Let me preface this whole thing by saying that we talk to our children about many hot button topics and choose age appropriate pathways to educate them on the issue as well as where we, as their parents, stand.
We decided to send my happy go lucky (and bored to tears) 7 year old daughter to a horseback riding day camp, just minutes from our home. We were promised 5 days of riding and learning to care for a horse. For two long weeks, we counted down days on her calendar. The first morning of camp, she was up and dressed before Dad left for work at 6:30am. I was so happy she was excited. All week at dinner time, she would regale us with stories about her day.
Fast forward to Thursday night, the second last day of camp. She was practically levitating with excitement, as the campers were going to do a little ride around to show the parents what they had learned. As my husband and I were emptying her lunch bag, we got a BIG SHOCK. Tucked into her bag were booklets and pamphlets from PETA. Glossy colourful paper with horrifically graphic images, peppered with catchphrases easily deciphered by my newly literate child.
What we thought we were paying for was a opportunity for my child to learn to care for and ride a horse in a safe and professional environment. We trusted the company and staff to care for and nurture my child's budding curiosity and confidence as she learned about these amazing creatures. Had we, instead, paid several hundred dollars for someone to sneakily indoctrinate my daughter? As I leafed through the pages, each seemed more horrendous than the last. Dead piglets with mom looking on, photo-shopped images of puppies with bloody fishhooks in their faces, cows tagged and standing behind grim looking steel bars.
I was also told by another campers mother that the kids were allowed to sample different milks.I do not recall giving permission to feed my child ANYTHING.
I need to point out that nowhere in the stables Facebook page or website was there any indication this might occur. In all the areas that non-campers were permitted, there was nothing to say this was their stance.
I went in there on the last day for the riding presentation. Upon touring the barns, I was greeted with an entire hallway of posters asking "Is eating cows and Drinking Milk Worth it?"; "Is eating turkeys worth it?" These homemade signs were decorated with images of turkeys and animals in "factories".
I found this stealthy placement to be just that, stealthy.
The bottom line is this: These people were presented, and were paid by my family, as somewhere my child could learn to ride. We did not ask for, nor did we expect that my child would be used to further an agenda. It was extremely unprofessional and for her future riding encounters we will be seeking a new stable.
