Do we CARE about BIG LICK and other WELFARE Issues???

Are we ignoring Big Lick, barrel racing, and other controversial horse disciplines… or is there more to the story? 🤔

In this video, we’re addressing one of the most common comments we receive: “Why aren’t you talking about Big Lick?” and “Do you not care about other disciplines?”

The truth is—we do care. Deeply. But there’s a reason we’re approaching these topics differently.

As The Scholarly Equestrian, our goal is to bring you evidence-based, research-driven discussions about horse welfare, training methods, and controversial practices across equestrian sports. That means no knee-jerk reactions—just thoughtful analysis grounded in science, experience, and expert insight.

In this video, we break down:

Why we’re currently focusing on dressage and disciplines we know best

The importance of research before reacting to controversial training methods

Why topics like Big Lick, rollkur, and welfare debates deserve full, dedicated videos

The difference between emotional content vs. educational content

How experience + science shape our perspective

We also talk about:

🐴 Horse welfare across disciplines

🐴 Why not all issues are discipline-specific

🐴 The role of experts (farriers, vets, trainers) in understanding complex topics

🐴 How to evaluate equestrian content online critically

This channel is about education over outrage—and giving YOU the tools to form your own informed opinions.

💬 We LOVE hearing from you—your comments, experiences, and perspectives make this community what it is. Keep the conversation going (respectfully, as always 💛).

00:00 Why We’re Addressing This

00:28 “You Don’t Care About Big Lick?”

01:15 Why We Focus on Dressage First

02:20 Reaction vs Research in Horse Content

05:48 Why We Avoid Drama-Based Content

08:27 The Role of Experts (Vets, Farriers)

This video is for educational purposes and constitutes Fair Use under Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976. Allowance is made for “Fair Use” for purposes of education, research, criticism, comment, and news reporting. This video is fully transformative and created in accordance with YouTube’s Content Reuse Policy under the Content Reuse Act. It includes original narration, commentary, educational context, visual edits, and added value through storytelling and analysis. No content is simply re-uploaded.

#horse

#horses

#horsecare

#horsenews

#equestrian