Thank you! Yes I used to have wild birds in my hands when I was 2 years old and living in Africa. Only about 10% of horses have told me they like to be ridden. The majority of the horses do not like to be ridden. It does exploit the horse. Foremost the bit in the mouth is painful. This is why they chew the bit. Also their spines have not been designed to hold weight. Their design is more suited to draught work. But ultimately they are herd animals that want to be out in the open fields with their friends and eat for 20hrs a day. Unfortunately, humans close them up in 12x12 cells, separated from their conspecifics, force them into 'work' (whether it is riding or making them run around in a circle), use behavioral techniques that are based on creating fear in the animal so they will submit. These are all ways of exploiting the horse for the purpose of human pleasure. I have seen many shut down horses. The ones who are equestrian athletes (jumpers, racers etc) are most affected - drugs are the norm (my Saskie was given meth to make her go faster), there is no connection with their rider usually because they are just a tool despite being sentient beings. As you can see it is not a wonderful experience for the horse at all. Saskie has nothing to worry about. She will not be ridden as per her request and she has 24/7 hay (as trickle feeders they need hay in front of them all the time) and no one is chasing her in a round pen to make her submit to them. She comes to go for walks of her own accord and loves to follow me around everywhere.