Horsetalk.co.nz How do the world’s elite riders relate to their horses?
Not necessarily, researcher Katherine Dashper noted in her 2017 paper in the journal
Society & Animals. But it is suggestive of the potential for exploitation, leading to questions about the boundaries between the use and abuse of horses in sport, she said.
It is an uncomfortable and complex question, even more so when looking at the top tier of riders, given the commercial pressures that exist.
Rachel Hogg and Gene Hodgins, in a paper just published in the journal
Animals, have delved into the nature of the relationship between horses and riders in elite equestrian sport.