Dani Waldman, the striking show jumper with feathers in her hair, came under heavy fire on Instagram last weekend. One of her followers asked if her top horses are put out to pasture a lot, to which Waldman replied that she doesn't do it for fear of injury. That answer sparked a social media storm.
"It started with one woman who was particularly angry," Waldman said. "She said I should be ashamed of myself. Then it got really mean. My personality was attacked, which had nothing at all to do with the subject at hand. The main purpose at that point seemed to be spreading hate, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's that," she continues.
"If someone had said, 'that's interesting, why do you do it that way?' I could have defended my view. But that was different now. I think people often want to prove that they 'know more about horses than you'. My horses do go outside for hours a day," she continues. "They probably get more outside than the average horse that is out to pasture for a few hours a day. My horses go into the horse walker or on the treadmill, then they go back into the box for a while, they are ridden in our arena but also in the field, in the woods, on the race track, along the canal... We bring as much variety as possible in our trainings. Then they go back to be fed, then maybe on the treadmill again and then they can graze by the hand for an hour".
"I fully agree that horses should not be confined for 23 hours a day. But there is always a grey area in how the world works. I have the means and the facilities to spend as much time as possible with my horses outside. I think a horse that is in the mud 24/7, for example, will move less, even if he is outside. All I do is try to take the best possible care of my horses day in and day out. That is ultimately my duty as a rider and as an owner," she concludes.
Source: Horse & Hound