Clara moved from Sweden to the Netherlands to be an international rider but realised when she was there that she actually didn’t want to be a part of the horse industry as it currently is because she became aware of some of the attitudes that existed within it. She went viral on TikTok for talking about how the darkness she saw within the horse industry inspired her to take her life in a different direction, and how she wanted to start doing things differently – in particular using technology and social media to create new practices shape the future.
She joined me on EQUK Chat to discuss how we do this in more detail.
To get started, can you tell me a little bit about what your job was like as an international groom and what it consisted of?
I was a young horse rider mostly, we had around fifty horses at one of the yards and there was only three of us working. It was everything – giving the horses breakfast, hay, beds, then riding, changing the walker, turn outs, and then doing it all again in the evening. We would also go to shows and trainings, but I was mostly working with the young horses.
What part of your experiences in this job was it that made you make the TikTok, and how does it connect to what you are doing now?
I’m currently working on producing young horses still, with a horse management company that aligns with my ethics more. I’m also doing a bit of social media.
I was this super ambitious rider, and when I started to see it from the inside for myself, I started to become aware of a lot of problems, both for myself and the people around me. Even though I was focused on working hard and being a better rider, I realised that doing that didn’t match my values as closely as it should.
It got to a point where I realised I didn’t know if what I was doing was creating any good for the world, or the sport. You know – I want to be a successful rider, but does that really benefit anyone other than yourself? Like are you actually doing any good for the world? That really got be thinking – is this industry really doing something that I want to support, and I definitely started to see that were things we could do better.
What was it in particular that inspired you to make that shift?
It was both seeing how the horses and the people were treated. There’s more and more people talking about welfare now, it’s all coming up to the surface. I looked around me and I realised that – actually – none of these people are actually happy or enjoying what they’re doing, and I didn’t want to be a part of that myself.
We do sometimes forget why we loved it in the first place, and we can institutionalize ourselves because we are so convinced it’s this that makes us happy, to the point that we don’t even realise that we are now unhappy. You end up seeing the horse as part of the business, rather than as a sentient being.
I agree with you – if you’re around people who think a certain way you can eventually end up thinking like them too, and it gets very normalised. It just kind of hit me – is this actually what I want to do, and what I stand for?
Being able to recognise that in yourself is really powerful. So, what kind of ideas do you have specifically about how we make things better?
When you work in a stable, you can sometimes feel like you have no voice, or you feel like you don’t have the space to express your own values, particularly if a place doesn’t align with you. I’ve seen so many people put so much time and effort into working with horses, and they don’t really get anything back.
We have to help those who work within the industry become empowered to recognise their own values when they are working with horses so we can promote positive change from within. We don’t have to accept everything as it is.
You’ve spoken as well about using technology and AI to make things work more efficiently and identify issues – what were the thoughts you have to share around that?
I really think that it’s something we have to think about as the rest of the world is moving towards using AI, so if you’re not involved in it, we will end up getting left behind.
There’s lots of opportunities around using it for competitions, for example to standardise scoring in dressage, and also to improve yard and staff management on yards. I also think it could be used to improve horse welfare too, for example to help prevent injuries. They’ve started to do it with humans, so why not horses?
Looking at the next ten years, what’s your vision for what the horse industry?
The culture getting more open. We need more things to be discussed. It’s not just a few individuals, there’s a culture problem. We need to be able to have open, chill conversations about practises to make things better, to take the heat out of it all. Until that happens, we can’t make progress.
There are so many good people in the industry, working on yards or just horse owners themselves, who really care about this too, and it’s sad to see them struggling. There are a lot of people working towards better standards of welfare and training, but without the culture improving, it’s hard to make an impact.
We need to ensure staff are taken care of in really basic ways so that they can look after the horses properly. People need to be treated with respect. Technology can really help with that too – to make the people management easier.
In terms of horse sport remaining in the Olympics, as long as the horses are happy and the people working with the horses are happy, then yes, they should continue to be in the Olympics. When the horses are happy and the people are happy, the results are always so much better. You see it in other industries – where if your employees are motivated and looked after, your business is going to do better, and it’s weird that we don’t see it the same way in the horse world. And it’s important that horse sport remains on a stage where it receives the attention and funding that means we can facilitate all of this being put into place.
This conversation I think highlights some key themes that are emerging: equestrian staff need proper processes and structures in place to ensure they can work effectively. As boring as it is, proper HR makes all the difference – when staff are secure they are getting paid, know their working hours, and can take time off, animal welfare improves as a result. Staff who are looked after can better look after the horses in their care.
You can follow Clara on Instagram and TikTok: @claranorling
Listen to the whole episode on Spotify.
