Sue's Standpoint

Australia to ban whips in trotting races! I can't believe I missed this when it was announced in Dec. Such amazing, incredible good news! And something for the rest of the world to follow! The article is well written. David Marlin writes about the use of the whip in Brain, Pain or Training, and speaks passionately about it on the DVD ). He asks whether we'll look back in 100 years on the use of the whip, in a similar way to how we look back at children being sent down the mines (or at least, that's how it came across to me - his words may have been slightly different).

One of the phrases in this horse racing article really gets at me: "...how we used to hit them back then compared to now, it's all changed." What on earth are we doing hitting them in the first place?! How would we feel if that was said in relation to hitting children?! How can changing how you hit someone or something make it ok?! In the news just a couple of days ago, Russian MPs passed a bill to decriminalise domestic violence, meaning a lesser (non-criminal) charge for assaults 'that inflict pain but do not cause bodily injury that threatens the victims health' Click here for full report. Does mental health not count as health? Is there any way that a person or animal can be physically assaulted (i.e. hit) on a regular basis without it affecting their mental health or psychological well being? Given the studies done on the development of a child's brain who has suffered abuse, show that there are chemical changes in the brain as a consequence, I think the answer is no! This just goes to prove that even "mild" violence causes changes in the brain, which can result in poor health. I can tell you from personal experience that mental health is definitely part of 'health'!

Congratulations Australia's horse racing association, and I look forward to the rest of the equestrian world catching up with you 😊

 To read the full report into Australia's ban click here.