"To use any animal for our amusement is exploitation, and hence, not vegan. Others would likely argue that horses do, in fact, gain pleasure from the activity. However, do you see horses queuing up to be rode, yelling "Pick me! Pick me!"? No, of course not.
Would you enjoy carrying personnel on your back at various speeds whenever said personnel felt like it? Would you like to be periodically locked up? Would you like to be "broken in" during the early stages? I'm guessing no. Moreover, as to any "bond" that exists between the human and the horse - an apparent bond also exists between dogs and dog fighters.
And, to the welfarist line, whether the horse is treated fairly/kindly/companionably ("happy horse riding!") whilst being ridden is utterly irrelevant as he or she is still used. Period. That is, the defining characteristic of veganism is that we do not believe that animals should be considered property, and therefore we respect their needs and wants that demand that we do not exploit them."
2010-06-20T23:43:17Z
you are all saying that you're horses are happy when you ride them. read the last paragraph.
Permanand2010-06-20T23:48:16Z
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Of course it's not vegan! Even most synthetic saddles have leather in them, and yes, we're using an animal.
Asking this question here is like going into a mosque and asking them if Islam is Christian, then quoting bible at them. Of course not, and so what?
We aren't interested in being vegan. Hello! Personally, I really enjoy sucking the vital gore from mortal wounds of foods with a face. They're delicious.
I'm happy for you, that you've found your passion. Now please keep it to yourself and your like-minded folks. We have our passion here, too. It's called the art of horsemanship, and it involves asking a horse to do our bidding, sometimes to chase or rope a cow, whose hide is used in most of our tack and whose flesh nourishes us for a long day of riding. We're not interested in being vegan. Deal with it.
I haven't read the article and, though vegan for a long time, have never heard this issue mentioned before. While I can't speak for all vegans, I can tell you what I think. You are certainly right that the ways in which these animals have been bred and trained is not "vegan" in that is the systematic exploitation of animals for human gain. I imagine most vegans see riding a horse as an unspoken endorsement of that process. Also, most of the time when people are riding horses, they either purchased them or are paying someone who did purchase the animals. This is no longer turning a blind eye to the industry, but actively paying for it. I don't think most vegans have your hypothetical of rescuing a horse from an animal sacntuary in mind when thinking of riding, as it is a very small percentage of the people riding horses. In the unlikely case that a vegan happens to now own a formerly abused horse and would like to give it exercise, they might ride it, or they might find other ways of exercising, still seeing riding the animal as using it, even if the animal has been bred not to feel that way. This is such an isolated case that it's hard to say what vegans would do. It should be mentioned that the most widely accepted idea of veganism includes not only not consuming animal products, but also the notion of not using, exploiting, or imprisoning animals for our tastes or gain. With that, I think that most vegans would have a problem participating in any sort of horse industry, but that is only my opinion.
While I guess I can't really explain WHY i believe this, I am a vegan and I do ride horses and don't have a problem with it. I think a lot of it depends on what you're doing with your horse. Is a horse that's locked up in a stall 24/7 and forced to do everything being treated well? No, and that I wouldn't consider vegan. However, when a horse is being treated well, allowed to spend time out in the field and eats well, and also spends time with a person that, generally, they get along with quite well, and yes, fine, are ridden 1 hour out of 24, I would consider that vegan. some horses don't enjoy what they do. But my horse at least LOVES what he does. I go to the pasture and he comes running up to me, nickering with his ears pricked. I tack him up and he wants to GO. He loves jumping, honestly. So my answer to the question is that it depends, but generally I would say yes.
Hmm, you are trying to humanise an animal. You cannot ask me what I would like as my instincts are different. Horses are herd animals (walking food actually) and so it is in their nature to want to bond and work as a team. Fighting dogs are forced to fight...but 2 wild dogs will go at it with no encouragement...it is their nature. We do not force the horse to do anything, we take advantage of their natural behavior.
If you have ever ridden....you would know that if a horse does not want to do something...it doesn't do it. I suggest learning how to actually read animal behavior before sprouting (get it?!) any more rubbish. Being vegan may make you feel all warm and fluffy inside but it against the way of nature. My horse is very happy that I am a carniverous animal that doesn't eat him and doesn't let anyone else eat him. That is all prey animals care about. Eating, shagging, surviving.
And thank goodness we are not Vegan. It seems you wouldn't be happy until we set every horse free to starve and die on the plains.
I think someone got bucked off when they were little.
I'm pretty sure horses love being ridden, most do anyway, my mare loves it! Indeed, a great deal of horses will walk up to you when you have a bridle or saddle in your hand, because they know they get to go for a ride, I bet your response to this would be something along the lines of - they don't know what your going to do to them. Well indeed, they do. Horses aren't stupid.
If a horse didn't want to carry people around, I somehow doubt that it would take a great deal to get said person off. It's called a buck. Also, neither of my horses are ever locked up, they can walk in and out of the shelter as they please, I'm willing to bet that if I said, I leave my horses in the paddock with no rug during the freezing cold of winter, you would have something to say about that too, which is it? Do you want them nice and warm in a stall? Or freezing in a paddock? I have a mixture of the two, which part of my system is flawed? should I not have a shelter at all? Or should I not rug them?
Yes, horses are used, I would like to point out, that they are used for meat. Just because a small percentage of the world doesn't eat meat, doesn't mean that everyone refrains from it. Some people eat horses meat, without us horse riders, our horses wouldn't have any use, do you think anyone would be interested in having a 700kg animal that is insanely expensive sitting in a paddock for no reason? NO. We keep horses because we get pleasure from them, and we enjoy having them around, but I would also be willing to bet that a lot of people who own horses now would give up their horses if they could no longer be ridden due to the financial cost of keeping horses. And do you know what would happen to all those horses? They would be slaughtered for meat. Believe it or not, we save a lot of animals from this fate and give them another chance, many horses who go to slaughter are young fit and healthy.
So to you, which is a lesser evil? A horse being ridden, or a horses spine being hacked at while it is still concious and then going through a mincing machine, look up horse slaughter on youtube, you will get a pretty good look at what we save them from.