I went to a confidence building clinic with Xen and Chiron a few weeks ago.  The flyer talked about trust and understanding – 2 things I’m all for. What I wasn’t ready for was the aggressive way the clinician handled Xen during the round pen demonstration.

Xen was confused by the clinician’s methods and tried to jump out of the too tiny circle. I watched in horror as he got tangled in the 6 foot panels with one hind leg and one foreleg stuck between the bars. He dangled there patiently for over 5 minutes while an exit plan was devised.  When the panels were unhinged, they all flipped over and Xen extricated himself from his prison.  He had some lacerations but by all accounts, it was a miracle he did not break his legs.

Last night I received an email from the sponsor of the clinic outlining a perspective that is in stark contrast to mine.  I saw a horse who was confused by contradiction and violence.  She saw a horse who left the round pen not because he was scared but because he saw it as an easy way out.  She continued to say that when we came to Xen’s rescue we did him a huge disservice by getting him free, fixing him up and then not addressing the situation that caused him to jump in the first place.

I know there many opinions about how to work and BE WITH horses but I don’t understand how someone can think that a horse who chooses to leave in the face of violence instead of meeting it with the same is unworthy of our care? I’m saddened that round pens are being used as mini coliseums and hope that one day soon, more and more people will hold their thumbs up so the voice of the horse can be heard.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

P.S. When I went out to share how I was feeling with Xen, he stood tall and looked into my eyes. In his great exhale I heard, “Being hopeful is an intuitive call.  Do what feels right in the service of love and only then can you beat the odds.”