I'm so often intrigued by the depth often encountered within the horse and human partnership.
On the one side I see a magnificent animal held in our captivity, often torn away from their mother at 6 months old, ...(horse brain studies have shown most horses suffer mentally from this trauma their whole life)...
Then often treated defensively, harshly, misunderstood.
On the other side I often see people who so often also experience mental or physical trauma in their lives, who have a major improvement from spending time with these special animals.
Studies have shown consistently fantastic results in troubled children, trauma victims and those with disabilities etc...when they spend time with horses.
But on a lighter level, the overall horse, human partnership is something to be cherished, enjoyed and explored to be achieved in it's greatest potential efficiency, is it not?
For the purposes of sport, or pleasure there is a great deal to be gained from adapting the way we work with these animals into something that avoids trauma and major undue stress.
Just a thought....