Yo long post rant about UH, RE, and FH, and why some people dislike them.
The reason people don't like blogs like racistequestrians and unhappyhorses (how they operate now, not attacking specific people but just photos of horses that look uncomfortable), and fuglyhorses is because we're all used to being treated like we're always right.
We're always told that it's ok to do what you want with your horse because it's your horse, that horses are too big not to be rough with, and that all horses are beautiful and there's nothing wrong with bad conformation as long as the horse is rideable and trainable.
Alright, take a look at those blogs and what they're actually saying.
racistequestrians: Don't dress yourself and your horse up in sacred, culturally important "outfits", and don't call breeds by their racist names, because it's rude, disrespectful, and lazy. Just respect cultures and heritages that have been abused for so long, is RE's message. (They have so many articles and references on their page, just read them!)
unhappyhorses: Don't ignore your horse's signs of discomfort. Horses are our best teachers and it's important to listen to them. If your horse looks uncomfortable, he/she is. (my personal add-in; how I interpret it: There are times when we can't help it, and it was a one-second thing that had to happen for one reason or another, but we can still learn from it and try to prevent it in the future.) I personally look past the clicker-training stuff because I'm comfortable with my methods of training and am educated enough in it to know it is a pretty good method, but I still choose not to because my horses are happy the way I work with them. And I still use extremely blunt, round, small spurs rarely, and carry a crop when jumping but only use it in emergency situations where I'm coming up to a solid or fairly large fence that I don't want my horse or myself to get injured over. My horses are trained well enough that a tap with the whip is all they know, and they know it as a cue to go forwards and clear obstacles ahead. All in all, literally, their message is to train your horse gently and listen to them when they're uncomfortable.
fuglyhorses: Despite the belief of a lot of people here, FH doesn't aim to exile all Quarter Horses and make Mustangs the rulers of the horse kingdom, they just want to see comfortable horses who are built in a way that can improve their quality of life and length of life, and practical use in the horse industry. Literally that's it. Don't get offended that they dislike halter quarter horses, fuck, have you seen them? I dislike them too, they aren't practical and they look hella uncomfortable. The goal is to educate people and make people aware of what makes horses more balanced, practical, and more likely to stay sound. isn't that what we all want in our horses?
We're all comfortable hearing opinions we agree with: "Aw I think it's cute that you painted your pinto like a war pony and dressed up like a Chief! How hipster and fun!" "Good job getting after your horse and using that whip so fearlessly! He'll listen to you forever now!" and "Well his pasterns are long and he's sickle hocked, but he has so much heart that he'll push through those struggles!". But the moment we hear anyone challenge those ideas, it gets uncomfortable. Because it's not what we like to hear.
That's why you don't like RE, UH, or FH. Open your mind. I didn't like these blogs either, initially, and now I check them daily.
