The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.

Charles Bukowski, Tales of Ordinary Madness

 

Talking about Equine Liberation is very different from talking merely of liberty, as in the trends of the last decades of horsemanship has tried to bring us. Equine Liberation does not match therefore with the work at liberty, the riding in liberty, the training at liberty, and actually talking about Equine Liberation means questioning just these alleged liberties, even more strongly than questioning conventional approaches, because they hide the attempts to masquerade as liberty what remains in the same and conventional equestrian cage. Equine Liberation start from an ethical paradigm, using other languages and practices with the recognition of the equine moral status, corresponding to various subjectivities, with a right to live without coercive, gentle, ethological and libertarian trainings.

You’re a fool, juha! Ha! Did you think you were free? Where were you going at 2:00 today? Into the gym, right? In the morning, your wake up call. In the middle of the night, when you wake up sweating with your heart pounding. What is it that has you all tied up, juha? Is it ambition? Yeah… You’re no mystery to me, boy. I used to be you. –  Instinct, the movie