Between 2011 and 2016, Betty Finke was a regular columnist for The Arabian Magazine. Some fifteen years down the line, we thought now would be a good time to share Betty’s articles, many of which remain as pertinent as ever.
Originally, I had intended to write something more positive, to tie in with this issue’s Crabbet/Russian subject; but then something else came up and refused to go away. The reason is that I went to my first Arabian show this year, and I came back with extremely mixed feelings.
Before continuing, I should perhaps clarify that, generally speaking, I enjoy going to shows. It is an opportunity to see more beautiful horses in one place than anywhere else, get a first glimpse of the up-and-coming youngsters, see the popular young sires’ first offspring, catch up with old friends, and take lots of photographs. Also, this particular show is one of my favourites. It is well-organised, the people involved do a great job, the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming, and the horses are gorgeous. So, why mixed feelings?
It is bad enough that panda eyes appear to be the craze again, or that some horses looked as if they’d dipped their heads into a grease bucket up to their eyes. That’s just fashion – it looks ridiculous, but it doesn’t do any permanent damage. If only that were all to complain about. But, not to mince matters, I have never seen so many confused and/or frightened horses, nor such blatant disregard for the rules. Excessive whipping? Check. Excessive stimulation by noise or intimidation? Double check. Excessive circling of horses? Check. Now, the people involved will probably point to the word ‘excessive’, and you might well argue about how much exactly is ‘excessive’. Would that take one flick of the whip more? One extra circle? An additional person brandishing a whip with a plastic bag at the end and yelling? Let’s not split hairs. The end result was horses that stormed into the ring in sheer panic just to get away from the crazy people; horses so over-‘stimulated’ they jumped wildly around the ring instead of trotting, before finally standing frozen in front of their handlers with bulging muscles and even more bulging eyes. Granted, it looks pretty spectacular. But at what price?
This is not exactly new. In recent months, a lot has been said and published on the subject, especially the wonderful presentations at the WAHO Conference by HRH Princess Alia of Jordan and Emma Maxwell, both of whom pointed out, if in very different ways and against different backgrounds, what is wrong in today’s show-ring and what repercussions it may have not only on the individual horse, but on the breed as a whole. You would think people would take notice. You would think one might see just a little improvement. Instead, things seem to be taking a dramatic turn for the worse. The handlers at this show whose horses appeared to be in harmony with them and not frightened into submission – yes, there were some – you could count on one hand, and still have fingers left over.
Now on the whole, I do not believe that show trainers are evil sadists who take a perverse delight in torturing horses. Maybe I’m just naïve, but basically, I do believe that most people love their horses and that trainers and handlers are not deliberately cruel and, indeed, just do what they regard as their job. But I also believe, as Princess Alia pointed out so poignantly, that we are becoming desensitised. We are getting to the point where we think it normal for a horse to come charging wildly into the ring instead of trotting, and to stand tense as a bowstring with popping eyes. In fact, we mistake this kind of behaviour for ‘presence’ and ‘animation’. Whereas, if we look closely enough, what we see is not animation, but intimidation. Yes, there are horses that have the natural presence and charisma needed for the show-ring, but others don’t have that kind of sparkle, and in particular, the iron nerves it takes for this line of work. Trouble is, if they happen to be pretty, it is asked of them anyway. They have to ‘function’, in the most quick and efficient manner. The most quick and efficient manner is pressure. And you end up with horses whose eyes nearly tumble out of their sockets as they stare at the whip – and people think that is presence and type.
The final proof of this was a brochure I picked up at the same show. It was a lavishly produced, glossy booklet promoting a colt, incidentally a very beautiful, very successful colt that I like a lot. But I was horrified by the photograph printed on the front of this brochure – a blurry, excessively blown-up amateur snapshot showing just part of this colt’s face from the front, in extreme animation, with panicky, rolling eyes showing the whites. What I find particularly appalling is that, surely, the person who had this brochure printed chose this particular photograph because he thinks is shows ‘type’ and ‘animation,’ and expects others to see that as well. And I suspect that many, at least those who have known nothing else than this type of showing, will see exactly that. As Princess Alia said, how did we come to this?
Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. It is easy to say ‘the rules should be enforced’ – of course they should, but how? We’d only end up discussing the meaning of ‘excessive’, a word that should not have been in there in the first place, because, strictly speaking, there should be no whipping, intimidation, or circling at all, excessive or otherwise. But the question of enforcing the rules is probably academic anyway, because now we’re getting a new set of shows that don’t even bother with rules. What we get instead is increasing amounts of prize money. How that is going to make things any better is beyond me.
As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. But that doesn’t change the ultimate destination.
First published in The Arabian Magazine, June 2012.
