Several weeks back, a video from a Mark Todd clinic circulated around the internet - it was a clip taken during a clinic, and it caused a lot of conversation and controversy on social media. This podcast is not about that video in particular, but the video did spark some reflection and larger conversations around what we deem acceptable in horse training, what we don’t, and how those standards are set and upheld.
In this episode of Equestrian Voices, host Caroline Culbertson sits down with eventer Matt Brown, show jumper Anne Kursinski, and dressage rider Jeremy Steinberg to discuss. They discuss:
- How they felt when they watched the video or read the community’s response
- Whether or not the rules that govern our sport reflect what we culturally deem acceptable in horse training
- Defining abuse and delineating between what challenges a horse and what constitutes abuse
- How things have changed in the past few decades
- How this very question changed the course of Jeremy and Matt’s lives and careers
- Turning insight into action and what each one of us can do and consider moving forward