Is riding horses ethical?

Question

i love horse-riding but now i am not sure if it is ethical. :(

is it?

Answer 1

I think it's ethical as long as you take good care of your horse and don't over work him. Always brush him down, check his hoofs and give him a snack after a ride.

Answer 2

you're going to get a variety of answers for this one....i would suggest doing some research and making up your own mind about it.  some people believe in animal liberation, which goes against even keeping animals as pets.  others believe in animal rights, and for those some may agree and some may not.  still others believe in promoting animal welfare, and those people would be less likely to be opposed to it although some still will be.  

if you feel it's wrong, don't do it.

however, i really don't see how riding horses (especially if it's competitive) is all that different from racing them.....it's still someone using an animal for their own benefit.  there are equine injuries, malnutrition, etc. in horses that are used for pleasure riding just as there are in racing.  racing might be a more extreme version, but they're inherently the same.  i've seen many racehorses that were treated a hundred times better than some other backyard/pleasure riding horses.

EDIT:  you're not a horrible person for riding a horse!! don't beat yourself up so badly.  if you think what you're doing is wrong, don't do it....but don't make up your mind based on what all of us are saying.  do you take care of your horse?  feed him well, show him love, etc. etc.?  i'm sure you do.  you're not a bad person for caring for a horse.  i think that it's possible for a horse to enjoy pleasure riding.....i have known some horses to get excited when they're being saddled up.  none of us know your horse.....observe his actions and his body movements when you're saddling him...does he go into submission or does he perk up with excitement?  all animals are different just like all humans are....your horse is no exception.  some humans enjoy backpacking with large loads up a mountain....some horses will enjoy having a rider.  animals are just like humans....observe your horse and make up your own mind.  we don't know you and your horse so it's going to be hard for us to judge this one.

Answer 3

Well, let's try a low-tech experiment.  Get someone (hopefully someone that doesn't weigh much) to sit on your shoulders or hang on your back .  Now, walk around with this person on your back for about an hour.

Did it suck?  Did you feel like you were having fun?  Do you think if the person on your back forced you to do this at his/her will that you would like it?  Did it really not bother you much?  Were you rewarded for your actions?  Were you taken care of and treated well?

Make your own conclusions.

::edit::

"omg i am such a horrible horrible person!! =*("

I seriously doubt it.  If the worst thing you've ever done is ride a horse, then you're d**n near angelic compared to the rest of us.

Answer 4

What JR said. But also make sure to kit the person out sitting on your back with spurs. And make sure you wear a nice hard metal bit in your mouth, too, attached to your passengers hands.

All joking aside, no, I don't ride horses, because if I'm going to be unfair to animals I'd like there to be some clear need (like animal testing, for medications, or guide dogs or seizure alert dogs or whatever). To be unfair to animals just for sport seems more wrong than wrong if that makes sense. But then again I don't have pets either. I petsit for people sometimes, and I like animals, but I don't want one of my own.

Do I loathe and despise people who do ride horses or keep pets? No. It's a complicated issue, with no real easy answers. And it depends upon the conditions in which the animal is kept. However, I think that "pleasure" riding is pretty much only for the pleasure of the human, not the horse, and people who kid themselves otherwise are just deluding themselves.

In the end it's really one of those grey areas.

Answer 5

Try posting this in the Pets-Horses category it would be interesting to see what they have to say about it. Personally my horses enjoy the experience, they get a good massage and all their itches scratched and flies flicked both before and after the ride and usually a carrot or other treat, plus they're my buddies. I suppose the real answer is "Does your horse seem to enjoy it?". They are very empathic animals and it is really easy to tell if they're upset or unhappy... ask your horse! Good luck and happy trails.

Answer 6

Wow.  Sometimes there is just no end to this, is there?

Answer 7

Since it's impossible to be 100% non-harmfull to animals, as in when you're taking a walk, you're going to step on an ant these more sublte vegan issues can't be deffinitively answered.

In caveman days, horses were wild animals that Mr. Caveman captured and "broke". The domesticated horses of today are gimpy engineered Dr Moreau creatures that should not even exist on vegan moral standards. The same is true of pet dogs ect.

It's also true that we humans willingly accept some 'domestication' of ourselves with laws.

There is no true vegan. It's easy for me to stand firm that torture and killing of animals for pleasure food is disgusting but horseriding? That's less obvious. I wouldn't do it, but if immorality is in degrees rather than yes or no, then it's an unanswerable subject in definitive terms.

Leads to so many other questions too, doesn't it lol.

Answer 8

depends how hard you ride them and how you treat them otherwise...

here is a link on why race horses get hurt so often

http://www.sportales.com/Equestrian/Is-H...

compared to riding horses..

aslo here is a important link to share to really reduce cruelty in the horse industry

http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/Preven...