IS MAN LOSING THEIR BOND WITH THE HORSE?
It’s becoming increasingly a reality that the special bond man has coined with Equus has diminished. It seems as though the 21st century has spelled the end for this beautiful relationship. The reliance on cars has taken over the idea that people and horses are supposed to be together in the world – a match created by God. Between 2011 and 2013, there’s been a decline in the regular riders in the UK; 1.6 million people were estimated to be regularly taking part in Equestrianism, yet that has gone down to only 1.3 million. As well, the idea that riding a horse is an unbiased, fair and genderless sport is completely untrue unfortunately as females represent 74% of the riding population – a statistic that hugely differs from the classic line in the equestrian community – “a sport for everyone”.
However, aside from gender bias and the 21st century emergence of the car and the tractor as a working mode of transport, there seems to be a more obvious underlying issue that means only around 2% of the population take part in equestrianism- money. Our consumerist society has meant that leisure activities have become ridiculously expensive, let alone a sport that is already considered to be a lot more pricey than most sports. As a regular rider myself, my parents have had the burden of forking out £1380 a year for me to take part in my passion. Not only that, but the horse used to play such an integral role in the survival of the human species; it has taken us into battle, even, but has been simply disregarded by the working man for technological advancements such as tractors and cars and white vans and so on. So from this, we can infer that not only does enjoying the company of a horse as a leisure require you to be of the middle class, but also it means that we have forgotten about what is supposed to be man’s working partner. Surely this is the end of the divine bond between man and horse?
Yet, whilst the older generation of equine handlers can marvel in what used to be, the idea of hard labour thrust upon an animal is a the thing of the past. We no longer have to sentence our horses to charge at spears and swords in lances in battle, with the advancement of animal welfare and the emergence of man-made machinery such as machine guns and tanks. Could these changes be the dawn of a new time where animal rights are integral? I certainly hope so. Overall, it is fair to say that horses being used as only a form of entertainment or mode of transport or war machine is becoming extinct. Rather than saying we as humans are losing the bond with horses, we might actually just be evolving into a time where things are being developed for practical use and animal rights are more of considered than they were before.
All arguments aside, nothing is more profoundly natural than the bond between man and beast. There is something divinely special about the energy transmitted between the feel of the rider’s hands to the taste in the horse’s mouth – a bond manufactured by God.
By Elijah Michael, JCoSS
