Friendship Training

Belief Perseverance, the tendency to cling to one’s initial belief even after receiving new factual information that contradicts or disconfirms the basis of that belief.

Speciesism: the assumption of human superiority leading to the exploitation of animals.

Speciesism: 1. prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially discrimination against animals. 2. the assumption of human superiority on which speciesism is based.

After the dust settles, (and all of our self-serving hyperbole ceases) what is left are a few simple facts.

There was a time thousands of years ago, (and since then to a point) when the very survival of the human species was dependent upon using horses for agriculture, transportation, and warfare.

Every aspect of their management and care was governed by their future productivity and continued usability. Beyond those immediate needs of usage, no consideration was ever given to the repercussions of the brutal management, care and 'training' that we used.

From the perspective of speciesism, that viewpoint is both understandable and inevitable given our opposable thumbs and supposed higher brain functions.

Yet there are two undeniable facts that cause a great deal of conflict within our present day usage of horses.

The first is the unprecedented surge of scientific technology in the last generation that has given us new insights into Equus Caballus. These irrefutable discoveries have affected not only the veterinary domain, but enlightened the fields of equine Ethology, Sociology, Anthropology, Physiology, Neurology, Psychology, Biology, Nutrition, Physiology and many others as well.

The other potential conflict of logic is the advent of reciprocating engine and other mechanical/technical advancements that far surpass any need of horses. This would seem to place their species in a position abject uselessness, or perhaps left to be displayed in zoos with the other animals.

But alas, that is not the case at all. It seems that the need for horses for sport and recreation are not only widespread worldwide, but have grown exponentially!

Despite the insights that science and technology has given us, the horse world in general seems to remain oblivious to them, choosing instead to ignore them in favor of archaic management practices and 'training.'

Yet there are some horse owners and caretakers who, (after learning how maligning and counterproductive those archaic practices are) choose instead to give their horses an optimum life style while carrying out their domestic responsibilities.

And therein arises the real conflict between those who continue using those archaic methods of management, care, and 'training,' (while clinging desperately to their Belief Perseverance) and those who choose to accept the horse as a sentient being that has been waiting for thousands of years for our species to mature.

It is human nature to resist 'change.' We don't mind 'small changes' such as a new App on the cell phone, or a new feature on our automobiles.

But radical changes, (especially within the socio/cultural meme of 'horsemanship') are often met with 'extinction-induced fear' and ridicule when they feel our beliefs and customs are threatened.

Yet we must concede that change is inevitable. For the human-centric need for 'more and better' is insatiable.

The only question now is, "How long will it take for empirical knowledge, common sense, and logic to prevail in the horse world?"

https://www.facebook.com/groups/363183240414423/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncJfA_m0WLE

"Someday after mastering winds, waves, tides and gravity,
we shall harness the energies of love,
and then, for the second time in the history of the world,
man will discover fire."

Teilhard de Chardin