10/16/2025
The horse world needs to reflect on its hypocrisy.
A lot of horse people hold views towards horse care and handling that are completely incongruent with their beliefs for other animals.
An example:
Many horse people will vehemently defend that horses being stabled for 18-24 hours a day and only ever living in isolation from other horses are “extremely well cared for.”
Many of these same people would jump down someone’s throat if they admitted to kennelling their dog for 18-24 hours a day and keeping them isolated from all other animals outside of a 30min-1 hour walk per day that consisted of the human controlling the dog’s every decision and move (no sniffing allowed!).
Another example:
Many horse people view the selling of horses, even in the case of lame and elderly horses, to be a non-issue. Because “not everyone can afford a horse they can’t ride.”
They don’t tend to think much deeper and consider how stressful it may be, even for young and sound horses, to consistently have their lives uprooted and bonds severed to be moved around repeatedly. The average horse goes through at least 7 homes in their lifetime.
On the flip side, many of these same people would lose their minds if they saw someone rehoming their dog.
ESPECIALLY a senior dog with health issues.
But, even with young and healthy dogs, it is not at all uncommon to see nasty comments coming from horse people when people are forced to rehome dogs for reasons like being unable to find a rental that allows pets.
Yet another example…
Many horse people watched the documentary Black Fish or will look at animals in sea parks and zoos with pity.
Then they will go walk through the shedrow of their barn full of chronically stabled horses, many of which have stress behaviours and not see an issue.
There is selective outrage and clear cognitive dissonance from horse people.
Far too many equestrians can identify similar welfare issues in other animals but overlook the same types of problems in horses.
Horses being more expensive really isn’t a good excuse to be less considerate of their welfare.
Yes, they’re more complex to keep long-term without selling but their price tag doesn’t change the experience the horse has.
All of this to say, I’m not against selling horses, not completely.
But, it is hard to stomach the absolute hypocrisy that’s so many Horse people show.
When you get to see a clear comparative of how people perceive other animals and their struggles versus how they are willing to consider their horse, it is really hard to look past it.
A lot of these examples of the Horse people, I was once guilty of as well.
And I was also one of the people who would be able to notice lapses in adequate care with other animals, and would share judgment, meanwhile, I was guilty of the same things with my horses.
The point being: when we noticed welfare problems and other animal industries, and then willingly overlook the same ones within the industry that we are most part of, there is hypocrisy.
And the motivation behind doing so it is likely related to us trying to protect the way we want to continue doing things, rather than honestly looking at the problem.
We owe it to horses to be more critical of the way we do things, even and especially when it is uncomfortable.
It is easier to criticize animal worlds that we are further removed from or where our welfare is already at a decent standard, it is a lot harder to criticize the things that we are currently participating in directly. 
If walking through a shelter where dogs are all individually kennelled pulls at your heart strings and elicit empathy from you, seeing a barn full of horses individually stalled should do the same.
