Una has seen all sorts of poor horsemanship in the time she has lived with me at our communal grazing. For example, people riding lame horses, horses bolting or bucking with their riders, excessive pressure, horses overfaced, inappropriate equipment etc etc.
If I think mine or Unas safety is at risk I will always remove us from a situation.
However, I also think good horsemanship has every right to take up space in the world, and I won't hide Una and I away just because we might see something unpleasant. I also don't think it's good for Una spiritually for me to be handling her defensively, scurying us around like little mice afraid of spotting a hawk. I'd rather show her that we can put our feet firmly on the sand and do our own thing, regardless of what is happening around us.
I think I have more responsibility here with Una than I ever did with Sasha or Saffie. Sasha in particular had seen so much shit before she came to me that she was jaded to other horses distress. Una is kind and naive and well socialized - she notices other horses struggling and points them out to me.
I've found I have kind of two modes around this, depending on the context, the distance, what the other horse & rider and doing, what me & Una are doing, how me and Una are feeling that day etc etc.
Sometimes if there is some safe distance between us and them and we aren't doing much, I'll just stand quietly with Una and watch. Una often wants to watch. I validate Una "Yes, that is happening. I can see it too." And just hold space for her watching for a minute, then when it feels right we redirect our attention somewhere else. This is my "yes, that hillside is on fire" approach to working Una alongside unhappy horses.
Other times, I draw a big golden reflective bubble around Una and I which separates us from anyone else. Then I work with Una as if the other horse and rider is not there. The golden bubble has multiple layers of thickness, each one separating us further from what happens outside the bubble. Not all layers are employed all the time.
Layers of the bubble might include 1. That's none of our business 2. That's outside of our control 3. What is happening over there cannot hurt us 4. You will never ever experience what that horse is experiencing. 5. In this moment, this exact moment, you and I are both safe. Layers might be spoken silently or aloud, but they are always spoken to my horse. This is my "that is not our hillside" approach to working with Una alongside unhappy horses.
1 & 2 are the most common layers for Una 5 was very important to Saffie but Una doesn't seem to need it. Differences between horses are interesting.
When I was younger and I competed a lot, I remember hearing the advice to "look at the sand/tell your horse to look at the sand" when riding in a warmup arena alongside unhappy horses. That also worked very well, but it has a real "the hillside is not there" feeling which I'm undecided about - it's helpful, it works, but its not quite true and I dont think its the right approach for Una right now.
I do think "the hillside is not there" could be the right approach with some horses and in some contexts. I had a particular pony as a kid who I often told "if you don't look at it, its not real" which was very effective for us at that time.
I was having a little think about why maybe I was so interested in this subject. Surely it's just an extension of the whole spooky horse conversation which I've already talked to death?
But then I realized there is an added layer. Una is a horse, and she's watching another horse get mistreated. So it's not the same as Una just wanting to look at a flag in the breeze or weird gurgling pipe - it's probably a much deeper experience for Una. Especially because Una seems to be expressing concern for the other horse, and because Una is so new to her own ridden career.
Its troubling to realize as well that because horses have such a vastly superior sense of smell, Una is experiencing this even when the ofher horse human partnership is long gone, because she can smell go distress of other horses in the arena.
I want to respect that Una cares, and acknowledge what she sees. I don't want to harden our hearts or normalize poor horsemanship for either of us. But I also don't want Una and I take on board other horse/rider partnerships negative energy. And I need Una to know that even if unkind things are happening in the distance, she is safe with me.
It reminds me of conversations about co-regulation for social animals. Is Una trying to co-regulate those other horses? That certainly fits with what I know of her character. Is that something I want to encourage? I'm not so sure.