Hardcore PETA & ALF members

I was just wondering what hardcore animal rights enthusiasts thought of horse -back riding? Is this another form of cruelty? Obviously, horses used for carriage pulling and pony-rides at carnivals are abused, but what about someone who owns one or two horses for pleasure riding only? No cattle herding, rodeo showing, etc... just for the fun of saddling up a horse and riding it around in the pastures, is that wrong?

 

I am not in PETA or ALF but I am sure it could be considered as cruel.

 

I think that's between the horse & the rider. I have a big dog, and sometimes I ride him down the stairs. Um... I guess that's different, tho.

I used to live in the touristy area of town, and I'd see those horse-drawn carriages every day & every night. It was thoroughly depressing after a while.

Anyway, I mainly clicked on this thread coz I thought ALF was recruiting. :&

 

i agree with spaceduck...between the horse and the rider. if an "owner" knows his/her horse well enough, then they'll also be able to sense whether or not they are welcome on it's back....i detest carriage "rides" and "trail rides" though, where the horses are exploited to make money (that goes for racing too).

 

I was on a ALF mailinglist for a while and they are against every form of animal captivity as far as I know.. so yes, having a horse (which is a group-animal by nature) and riding it 'round for your own pleasure would probably not be agreed upon by them.

I quit the mailinglist because I don't agree with the violence they use (burning down stuff) and the actions they take when it comes to freeing animals (like the when they set minks free from fur farms, nearly all die pretty quick because they can't survive but not before they raid the chickens etc of the local farmers. Imho, just spraying the animals or shaving a piece of the fur would make them worthless to the fur dealer as well, without upsetting the local wildlife and letting the animals starve from hunger or getting hit by trucks.)

So anyway.. yeah.. that's about it.

 

im not sure about ALF but i know that PETA with all the extremists most likely think its cruel, but the last time i rode a horse she seemed to like it. i knew i wasnt hurting her.

 

I don't think animal rights activists are arguing that it hurts a horse or that it's cruel to own a horse and ride it or something, but that it's not natural for the animal to live a semi-solitairy life, not being able to live in a large group, establish hierarchy etc etc. By taming a horse you stop it from being the animal it's supposed to be.. something like that.

As with all extremes, I think there is a middle way. We as humans are the dominant species, which means we control everything else. With rights come obligations though.. and it's our obligation to take care of those we supress, so to speak.

 

i had many horses as a kid, riding a lot etc.... and yeah, now i do relize it CAN be a kind of opression, even though i did have a real good connection with some om my former horses; bit still it's also the way we view the relationship, we say we own them, MY dog, MY horse ect, it's like they are on an enslaved relation.... I think that times are changing, and it's time to give back some of the autonomy to the animals, we are so selfcentered, that we cän't even imagine that animals can have persomals thoughts about us.... AND, have you read the comic series "Fat freddies Cat"? awesome! this is true hippy spirit, we should learn from it, really

 

Technically, these service animals, would have never existed anyway. Since they are overbred compared to natural reproduction rate, they would'nt exist if it were'nt for humans.

 

that's no excuse of maltreatment. If I get pregnant and abuse my kid I can't justify it by saying 'hey, without me he/she wouldn't even exist'.

 

the same was said about slaves....
if white men werent keeping the slaves theyd have nowhere to live, nothing to eat, etc and die.

does that justify keeping them as slaves?

we dont need to use and abuse animals in order to keep their population rates up....and as it stands horses are still being taken from the wild and put up for auction to be "tamed". its fucking sad.

 

Death+human emotion=a river of tears.

 

So what do u say, shall we cerate humans with special skills to do a certain task, as biological robat/servant/slave????? Why not? what is the difference with animals? just because we are so fucking ignorant and can't understand or read their feelings.... This so so sad man.....

 

This thread is disturbing on so many levels.

First off, all the people in support of the actions taken by ALF are nutters and misinformed about the damage these crackheads cause to animals and the environment.

Why? because like many of the sentimental posters on this thread, they know next to nothing about actual animal biology and environmental sciences. They just cry and take the words of loudmouth activist-speakers at face value.

People go to PeTA's website and read the info given out in Ask Carla. They don't even bother to notice or check that half of her information is completely wrong. They don't question her credentials, they just think.."well she wuvs the aneemals..she must be right".

I wrote a letter to Carla Bennett and asked her why she feels that she knows more about animals then say..veterinarians or biologists or primatetologists...I recieved an email back from her personally. She wrote a few books on her love for animals and was a veterinary assistant for 5 years. Sooo....bathing dogs and cleaning animal poo for an animal doctor equates a PH.D and a decade of field experiance now?

Mind you...when I wrote this letter, I was a PeTA member but like many members, I hadn't really paid much attention. It was when I reading her replies in the Ask Carla section of the website that I began to notice weird things like totally false "scientific" information. Between that and her email...I cancelled my membership and found better ways to help animals.

PeTA sucks.

ALF is a bunch of idiots who are gonna end up killing one of themselves or someone else during one of their stunts. Like religious fundies, these guys have to be stopped before their sheer stupidity causes some real damage.

 

i'm not really a big fan of riding then. i was at my friends house who raises horses and she asked me to hold it's reins while she put the saddle on it, and she said that the horse, who is an all around good natured horse, may bite me becuase it doesn't like the saddle being tightened. needless to say i let go. i don't see the problem in owning the horse if you pamper it, but i don't really like riding them.

 

if peta suck doesn't mean that there isn't any animal oppression, does it? Just look around you... Same w the environment , i really don't lilke greenpeace (a multinational organisation, which has got loads of money in secret bank accounts), but u don't have to be einstein to see problems w environment... It's just that we r just starting to be aware of animal oppression, it's something we r learning. It's like some kinda part of our evolution. (things taht were normal before, but not today:slavery, some culture had even human sacrifices etc...)

 

the subject is kinda confusing...

 

What did it accomplish? If nothing then it is meaningless.

 

how's life treating you today ?
oh , 'bout as well as i'm treating life ...

there's plenty aspects of mean-spiritedness in industrial society , and the casualities are just considered the cost of doing business . humans are abused , animals are abused . children are confined , pigs are confined
.

maybe free all the children and then see the wonderous good that comes from that
.
and if all you might do for now is free some pigs , well , you might think to free them in the blooming of the spring in a wild , good place
.
then be with them

 

As an avid rider mixed in with a bit of common sense, I can tell you there are a couple things wrong here. Your friend obviously doesn't know how to fit a saddle. It's AMAZING how many people who own horses and ride them yet they are completely IGNORANT about proper tack fits. The fact that the horse is showing discomfort alone should give it away. Secondly, it's proper horseman knowledge that you put your saddle on before you put a horse's bridle on for SAFETY reasons.

Anywho, do I think riding is cruel? I'll be completely honest, my life from age 6 onwards was horses. I rode competively and barrel raced. With that said and what I previously mentioned, I believe there are many ignorant horse "owners" out there, and because of this many horses are put in dangerous situations. I don't believe most of these people's intentions are to harm these animals but unfortunately it happens. Anytime you put a novice rider on a horse without a proper trainer it's asking for a disaster. I can give many examples that most people who know nothing about a horse could ever think of. Here are some: Putting improper bits in a horse's mouth even when the horse needs to be floated, feeding roundbales to a small group of horses, misusing horse protection boots ie polo wraps, not noticing when a horse is lame or when it needs chiro work (YES there are horse chiros and I recommend anybody riding a horse should have one) not knowing what kind of shoes your horse needs and how often they need to be switched, etc. I could go on and on with hundred of other things.

I would just like to point out the conditions of our wild Mustangs. Many of these Mustangs suffer each day but again most non horse people wouldn't understand that. They don't have farriers so their hooves are usually in terrible conditions. Cracks in the hooves are not to be taken lightly for the domesticated horses. Furthermore, a lot of the Mustangs have EXTREMELY awful conformation. Because of poor conformation, this can cause extreme lameness, which can and does hinder their survival. Obiviously, the horses in the wild don't have a desirable diet, and are often times underweight or overweight dependig on the season. It's not cute to see a fat horse or a skinny horse.

When most people think of the wild "Mustang" they picture a beautiful horse, but when truth be told, they don't tend to look like the horses on movies.

So is riding horses cruel? I can honestly say and I believe I have the credentials to back me up on this, not when it's done properly.
I could go on and on about this but I think I will stop here...