HORSE: Cruel Behavior?

In response to “HORSES: Witness to cruel behavior” I recognize the concerns of Ms. Muth. I was a young rider who witnessed an outbreak of a 3-year-old horse in front of Ms. Muth. As a rider and a trainer of these 1,100-pound animals, I know that there are two sides of the horse’s brain, being an animal of prey, a fight or flight (primitive) side and a thinking side. At the time, the horse was using the primitive side instead of his thinking side. I feel that my leader felt a potential issue that could injure the horse itself, other horses, and people around the horse at the time and wanted to ensure everyone’s safety as she always does, and acted out of urgency.

In these actions, she was instructing her 17-year-old daughter to regain the horse’s attention, calming the horse down. The words “Beat the crap out of him” were taken out of context and misunderstood. Would Ms. Muth rather have this horse possibly injure her? The words used would sound cruel to a non-horse owner, but the 4-H girls, parents and horse owners can comprehend differently than other people. The Sparkles and Spurs 4-H Club is a highly respected group in our area. The young individuals and leaders in our group would never be cruel to our horses, and would never discipline a spooking.

ASHTYN HOWERTON

Athol