The following is a letter sent to Princess Haya, President of the FEI, by Patrick Print FBHS Chairman of The British Horse Society. It was prompted by an email sent by Heather Moffett, who started the Facebook group, whose link can be found to the right under LINKS TO ALSO FOLLOW AND SUPPORT:
HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein
President Federation Equestre Internationale
Avenue Mon-Repos 24
PO Box 1571005
Lausanne
Switzerland29th October 2009
Your Royal Highness,
You cannot be unaware of the disquiet – not to say anger – which has arisen following the depiction on Epona TV of Patrik Kittel’s horse in apparent distress as it competed in Odense on 18th October. As you are doubtless aware, in terms both of membership and breadth of interest, The British Horse Society (BHS) is the largest single equestrian organisation in the UK. Our examinations system, and the training and education which underpin it, have earned for the Society international recognition. No less important is our work to promote the highest standards of equine welfare, which suffuses every facet of our work.
I am pleased to report that our commitment to equine welfare is shared by all our colleagues within the British Equestrian Federation, although on this occasion I am writing solely on behalf of the BHS. Let me acknowledge straight away that no representative of the BHS was present in Denmark to witness the horse’s apparent distress, nor do we have the benefit of a contemporaneous veterinary report. Moreover, we do not for one minute suggest that Patrik Kittel at any time sought to treat his horse other than with proper care and respect.
Nevertheless, in matters of equine welfare, the precautionary principle must always apply: if, despite the absence of conclusive proof, the wellbeing of a horse is called into question, there will exist a strong moral obligation on the FEI to respond immediately. In our view, the concerns so widely expressed are reasonable and therefore deserving of an urgent two-part investigation: first, an inquiry into the treatment of this particular horse on this particular occasion; and, second, a broader inquiry into the ethics and consequences of hyperflexion.
In this second aspect The British Horse Society stands ready to assist the FEI in any way it can. Please note that we pass no comment on the aesthetics of seeing a competition horse contorted in a way it never appears to choose for itself when in its natural state. Our concern is only to speak out when we believe that the welfare of horses demands it.
Yours sincerely,
Patrick Print FBHS
Chairman,
The British Horse Society
Xuna makes an excellent point about Courtney King-Dye. She was disqualified from the Olympic competition because her horse tested positive for a trace amount of a substance that clearly came from the gel put on his skin for an ultrasound. While they believed her, she was disqualified nonetheless because of the “zero tolerance policy” (which I think is absurd and needs to be rethought in light of the fact that current technology is able to detect such tiny amounts of substances that give no performance enhancement).
If the FEI staunchly stands by it’s “zero tolerance” drug policy, why does it not also have a “zero tolerance” policy towards abuse?
Thank you BHS lets help put an end to this abuse …. For the welfare of the horse !!!!!
Thank you to the BHS for having the guts to take a stand.
I have re-posted this letter on my blog. Thank you so much for making it public. I too am interested to know if there is a reply.
Yes it is not just riders that are responsible for animal abuse. If I owned a tack shop there would probably be less than a quarter of the variety of stock that they sell now. I quite frankly would rather die than sell torture items to unknowledgable horse handlers.
And by the way…..the simple eggbut snaffle can be just as torturouse in cruel hands.
As for this very diplomatic letter….it is a pity we have to tippy toe arround the hierachy to get justice done.
Very well written – what response did Patrick receive (please post if you can, once you hear back!)
Well Said Xuna, except Kittel is not a rider-victim.He knew what he was doing, he just did not care. He was chasing the Almighty Dollar with points attached. For years I ,apparantly dilusionally, was under the impression that these Top Riders of the World would never in a million years resort to such cruelty.. Was I Wrong! Where was the TD and the Stewart during all this? Why were they not doing their jobs? and the Trainer of this rider..God forbid, needs to be prohibited from ever being allowed to train another rider. Heads need to roll starting from the top down.
The thought comes to mine of an American Rider having her medal taken away for a forbidden substance that was given/applied to her horse. The embrassment that followed was not easy for her, now a Black mark on her reputation. This is far worse than that incident. This is in humane.
I have sent the links to my local TV station with a note. Perhaps others can do the same.
Why don’t each and every one of us send letters to the FEI? This blue tongue video is,hopefully, the drop that will spill the bucket over. The FEI surely cannot ignore the worldwide reaction to this video. Enough is enough. Only a personal opinion, but Kittel is not a horseman in any sense of the word as I understand it. Kittel is just a rider-victim of a certain so called modern training method – putting the tongue back in and continuing on and on in the hyperflexion, the horse seems to be some sort of machine for this man. Having seen and ridden horses that have been trained in the methods of the classical masters – at 20 years of age, they have no signs of wear and tear on the limbs, a suppleness that has to be seen to be believed, trot extensions that you have never seen in the dressage arena since the time of Reiner Klimpke and the only time I have ever seen them voluntarily put their nose on their chest was to chase a fly!!
The sooner the trainers and riders get back to respecting the mental and physical integrity of their horses, the better and perhaps more of us mere mortals will feel happier about entering a competition rectangle.
Well said whiz on ted & Sarah. For decades I’ve said draw reins should not be sold in tack shops (or all the other ‘hold in the front end’ gadgets). Of course these ignorant people will make their own, but surely tack shops should not sell torture items?!
I also do not understand why so diplomatic, but all the same, I’m very glad the BHS have written. I will comment “on the aesthetics of seeing a competition horse contorted in a way it never appears to choose for itself when in its natural state.” (Because I don’t have to be diplomatic). Its horrible to watch. There is nothing aesthetically pleasing about watching this abuse, particularly when you know the physical biomechanics of a horse and understand the true nature of these animals of prey. Prey to the likes of Kittel. When a horse prances in nature it is only for seconds at a time in either mating behaviour, defensive behaviour, fighting or playing. This is what the old, old masters wanted to imitate. Seconds only in nature & with years of training, maybe minutes. Always, the horse holds his head UP with pride – never would he contort himself like this unless beaten down by a predator.
Well said, there are many out there who have been advocating for this kind of change for years, maybe we can stand together on behalf of the horse and work towards educating and erradicating these methods of training that place only the bonds of servitude upon our noble horses and in turn destroy what it is we loved about them in the first place, freedom, true power and an opportunity to connect with a source of beauty and wisdom beyond our limited imagination. So much can get lost in translation, I am not sure I understand the need for so much diplomacy, just my opinion, time to state the facts, pure and simple, who’s feeling’s are we protecting here?
Every horse owner/rider needs to request of themselves ‘do I really need to use this much force to control this animal’ Developing a relationship based on trust with a horse is so much more rewarding than trotting around on top of one, with bated breath, hoping your horse will just keep it’s head in so you dont feel embarressed about your lack of ability as a rider, it is time to face the truth and see our inadequecies instead of covering them up with bits of tack and ignoring the silent screams of our ‘beloved’ horses.
We have all collectively been responsible for bringing about the ‘winds of change’… BHS had the information on the EPONA TV video last Tuesday I sent it and they had it before then!!
no-one should claim success/ credit! other than EPONA who themselves accidently filmed something that shocked the world into action – Epona readily admit they were suprised…after all they own worse footage – look at ‘kids beating horses’…
so a pat on the back for everyone especially those that have fought conflict in riding for the last 2 -3 decades.
from side reins, to draw reins to pessos to rollkur…. all force all held in.
now at last we return to the classical masters and modern peer reviewd training methodologies that incorporates equine learning theory training principles and biomechanics!
HURRAH!
and thank you, Heather, for prompting Patrick!
congratulations to Patrick Print for sending this letter, shame he had to be so diplomatic.