27/10/2022
I have come across this too. Clear boundaries help the horses feel more secure and can prevent dangerous habits from forming.
There is a dangerous ongoing trend culturally that is bleeding into our horsemanship, and that is the avoidance of any discomfort
I will say firstly, that everything must come with a balance. It is not the first time in history the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other- and it won’t be the last.
When I was a kid (puts on grandma hat) we learned to ride with thumb tacks on our saddle, stirrups taken away and you knew you were on the right track when you just stopped hearing the screaming of your instructor. Obviously I’m not saying this is the way we should teach-
But one of the biggest reasons I got out of teaching kids myself was parents hovering, arguing over why I wasn’t letting their kid do x,y,z fun, or wanting to know why I was making their kid do something uncomfortable. Parents refused to let their kids be uncomfortable and wrong, and because of that, their horsemanship was seriously affected. They didn’t learn to put the horse first- little Susie wants to jump, sorry! No rehab program for Susie’s horse. Bobby’s friends are going to a show, so if he isn’t cantering soon we’re going to another instructor. The short term loss is that the kids don’t learn good basics, but the long term result is the kids don’t ever learn how to learn- how to be uncomfortable until you get through to the other side- how to regulate their emotions- how to put an animal in their care before their own needs.
Similarly, it is happening in our stewardship of the horse. People have become averse to their horse being uncomfortable, which is very good in many ways, but- sometimes there is a short term discomfort in the long scheme of learning to be more comfortable. A clarification that can happen once and lead to a better life overall. This can be the trade off of a moment of discomfort leading to clarify and calm, versus the unhappiness and discomfort of wallowing around in lack of clarity for a lifetime. Horses who are not allowed to be uncomfortable now here and there are uncomfortable for a lifetime: unprepared for life, stressed, dangerous to themselves and others.
It is not ethical to allow ourselves and those in our care the avoidance of discomfort. That’s not to say we need to create so much trouble as was normal before, but there is a center- and good horsemanship always seeks to find the center- we can’t allow our own bad experiences to make us run to the opposite, and dangerous extreme- for the good of ourselves and the good of the horse, who we are stewards of.