Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Some Serious Riding


I was bored and browsing some You tube videos.

I ran across this little gem.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOyvimZuF5o

Go ahead and watch the video before reading any further.   I'll wait.




Folks, that is some serious riding, not to mention some seriously athletic horses.

Almost as interesting as the video is the comments that everyone made about it on you tube.  I was flabbergasted at the number of people who were criticizing riding styles.  I'm pretty sure that when riding into battle and bullets are whizzing past your head, the last thing on your mind is "Gee, am I riding properly?"  I'd love to see anyone maintain a perfect riding position over obstacles like that.

Of  course there are lots of comments on the cruelty of it all.

I do not feel qualified to participate in a debate over whether or not this is cruel treatment.  To say it shouldn't have happened is like saying that George Washington should not have led the rebels against British, or that we should not have fought against the Germans in WWII.  

These horses were being trained to go into battle along with the brave young men astride them.

Taking horses into war...is it cruel?

Absolutely!

Just as cruel as sending our sons and daughters along with them. But it is what it is.

"Freedom isn't Free"





The next time Trax says he doesn't want to cross a little stream, I will show him this.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, now that is some amazing riding! True horsemanship and trust between horse and rider. Thank you for sharing:)

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  2. It was done out of necessity, as far as going into war...but, without a doubt, it is barbaric and extremely hard on the horses. The mindset about horses back then was different than it is now. If they broke them, or damaged them, they were shot. No expense or time was put into rehabilitation at all. To deny that their riding is skilled would be fruitless, because people grew up riding horses out of necessity. Most people rode with skill. However, what they're doing is undeniably rough and barbaric. It was hard to watch.

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    1. I agree, horses back then were a tool or a piece of machinery, and when they were no longer useful they were done. There was no "out to pasture" for an old or infirm horse. There was no trying to fix a lame horse, or even trying to save a horse with colic.
      It was hard to watch.

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  3. the comments about cruelty and such are knee jerk reactions to what is considered the "norm" now as you said, taking horses to war is no more cruel than sending sons and daughters. it is and was a reality. and those soldiers did the very best they could for the horses with the skills ,knowledge and resources they had, after all that horse might be the thing that saved their life.and yes they were shot if injured, but really is that as barbaric as we believe, I cant help but think about the horses that suffer in ongoing pain ands we "rehab them until it becomes clear they will not recover , Barbarro for example?
    And Trax will never believe you LOL

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  4. O think what I am trying to say is in that time and place it was what it was, I would not say it would be OK or appropriate now but...

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    1. I knew exactly what you meant, and agree completely.

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  5. I think that one of the things that struck me about this video was that we talk about competition horses today, as being athletes. I'm gonna say that most horses in the world today couldn't hold a candle to those ponies.

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