Thank you for your very based opinion. Horses don't like to be ridden 99% of the time.
Something the other guy said rubbed me the wrong way, it was basically "how is building a relationship with an animal and teaching it respectfully how to do stuff worse than bull gymnastics?"- so I just want to get this off my chest.
Most people who own a horse, never helped train it. There is a humungous difference between someone that has "ridden horses their whole life" and a person that has been training untouched horses for even just a week.
When someone says they've ridden horses their whole life, they're talking about horses other people trained before they ever laid a hand on them. So definitely be weary of these people- if they could actually teach a horse that does not know how to be handled, they would flat out say so. Since they can't so they don't, they hit you with the ole "I've been riding my whole life.".
Spoiler alert: most equestrians have been riding their whole life. Most equestrians, upon encountering even 1% of pushback for the treatment of their animals, will justify it by saying this. I almost respect the minority that simply say "oh yeah it hurts my horse, I don't care because this is the only way it'll listen". Cause you know what? At least you're honest, and you aren't treating me like I'm so stupid I'll believe you if you say something else.
So I think this other dude's view of equestrianism is shallow, which is very forgivable. The issue is that very few people leave the equestrian world and want to relive that trauma enough to speak out about what's really going on. It's also learned helplessness. It is basically impossible to convince someone not to hurt their horse because they truly believe they aren't or that if they are, it's okay because it's to keep them safe. Since this is what someone goes through before leaving equestrianism, this battle that's impossible to win, they're that much less likely to speak out because they know that no one with the power to actually change the industry cares.
Tldr: just because a horse listens to its rider does not mean it is doing so because they respect them / have a bond with them. For most horses, it is simply muscle memory to do x when y pressure is applied to z part of their body. Also for most horses, said muscle memory is created through practices that are not stomachable to the general public, and so it is kept quiet or viciously sugarcoat / cherry picked.
Horse sports are like the circus. Everyone wants to see a lion jump through a flaming hoop. Very few people want to see the other 23 hours of that lion's day. So they don't, and they let themselves believe when the liontamer says his whip isn't for hitting the lions.