Caring for horses with philosophy
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About me - Dr. Maude Ouellette-Dubé, founder
Hello, I'm Maude, nice to meet you. And meet Bucky here above with me. He's the one responsible for all my thinking and philosophizing about horses. I'm a philosopher. I was born in Québec, Canada, in a horse family. Since generations my family raises, trains and races Standardbred horses. Like most of us in the family, I got the horse passion. Horses were the center, the periphery, the everything of my world throughout all my childhood and teenage-hood. While I worked with a number of horses, in racing and many other disciplines, I ended up never really being interested in jumping better, doing quicker rollbacks or going a mile faster. That was never important to me.
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Understanding horses and making sure they were doing well were concerns driving me. Instead of competing, I took care of injured horses, and worked with 'problem' horses. My ideal day at the stable was taking care of sore ligaments or back massages. Then I would take Bucky out for a walk with a book, sit in the shade, him eating, me reading. Once I finally got to own and train my own race horse (a beautiful, funny, tall, dark, brown trotter named Kentucky Bill V), I figured out a way to train him in the woods, instead of on the track, so that he could be happy and I too. I was definitely not the favorite student of riding instructors and trainers. All this fuss about performance just made no sense to me.
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As you can imagine, I wanted to become a vet. From age 8 onwards I prepared for vet school. I wanted to go to the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, the oldest veterinary school in Canada. I did every thing possible to be ready for it. From age 12 onwards, I followed horse veterinarians around during the day, asking a million questions a minute (I thank all of them for their unbelievable patience). When I was 18, I started working on evenings and weekends in a vet clinic for the serious preparation. Becoming a vet was something like my destiny.
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So then what happened? Why am I talking about philosophy here and not about horse health? Well there you have it, something was not right for me in the vet world. I wanted to take care of horses, as horses and for horses. Over the years, I realized that it made no sense to me how vets have to cope with human-caused injuries. So many horse health problems and injuries are simply the product of humans: out of ignorance, carelessness, naivety, greed, a form of blindness or, sadly, out of necessity. I deeply respect the work veterinarians do, but it was not the right place for me.
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I was not asking myself health questions, so it turns out, but ethical and philosophical questions. I did not want to know if my horse was healthy, but if he was happy. In 2010, I entered the philosophy program at McGill University, in Montréal. In June 2022, some 12 years later, I completed my doctoral studies in ethics and philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Now, I want to talk to you about horses in this very special way which philosophy taught me.
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I created Horse Intricacies in 2020 following the many deep and stimulating conversations which I have had the chance to have over the years with people who also want to dig deeper and question their practices. I realized that the questions which made me go into philosophy instead of vet school were in the hearts and minds of many other people. So I figured we need a place to bring these conversations to another level and broaden the audience. I hope it can speak to you also.
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Best,
Maude
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Collaboration
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In 2022, horsey person and philosopher, Friederike Zenker and I started working together on ethical, educational and philosophical questions regarding equine-human lives. We have in common a deep love for horses, a keen interest for philosophical questions and a view of ethics as relational. In 2022 we organized the internal conference Discussing Equine Ethics at the University of Fribourg and we went wild horse watching in Italy, which was a deeply moving experience. Since then we have worked together to create pedagogical material for teaching children and teenagers about equine ethics and we have been teaching practical workshops on animal ethics to equine professionals. Since 2025, Friederike is officially a contributor to Horse Intricacies. In June 2025, we will be presenting our research at the international conference Equine Cultures in Transition in Manchester. We are also working on a book on equine ethics together.
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About me - Dr. Friederike Zenker, contributor
I’m Friederike, and I live with my multispecies family in Copenhagen where I’m working on a research project exploring education as a tool for improving the lives of both human and nonhuman animals.
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I grew up with a horse-shaped hole in my heart. When I was finally allowed to take riding lessons at the age of seven, I felt disappointed and confused. The gentle creatures I had admired from afar, grazing in the fields, were suddenly subjected to discipline in a way that, as a child, I could only describe as mean. Horses were not allowed to move an inch off the track, or the riding instructor would yell. I was told to kick my legs into the soft belly of my pony if she moved slower than the rest. Even without any knowledge of horses, we already understood that the isolated life in individual stalls was not a good one for a horse. This wasn’t what I had imagined at all. (And I know that other children and teenagers in riding schools have had, and in some cases still have, a similar experiences.)
​My move to a different stable marked the beginning of an intense transformation. Here, I was educated to become a horse person – and that changed me completely. The horses lived in a cohesive herd in an open shelter and on expansive, varied, pastureland with shade-giving trees. I learned to understand how horses think and feel, to communicate with them, and to stay present with them in moments of fear. I built strength—not just physically, from the stable work, but also in patience, and empathy. I absorbed countless facts about horses—about feeding, biomechanics, and health care—so much so that if it had been a school subject, I would have excelled. And last but not least: I shared so much joy with the horses and fellow horse people.
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My story—who I am and why I’m part of Horse Intricacies—could already end here. But it doesn’t. There’s a twist I absolutely have to share with you. Because at the same time that I was thriving in the second stable, I also became more critical. I had been trained to be self-reflective in everything I did with horses, constantly questioning my own actions. As I grew older, I began to extend this critical thinking to the horse world itself, challenging practices that were taken for granted. Paradoxically, the very self-awareness that horses had taught me eventually led me to turn away from them when I was 18.
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I became vegan, questioning not just how we treat horses but the broader ethical implications of our relationship with animals. Eventually, I came to believe that something about riding, even about keeping horses, itself felt wrong. In a bold teenage decision, I quit everything—left it all behind—to focus on a purely theoretical education in animal ethics. (This ended in a PhD in Philosophy/Animal Ethics).
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For nearly ten years, I stayed away from horses. But over time, I felt the horse-shaped hole in my heart return. Something was missing. It wasn’t until I met certain horsepeople—including Maude—that I began rethinking my conclusion that a vegan life was incompatible with a shared human-equine life that is fair for all. Since returning to horses, my perspective has shifted. (A crucial role in all of this was played by a Shetland pony named Tequila—but that’s another story.)
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My meandering path to horses, away from them, and back again, brought ever new questions and new ways to deal with them. I realized that my philosophical studies didn’t have to distance me from animals, especially horses; instead, I began to use them to envision—and, together with others, help create—a shared world between animals and humans, one that allows us all to thrive. That’s what I’m committed to!
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Best,
Friederike
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