Actually, many of the retired race horses from the track are good for much other than pasture decor or meat. They would never make a good horse for your 12 year old daughter as they're far too high strung (like some people) and would never be used as a dude horse for the same reason, and also because all they want to do is run, preferably in the front of the pack.
MM would be the one to correct me if I'm wrong here, but race horses are also trained differently and are extremely difficult to retrain for pleasure use. The main reason being the way they respond to the reins and bit; race horses are trained to run faster the harder you pull on the reins, whereas most other horses are trained the exact opposite.
I prefer not to use the term "breaking a horse". It has negative connotations and comes from the old cowboy days where in order to make a horse rideable, you literally broke his spirit. Nowadays it's all about thinking like the horse and handling him the way he would expect to be handled by the herd boss. I have a friend who was trying to "break" his horse the old-fashioned cowboy way in a round pen - lot's of yelling and cracking of the whip. I asked him if I could try. I stepped in and after a short time I have his horse walking , trotting, galloping, turning in the other direction and stopping, all without making a sound, using a whip, or coming within 10 feet of the horse; a step forward here, backward there, a slight turn of the shoulders. That's all it takes. He was amazed and is now a convert. I'm glad because now his relationship with his animal is based on trust rather than fear. There's an exceptional movie called "Buck", about horse trainer Buck Brannaman that provides some good insight into this process and I would encourage anyone with an open mind to watch it.
It sounds corny, but it's like the dog whisperer.
I think Miss Bijou has a right to her opinion and I respect that, however I think she's being far too radical and closed minded about it. She has a vision in her mind of how she would feel if she were a horse and isn't willing to accept that reality might be a little different. The world is full of bleeding hearts and they serve a purpose in our society, however I have a hard time with those who are unwilling to accept that things might not be what they appear and insist on cramming their hard line views down my throat.
Incidentally, I wonder what Miss Bijou's thoughts are on the hardliners that feel that all women involved in the sex trade are abused and forced into it and that this industry should be abolished at all costs? Would she expect them to believe her if she told them she enjoys what she's doing?
