Ann Romney = Animal Abuser

[LWolf]

111. That kind of bit certainly exerts a great deal of pressure.

Of course, it is used in other disciplines, as well. It's not my bit of choice. Here is mine:



It's a comfort snaffle, with 2 breaks to keep the point of the snaffle from jabbing at the roof of the mouth, and no shanks to cause more pressure. It's just a training bit, but my horses will collect, bend, and do just about anything I want except for a western slide stop, and I could probably teach them to do that as well with it, if I really needed them to.

I guarantee that they don't feel abused. They've got saddles customized to their conformation, bridles and bits that fit well and don't bother them, and a rider that pays attention to their responses.

Training a horse...for ANYTHING...

is, in part, about teaching them to give to pressure. ANY bit can be misused, and all bits and curb straps cause some sort of pressure.

There have always been abusers involved in equine pursuits. It would probably be more reasonable to be outraged about the abusers, rather than dressage.

Dressage, done correctly, is a discipline that creates more responsive horses and better riders for any purpose. It's not the problem.

We can find abuse in any kind of competition, equine, human, or other. Either we do away with competition, which I don't see happening, or we regulate it, and enforce those regulations, to protect the performers. If you want to start somewhere with this effort, you might want to start with horse racing, which involves abuse on a much larger scale.