Hamsters

It was asked on a riding forum, about how much pressure people feel when their horse is taking up contact and is in collection. A visual or weight association was asked to be given to accompany your response. I had seen this handy little visual on my Instagram feed several months ago and it really helped me to relate to what I should be feeling (I've held hamsters and used to raise guinea pigs, so I know how they can be delicate and how to hold them to not become free). So I thought, ah-ha! I will share this visual...only I couldn't find the image. So I described it, pretty closely to the quoted words accompanying the photo. Here is the photo:

It's perfect right! I loved it and for whatever reason, it clicked and I can vibe with it while riding. Great! ONLY, this group of people somehow thought that I was advocating for riding around the arena with hamsters in my hands. Like seriously, what? Why? How? I have no idea. I even very clearly stated "visualize as if you were holding...". So anyway, thus begins the discussion of the ethical repercussions of using live hamsters, a scientific debate about the different weights of different species of hamster and to clarify to which I was referring to (learned something about 7 different species of hamsters in the process, had no idea prior to this there was more than one), and several horrified stories of women who had tried to hold a hamster and gotten bit and so refused to think of it as it gave them terrible memories........ WHAT HAPPENED? WHY? So then I had to come on the group and do a disclaimer that I was not actually talking about going out and buying two hamsters from the pet store and using them to ride around the arena for their education during an exercise.......nor have I ever done so...... all while facepalming and wondering how we got to this point. AND THEY STILL DIDN'T BELEIVE ME. So for everyone's entertainment, there's a dressage riding group out there (that I'm no longer in), that believes people are out there riding around the arena learning the feel of contact and connection via hamsters...live hamsters. You're welcome. And thank you Dressage Today for sharing this helpful visual....for some people.....