04/17/2025
If youâve ever felt like a stranger in the sport you love, you're not alone.
That feeling has a name: anomie. It's the sense of disconnection that arises when the dominant social norms no longer make moral or emotional sense, but no new, healthier norm has taken hold. And right now, many of us in the horse world are sitting squarely in that space.
Because letâs be real: the mainstream culture of competitive equestrian sport is still deeply, deeply flawed.
The institutions that could lead change, governing bodies, Olympic riders, or breed associations, have taken no real action. Most continue to reward harmful methods, so long as they produce results. âHorse welfareâ is now a buzzword, used in public-facing language while practices behind the curtain remain the same: tight nosebands, hyperflexion, pain suppression, and punishment of âbad behaviorâ that is, more often than not, just communication.
So if youâre the one who feels a lump in your throat watching a horse get punished for refusing a jump theyâre clearly overfaced at, you are not crazy. If you're the one who steps back from trends that rely on leverage, gadgets, and fear, you're not weak. And if youâre the one who dares to ask, "Is this really what partnership looks like,â you're not being difficult. You're being brave.
Weâre still in the early stages of this cultural shift. The people who are speaking up, many of them professionals with decades of experience and scientific grounding, are still a minority voice. We are not yet loud enough to turn the tide, but we are here. And we are growing.
The hardest part is that doing the right thing doesnât always feel good, especially when the culture around you doesnât yet value it. Choosing the horse over the prize, the welfare over the tradition, can be lonely. It can cost you social capital. It might even cost you friends or clients.
But this is where every real movement starts: in quiet refusals. In small choices. In the pause before tightening the crank. In the decision to walk away instead of âmake them do it.â In the whisper of a voice that says, âThere has to be a better way.â
You might not see it yet, but others are out there making those same choices. Theyâre in the vet who takes the time to explain behavioral pain. Theyâre in the coach who says, âLetâs give her a day off, I think sheâs telling us something.â Theyâre in the rider who lets go of the dream season because their horse doesnât feel quite right.
Theyâre in you.
So yes, if you feel out of place, itâs because you are ahead of where the sport is. But thatâs not a flaw. Thatâs a sign of leadership. Youâre not the only one. Youâre just early. And pioneers like you? Youâre the ones who make it possible for the rest to follow.
Horse trainer with over 15 years of riding, showing, and training experience.
