A very thought-provoking exchange.
Slippery Is The Slope: A Reader And I Debate The Ethics of Horseback Riding
Posted on October 22, 2014 by heatherclemenceau
The cross country portion of the “triathlon” is the most extreme equestrian sport, pushing horses and riders often beyond their physical and mental limits.
Once in a while I get a response to a blog post that really merits its own stand-alone blog. Lauren sent me a response to my blog addressing the ethics of horseback riding, and while she doesn’t agree with my conclusion, I think she raises some interesting points and introduces several new arguments. So I wanted to present her post, which she took a lot of time to compose, along with my rebuttal arguments.
Please continue reading here.
Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's Blog 
horses have been domesticated a long time – and the bond between a person and horse can be very beautiful – close to telepathic. We used to have a little cow pony who was trained to herd and rope. She used to love herding cows. How do I know, when ever we rode past a group she wanted to turn around and head them off.
When my daughter and my wife ride, and they are so in tune to the horse I think everyone wins.
I used to care for retired race horses.