Muck, Manure & Mysterious Disappearances: The Price of Speaking Up on Horse Welfare

So, you think you’re going to change the world of equine welfare? Well, buckle up, because the price of speaking up in the equestrian world isn’t just measured in hay bales and mucking out—no, it goes much deeper than that.

Enter the brave, outspoken welfare experts, whose only crime is caring too much. They’re the ones who dare to suggest that maybe, just maybe, horses aren’t thrilled about being jabbed with spurs or that horses might not be entirely in their “happy place” when performing dressage movements with blue tongues. But of course, the second you raise these inconvenient little points, you’ve crossed a line. Your reward? A very special assignment, which we all know is code for “We’re going to make you clean stables for a few months while you rethink your life choices.”

But that’s not the end of it. The real punishment comes from the toxic jungle that is social media. The second you suggest that maybe—just maybe—spurs should be regulated or that horses might not be enjoying "rollkur" in a dressage arena, you become Public Enemy Number One. Welfare experts are promptly blackballed, their social media flooded with rage-filled comments from "The Elite" with a PhD in “How Dare You.” The backlash is swift, savage, and unrelenting. Forget about the horses—these experts are now in a battle to save their careers from the Twitter mob or should we say X mob?

In response to the growing chorus of concern, a GEF spokesperson was quick to clarify: “We’re listening. We are definitely listening. We just don’t know who to listen to, so we’re taking our time to figure it out—don’t want to upset anyone. There are sponsors to think about. Maybe we’ll make some ‘slight adjustments’ down the line. But we’ll be very quiet about it. We’ll just send out a press release, probably, after a nice long ‘consultation’ with all the important people—who may or may not be currently riding around on very expensive horses.”

And so the merry-go-round of neglect spins on. The welfare experts, silenced and sidelined, while the social media warriors rally behind their keyboards like armchair knights in shining armor. The GEF, meanwhile, continues its delicate dance with sponsors, carefully avoiding any real action that might upset the apple cart. Because, you know, it’s so much easier to placate the sponsors with vague promises and shiny brochures than actually confront the inconvenient truth about the horses. The world keeps riding, and the horses? Well, they’re still waiting for someone to give them a voice.

Could you be brave enough to break the silence?