The internet is an amazingly wide place with millions of places to visit
The internet is an amazingly wide place with millions of places to visit. It is easy to imagine that you are anonymous in the midst of such a vast world of information. Unfortunately it is just when we believe that we are no more than a speck of dust, when we become the speck of dust that everyone notices.
This is particularly true when you post photos online. As soon as your photo takes its place on the internet, it becomes public property. Sure, you may copyright it, but it is still open for anyone to see, and for anyone to comment on.
It is unbelievable the types of photos that people post online. They may believe that they are only there for their friends, but soon that photo is seen by millions of others. And although you might take the photo down as soon as it creates waves, that does not mean it is gone. All it takes is someone “borrowing” your photo to show someone else, and it remains available for others to see.
It is unbelievable the types of photos that people post of their horses. Photos of young children playing barefoot beneath their pony’s hooves. Toddlers riding bareback, without helmets, on horses that their owners proudly proclaim as unbroken stallions. Three or four people stacked onto the back of an obviously underweight and sway backed old mare. Horses grazing in fields full of dangerous equipment, behind broken fencing and rolls of barbed wire.
Posting photos such as these are sure ways to get yourself criticized. Educated horse people are horrified by such irresponsibility, and there are websites that specialize in tearing a strip off of those who can’t bother to take proper care of their horses, or keep their kids safe.
If you do not want that photo to represent you, DON’T post it online. So what if it was “just once”, or your only did it “for fun”. These types of photos do not belong online.
You wouldn’t post a naked photo of yourself online, would you? Posting bad photos of yourself or your family with your horses isn’t much better. If you must take a photo of something that was “too cute”, keep it to yourself, or show it to your friends by email or at home. Don’t post it online for the world to see.
Be sensible, and only post things that you would be happy for your mother, or your coach, or your business partner to see. You never know when that stupid photo might come back and bite you in the breeches.
And finally, the last thing (which would definitely seem obvious to most of the people) is that you should not misrepresent your horse. Things like digital correction, horse markings removal, etc., are simply unacceptable as they are misleading the buyer. Unfortunately, there are many horse sellers who do that and in some extreme cases even post the photos of the horses they do not own. This is immoral, unacceptable and punishable by law as it is illegal to misadvertise.