. 00:09:02.810 --> 00:09:05.700 This includes things like saddles, bits, bridles, and whips. 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:09.880 It's worth noting that most horse tack is made from the skin of other non-human animals, 00:09:09.880 --> 00:09:11.690 further compounding the exploitation. 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:14.680 I cover the leather industry in depth in another video. 00:09:14.680 --> 00:09:19.170 In addition to general wear and chafing, saddles run the risk of causing vascular occlusion—meaning 00:09:19.170 --> 00:09:23.730 the restriction of blood flow—which can, if prolonged, lead to "necrosis of the under-lying 00:09:23.730 --> 00:09:26.899 tissues" —meaning the horse's skin and muscles die. 00:09:26.899 --> 00:09:31.140 Riding bareback (without a saddle) isn't the answer, as it may actually increase the risk 00:09:31.140 --> 00:09:35.330 of injury by putting more concentrated pressure on a horse's back than with a saddle. 00:09:35.330 --> 00:09:40.670 So, To avoid severe consequences such as necrosis, much industry and scientific research goes 00:09:40.670 --> 00:09:44.970 into designing and educating riders about "proper" saddle fit and use. 00:09:44.970 --> 00:09:49.330 The option of just not riding horses at all never even enters the discussion. 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:51.730 Because we just have to get up on them. 00:09:52.693 --> 00:09:55.850 I have a video covering bits, so I’ll keep this brief. 00:09:55.850 --> 00:10:00.100 Bits cause pain and damage to a horse’s complex cranial nerves as well as their teeth, 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:01.100 tongue, and palate. 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:04.970 Facial nerves are very close to the skin and thus extremely sensitive. 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:10.410 Bits provide a perfect example of the incremental negotiation of acceptable exploitation that 00:10:10.410 --> 00:10:14.420 occurs when viewing a horses' pain as the only problem. 00:10:14.420 --> 00:10:19.060 Rather than question the domination and control of another being, more and more riders adopt 00:10:19.060 --> 00:10:21.040 and advocate for bitless bridles. 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:26.100 Then, when research hints that perhaps even bitless bridles cause pain, there's another 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:29.940 school or device or approach ready to take its place. 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:33.935 Riding advocates emphasize that whips and crops should not be used as punishment 00:10:33.935 --> 00:10:35.160 —only as encouragement. 00:10:35.160 --> 00:10:39.660 As with all horse tack, there is unending debate over their "proper" use, with much 00:10:39.660 --> 00:10:43.589 focus given to the potential physical and emotional harm of misuse. 00:10:43.589 --> 00:10:50.589 Let's pause for a moment to consider that we're now debating the proper way to whip 00:10:50.589 --> 00:10:52.581 a being we love. 00:10:55.871 --> 00:10:56.947 Let's proceed. 00:10:57.020 --> 00:11:01.399 The most widespread controversy about whips is their use in the horse racing industry, 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.329 which I've covered in a dedicated video and article. 00:11:03.329 --> 00:11:07.790 While the way whips are used within horse racing differs from how they're used in non-competitive 00:11:07.790 --> 00:11:12.480 riding, recent research into horse pain perception from whips is applicable to the larger issues 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:13.580 we've been exploring. 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:17.720 There's a long-standing misconception that horses have "thicker skin" than humans, and 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:19.300 thus, whips don't hurt them. 00:11:19.300 --> 00:11:23.370 Not that we should need this to know better, but research has found that this is not the case, 00:11:23.370 --> 00:11:28.410 with a 2020 study finding "no significant difference between humans and horses in either 00:11:28.410 --> 00:11:33.040 the concentration of nerve endings in the outer pain-detecting layer of skin or in the 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:37.940 thickness of this layer...although horse skin is thicker overall than human skin, the part 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:43.300 of the skin that is thicker does not insulate them from pain...humans and horses have the 00:11:43.300 --> 00:11:47.800 equivalent basic anatomic structures to detect pain in the skin." 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:52.899 Six years before this study, one of the authors, Paul McGreevy decided to whip himself while 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:56.880 taking thermographic imaging, saying: "My view is that – because there is no evidence 00:11:56.880 --> 00:12:01.790 to the contrary – we must assume that, just as I felt pain and distress from the impact 00:12:01.790 --> 00:12:06.339 of the padded whip, similar whipping in a horse would also cause pain and distress." 00:12:06.339 --> 00:12:11.675 While it's validating to now have the scientific verification, I wanted to highlight McGreevy's point: 00:12:11.675 --> 00:12:17.829 Why not assume that other sentient beings feel pain as we do, rather than continue 00:12:17.829 --> 00:12:22.401 to harm them unless we've proven to ourselves that it is harm? 00:12:22.562 --> 00:12:26.339 Now that we've addressed horse tack, what about the act of riding itself? 00:12:26.339 --> 00:12:31.370 When researching the physical harm of riding horses, I found an astounding lack of consensus 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:36.339 and ongoing controversy regarding horse skeletal maturation and growth plate closure rates, 00:12:36.339 --> 00:12:40.863 diagnosis and treatment of injuries, and the relationship of riding and training practices to injury rates. 00:12:40.863 --> 00:12:45.500 Even a veterinary manual explaining "the most common cause of back soreness in the horse" 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:50.050 is soft-tissue damage to the muscles and supraspinous ligament in a horse's back, which "are strained 00:12:50.050 --> 00:12:54.649 while the horse is being ridden" is sure to point out that "there is considerable controversy 00:12:54.649 --> 00:12:57.740 over the diagnosis and treatment of back problems in horses." 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:02.240 It’s acknowledged that "Across all equestrian disciplines, the single largest reason for 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:08.600 wastage"—also euphemistically referred to as "loss of horses"— "is musculoskeletal injury," 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:14.177 Yet horse skeletal maturation rates and damage from riding remain particularly contentious. 00:13:14.177 --> 00:13:19.100 Many studies and sources declare horses "skeletally mature" at 2–3 years of age based either 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:22.880 on the growth plates closing in their legs, or their having reached their full height and weight. 00:13:22.880 --> 00:13:27.030 None of these factors speak to the maturity of their axial skeleton, which includes their 00:13:27.030 --> 00:13:31.750 vertebral column—y'know, the part you sit on—or even parts of the pubis that don't 00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:35.899 fuse until 4.5–5 years of age, long after they're already being ridden. 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:41.550 I spent days delving into horse skeletal development—I even chased down findings about horse pubic 00:13:41.550 --> 00:13:48.310 epiphyseal fusion not occurring until up to 5 years of age that were made in 1897. 00:13:48.310 --> 00:13:53.050 Yet well over 100 years later, we're still asking when horses are skeletally mature and 00:13:53.050 --> 00:13:55.970 basing it off the earliest fusing plates in their limbs. 00:13:55.970 --> 00:13:59.920 I've included more detail on my research process and findings on the article for this video 00:13:59.920 --> 00:14:01.300 if you want to dive deeper. 00:14:01.300 --> 00:14:06.750 But honestly, those hundred or so hours I spent digging only highlighted the utter insanity 00:14:06.750 --> 00:14:13.639 of how much time, energy, and effort we humans put into justifying our use of other animals. 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:19.279 In the end, the industry, scientific, medical, and even lay-rider literature doesn't really 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.839 refute the harm of riding—it just strives to determine the best way to reduce that harm 00:14:24.839 --> 00:14:27.330 and prolong the use of horses. 00:14:27.330 --> 00:14:31.580 The warring approaches to riding, endless studies on training practices, and progressive 00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:37.370 bargaining of using less and less tack are all manifestations of the same incremental 00:14:37.370 --> 00:14:42.339 negotiation of exploitation we perform with all non-human animals. 00:14:42.339 --> 00:14:46.470 Battery cages are too cruel for layer hens, so we give them slightly larger cages. 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:47.470 Still problematic? 00:14:47.470 --> 00:14:48.470 How about a crowded shed? 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:49.470 Still too grim? 00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:50.589 Let's raise backyard chickens. 00:14:50.589 --> 00:14:58.534 We barter and bargain and give ourselves happy-sounding labels, doing anything we can to keep using animals 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:00.170 —but feel good about it. 00:15:00.170 --> 00:15:04.459 Within the horse world, a poignant example of this mentality is the United States horse 00:15:04.459 --> 00:15:10.160 racing industry patting itself on the back for a 23.5% decrease in fatalities over a 00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:13.769 decade of voluntary data collection by The Jockey Club. 00:15:13.769 --> 00:15:15.430 Now there are going to be fatalities. 00:15:15.430 --> 00:15:20.850 But, as The Jockey Club's senior counsel said, the fact that slightly fewer horses died of 00:15:20.850 --> 00:15:25.660 fatal injuries while racing "indicates that the Thoroughbred industry's commitment to 00:15:25.660 --> 00:15:28.930 equine safety is paying dividends." 00:15:28.930 --> 00:15:34.050 Not only do we fail to question what we're doing to these beings, but we actually congratulate 00:15:34.050 --> 00:15:38.500 ourselves for being the heroes in the disasters of our own creation. 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:44.860 We swoop in to make their abbreviated lives slightly less miserable—lives that we've 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:49.680 made abbreviated and miserable in the first place. 00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:54.220 By this point, you can probably guess the answer to whether horse riding is vegan. 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:58.623 The question "is horse riding vegan" is quite different from the question "is horse riding cruel" 00:15:58.744 --> 00:16:02.630 Veganism and animal rights oppose any exploitation of sentient beings 00:16:02.630 --> 00:16:05.130 It's evident that horses do not need to be ridden. 00:16:05.130 --> 00:16:10.627 When a horse's basic needs are met without being ridden, horseback riding solely benefits the rider 00:16:10.627 --> 00:16:15.480 Whether that benefit is financial gain, entertainment, emotional fulfillment, or even a presumed 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.290 expression of love—it is exploitation. 00:16:18.290 --> 00:16:25.549 There is no way to take advantage of someone's captive dependency without exploiting them. 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:29.800 Underlying all of the debates over the "proper" way to train and ride horses is not only the 00:16:29.800 --> 00:16:36.240 tacit acknowledgment that some degree of harm is acceptable but also the deeply entrenched 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:41.959 and unquestioned presumption that horses are ours to use. 00:16:41.959 --> 00:16:47.380 Confronting the exploitation of horse use is—I'm sure—profoundly painful. 00:16:47.380 --> 00:16:52.149 It's likely as traumatic as confronting what we do to animals in the food industry—and 00:16:52.149 --> 00:16:59.589 elicits just as strong defenses and justifications, even from vegans who continue to ride. 00:16:59.589 --> 00:17:05.970 Again, I will encourage those of you who ride horses to ask yourself: why? 00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:09.160 Why do you insist on doing this to them? 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:15.981 As much as I'm sure you love them, is this how you express love for any other being in your life? 00:17:16.192 --> 00:17:22.209 This isn’t about shame—it’s about learning to love horses truly unconditionally, and 00:17:22.209 --> 00:17:29.396 allowing them to be their full selves outside of the constraints of who we need them to be. 00:17:30.234 --> 00:17:35.712 I'll be honest—revisiting the ethics of horse riding has been an exhausting, challenging, 00:17:35.712 --> 00:17:38.400 and somewhat maddening experience. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:42.440 My hope is that this video will reach those of you who are still riding—and 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:48.195 that you'll find a way to work through your defenses and take an honest look at your relationship with horses. 00:17:48.294 --> 00:17:52.197 I highly recommend watching my interview with Ren Hurst—hearing from someone who has been 00:17:52.197 --> 00:17:55.740 where you are is no doubt more powerful than anything I can say. 00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:57.590 Please share this video with others who ride. 00:17:57.590 --> 00:18:02.283 And, as much as I joked about "passionate feedback," I do want to hear from you in the comments. 00:18:02.427 --> 00:18:04.470 What are your thoughts on the ethics of horse riding? 00:18:04.470 --> 00:18:08.809 To stay in the loop about new Bite Size Vegan content and updates, subscribe to the newsletter 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:12.040 or follow the Telegram channel for the most reliable notifications. 00:18:12.040 --> 00:18:14.059 Just click Subscribe at BiteSizeVegan.org. 00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:16.179 Now go live vegan, and I'll see you soon.