Post by Caroline on Jul 27, 2015 21:22:07 GMT 1
I'm a bit upset. I have been very excited because the Household Cavalry is here at New Park this week and they will be doing displays in the New Forest Show. So we walked over to watch them practise in the show ring tonight. When they got out of the show ring, they were parading in a warm up ring outside. One horse was taken to the centre and they were trying to make it lay down by lifting and hanging on to his foot. They tried a couple of times and gave up. Then all the horses went back to their camp. We followed because I was interested to see how they dismounted with great big lances to contend with. Then we watched them get taken back to their stables. We were about to walk away when I saw something I didn't like the look of. A big soldier chap was forcing the horse backwards very forcibly. He did it several times and it was rather ugly. Then they took the horse to a corner where they were out of view from all but us. 3 men then proceeded to force the horse to the ground. It was extremely forceful, involving hanging on to legs and pretty much wrestling the horse down. There were a lot of lines involved and they may have also tied the horses leg up, although I can't be sure of that because I was 100 yards away. When they did it again, OH and I snapped. We made our way back to their camp to ask what on earth they are doing and why they have to be so abusive about it. They saw us coming and took the horse away.
I am shocked. I didn't expect them to be beautifully enlightened horsemen, but I did expect a very high standard of normal horsemanship. What I saw was some of the worst and most abusive horsemanship I have seen. It was awful. If they are going to demonstrate non-standard horsemanship like laying a horse down, they should learn to do it well (i.e. gently and with harmony and consent) or not do it at all. Also, they shouldn't be trying to teach a horse something so quickly the day before a display.
Kelly - perhaps you could ask Monty to exert what influence he has in this area please? These are the Queen's Household Cavalry horses that guard the Queen at Buckingham Palace. They deserve better treatment than this. Any horse does.
It was particularly upsetting for my OH. He was a policeman in London in the 80s and was the first on the scene when the Household Cavalry got bombed by the IRA in 1982. I had hoped it would be nice for him to see the same troup of horses in one piece and looking well as they had been in bits and dead or dying when he attended them that awful day. But instead he saw one of them being treated horribly.
I am shocked. I didn't expect them to be beautifully enlightened horsemen, but I did expect a very high standard of normal horsemanship. What I saw was some of the worst and most abusive horsemanship I have seen. It was awful. If they are going to demonstrate non-standard horsemanship like laying a horse down, they should learn to do it well (i.e. gently and with harmony and consent) or not do it at all. Also, they shouldn't be trying to teach a horse something so quickly the day before a display.
Kelly - perhaps you could ask Monty to exert what influence he has in this area please? These are the Queen's Household Cavalry horses that guard the Queen at Buckingham Palace. They deserve better treatment than this. Any horse does.
It was particularly upsetting for my OH. He was a policeman in London in the 80s and was the first on the scene when the Household Cavalry got bombed by the IRA in 1982. I had hoped it would be nice for him to see the same troup of horses in one piece and looking well as they had been in bits and dead or dying when he attended them that awful day. But instead he saw one of them being treated horribly.