Guest guest Posted April 24, 2001 Report Share Posted April 24, 2001 Susan, Regarding your son who is offended by those who squish bugs, my 6 year old daughter (a vegetarian since birth), who has been taking riding lessons for 2 years, bursts into tears whenever she is asked to use a crop on a horse. She refuses to do it. She thinks its mean to hit them and if they don't want to go it must be because they are tired and don't want to. We have been through a number of instructors who try to convince her that: 1) It doesn't hurt the horse (can you be sure about that?) 2) Horses don't really feel it because their nerve endings are not as close to the skin surface as humans 3) Horses need to be punished Can you believe this? After one particularly difficult lesson, my daughter told me that she wanted to hit the one instructor with the crop and ask her how she liked it (you go girl!) We finally found an instructor who is willing to teach her without a crop and we have subsequently met some other people trained to ride that way, using only voice and leg commands. It has been a struggle for us, though, because my daughter REALLY loves to be around horses but most of these instructors think we are just freaks for not wanting to use a crop. I think many children, when raised in a sensitive home, will be sensitive to all living things...this society, however, will often try to normalize insensitive behavior, in the same way it tries to normalize meat-eating. Be proud that you have raised a sensitive child. Lisa FC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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