A Voice for Horses - Issue 1 (Being Heard) - Online

EDITORIAL (excerpt)

Welcome to the first online English edition of this magazine! The German online/print version is already in its 7^th edition.

 My vision is to contribute to a world in which horses are seen as sentient beings, honored for what they bring to the horse-human relationship, and given a voice in our daily interactions with them. Giving a horse a voice means that their response to what we do with or to them must have an influence on us, and that we are willing to change something as a result.

Giving horses a voice is the topic of this first issue. 

How long would you stay in a relationship if your partner did not listen to what you had to say, and you were told what to do most of the time? How would this make you feel, and how would this impact your well-being and motivation to do something with your partner?

This is the reality that many horses live with day in and day out. Horses have no choice but to respond to the inner pain of not being heard with physical signs and behavioral issues. Even these signs and behaviors are often ignored and written off as the horse being too sensitive, too stubborn, too difficult, too this or too that: The horse is told to simply deal with it, or is confronted with more pressure if it does not conform.