Even as a vegan, I used to think riding horses was ok when done "humanely" and "correctly." Then I learned that there was a study where 91.5% of supposedly healthy horses (via their owners) had some type of spinal issue due to being ridden after being x-rayed.
The owners had no idea, proving that an overwhelming amount of horseback riders are wrong when they claim riding isn't hurting their horses.
Most of them likely never get their horses' backs checked via x-rays bc 1) x-rays are $$$ and 2) they assume the horses are fine.
By the time a horse goes lame, the poor animal had been suffering far longer than the person realized.
To anyone passionate about horses, but especially "vegan" horseback riders who hear about that study yet still make excuses or try to squeeze in excuses to defend it, WHY??
To the "vegans," y'all sound like the "vegans" that eat backyard eggs rather than just feed the nutrients back to the mother hen. I was already on the fence about riding but after that study, it was a hard pass.
If you are a vegan horseback rider & absolutely will not give up riding, then PLEASE GET THE BACKS OF YOUR HORSE(S) X-RAYED. This is the least you can do.
If your horse has been harmed in any way, I hope you will stop point blank. As a vegan, you already agree that animals are not commodities.
Horses may "enjoy" being ridden, sure, but they're masters of masking pain. As prey animals, showing weakness can be risky in the wild, so they often don’t broadcast discomfort in obvious ways. Instead, they may keep moving, stay compliant, or even seem calm while still experiencing strain.
They may also appear to enjoy it because they associate it with bonding time, food or turnout afterward. But what we interpret as “enjoyment” is often learned behavior. Horses are very sensitive to patterns and reinforcement. If riding reliably leads to comfort afterward (release of pressure, treats, rest), they may become cooperative or relaxed during it. There’s also habituation. Horses can get used to pressure and stop reacting strongly to it, which can look like acceptance or enjoyment but isn’t necessarily pleasure.
So the short version: apparent enjoyment doesn’t automatically mean absence of discomfort. It’s a mix of instinct, training, and conditioning.
You don't need to ride to bond... Look at dogs or cats. We don't ride them, but there's tons of non-riding activities you and your horse can do together. Think liberty (non-riding agility), tricks (like, literal doggy tricks, not the riding horse "tricks"), etc. And if your horse needs more exercise? You can walk them like you do a dog. ^0^
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