Scenes from the All Nations Cup arab horse show at Aachen, 2011. The man in the straw hat who interposes himself between a horse and a handler is Sven Svensson, the ring master during the class.
This show was organised under the auspices of the European Conference of Arab Horse Organizations, whose regulations on showing include the following prohibitions:
”Cruelty
33. Excessive whipping or shanking [jerking violently at the horse’s mouth], excessive stimulation by noise or intimidation, excessive circling
of the horse, use of electric shock devices or infliction of pain by any means is forbidden in all parts of the showground or stable areas, at all times.
34. The above offences are punishable by issue of a Yellow/Red card”
The ECAHO website contact page is here. Thank you to HHO for drawing attention to this. Apparently some form of hearing is now underway.
EDITED TO ADD: very interesting response here from the ECAHO!
I’ve read several times this year in Horse and Hound about the conduct of some exhibitors in Arab classes in the UK. Depressing.
Wow. That was eye-opening. They have no shame!
Pretty nasty, hey? I’ve added a link to the response from the organization. What I don’t know is whether these horses won despite the abuse. Seems to me that the best way to stop it owuld be to instantly eliminate the offenders.
Well these handlers are doing this in a number of countries and importing their way of showing. They are not the only ones to blame, the owners of the horses being show also need to be shamed. This type of thing put a blight across the Arabian horse world. What is it all about the almighty win at any price and the horses are collateral damage . Everyone needs to speak out and not accept the way the Arabian horse industry is being run . From trainers barns, not by the owners and breeders of the Arabian but those who derive income from it and the more wins they get the more they earn and they dispense with the horses like old damaged shoes along the way.