18/12/2024
We’ve normalized things in the equestrian world that should never be okay. Lame horses competing. Undeveloped muscles. Movement patterns that scream discomfort. We shrug, turn a blind eye, and call it “just how the horse is.”
I know this because I used to think that way too. My former GP horse, Late Night, lived a “good” life by sport horse standards. He had physio, a great diet, and wasn’t pushed to extremes. But I consumed his potential without even realizing it.
Now, at 24 years old, Late Night is stronger and softer than ever. Thanks to the Optimal Performance Program by Anna and Paweł Marciniak, I’ve transformed the way I train and care for my horses.
I gave up my old way of thinking and embraced training based on Conscious Relaxation. It wasn’t easy. It meant questioning everything I once believed and stepping away from the environment where I felt safe. But today, I’m so proud of the transformation I see—not just in my horse, but in myself.
This journey isn’t just about my horse. It’s about spreading awareness. Horse abuse isn’t just visible violence—it’s the micro harm that’s ignored every day. It’s in the lame horse forced to perform. It’s in the horse with underdeveloped muscles and overworked necks. It’s in the excuses we make and the applause we give to people who push horses past their—especially on platforms like Instagram, where influencers show visibly neglected horses and call it normal. These are people I once called friends. People who ride horses that are underdeveloped, tense, and struggling.
This cannot be ignored. Abuse doesn’t have to be visible to be real. It’s in the micro harm—the quiet neglect, the ignored discomfort, the poor movement patterns we stop noticing.
Stop consuming. Start creating. Let’s end this cycle and build better lives for our horses.
