An Open Letter to Longines
Dear Management at Longines,
In my new book, Systemkollaps! Vom System Gewalt gegen das Pferd zur wirklichen Partnerschaft! (Systemic Collapse! From a System of Violence Against Horses to True Partnership), I analyze, among other things, the system behind the violence inflicted upon horses in equestrian sports. I also examine those who stabilize this system and keep it alive, despite dwindling public acceptance—the "Social License to Operate." It is a system that is effectively already in ruins, yet those who live within and off it simply refuse to see it.
Regrettably, the logical conclusion is that you are now part of this. To choose an ambassador who only recently caused a scandal and widespread horror by mistreating one of his horses with bare draw reins suggests that something has been lost. Empathy? The connection to the grassroots riding community? Integrity? You tell me.
Perhaps it is a lack of expertise that prevents you from realizing the gravity of what Christian Kukuk did to the horse with this type of "preparation." I would therefore like to point you toward a meta-study to which I give significant space in my book, as it must become the foundation for how we treat horses. It states unequivocally that any form of riding "behind the vertical" causes the horse discomfort, pain, shortness of breath, and long-term skeletal damage. The consequences of the actions taken by Mr. Kukuk are even more severe, as this was not merely a matter of riding slightly behind the vertical. The immediate impact was far more grave, and the long-term damage cannot, of course, be fully assessed at this time.
The question I wish to pose to you in this open letter is whether you actually made a conscious decision to partner with a rider who has violated regulations; who either does not know or chooses to ignore the findings of such a vital meta-study; and who knowingly caused a horse suffering — for draw reins do not find their way onto a horse by accident, they are used intentionally. I ask, therefore, if you chose Mr. Kukuk with full knowledge of this background.
And, by extension, if you have chosen to stand against the welfare of the horse.
With kind regards
Regina Rheinwald
https://www.regina-rheinwald-das-pferde-atelier-fuer-wort-und-bild.com/
Übersetzung: KI Gemini