05/09/2025
Women (and other marginalised groups) fought (fight) hard to be seen as equal.
Not to be objects controlled or silenced.
Not to be judged only by their usefulness, looks, or obedience.
These hard-won freedoms are worth defending. Yet some still applaud when horses are put in the very place they once fought to escape.
They cheer the trainer who 'shows the horse who’s boss.' They admire the one who stands on a horse’s back or straddles them as they lie down. Proof, apparently, of 'relationship' and 'trust.' But it’s neither. It’s theatre. It’s control framed as skill.
It hurts to see women, who know what it is to resist being dismissed, belittled, or made compliant, celebrate those same dynamics when imposed on horses.
We should know better.
We know what it feels like to be called difficult, spoilt, hysterical, or a problem. We know what it means to have our boundaries ignored and our voices silenced. Horses know it too.
If we celebrate being valued as equals, surely our solidarity must extend to horses whose resistance is still framed as disobedience, whose silence is mistaken for consent.
If we claim to love horses, love has to mean more than dominance dressed up as partnership.
