The word ethics has been tossed around lately, as one of the buzzwords of the last few years.  It easily rolls off the tongue, is simple to spell, and is a must-use when speaking about business.

An ethic is a philosophy or system of morals, and is as open to individual interpretation as is each of us.  So the understanding that a person, company or business has ethics simply means that each has decided upon a set of rules to live by, and subsequently abides by it.  Usually, but not necessarily, they are the rules that the majority of one’s society agrees with and tries to follow.

Today’s consumer has more choices than it ever has.  Businesses that provide  product and services enter and exit the market on a continually rotating basis.  Those that manage to stay in business for any length of time have found a balance between standing up for what they believe, and treating the customer as a treasured guest.  Adopting both of these attitudes is an integral part of that business’ ethics.

Corporations have been known to mention that being ethical is good business.  In fact, this is an oxymoron, for if ethics are put into place because of the bottom line, then it follows that they would be dropped if they do not add up to company profits.  Therefore, there is no morality involved here.  Only if followed when inconvenient, or even hazardous, can a set of standards truly be called ethics.

And herein lies the dilemma for horse photographers.

Any industry that uses animals or people to its advantage is inherently suspect of the practice of abuse.  The equine industry is far from exempt.  Money, a very real energy in our society, is used to find ways to justify actions that otherwise could not be in existence.

Breed organizations are often large corporations themselves and the betterment of the breed tends in actuality, to be the net revenue of the corporation.  Racehorse mares are bred, year after year, often pumping out inferior foals destined for destruction. Gaited breeds are fraught with uncomfortable and sometimes painful gadgets and techniques designed to force unnatural movement to please the eye of humans.  Some breeders still dock the draft breed’s tails, dooming them to a lifetime of inability to use Nature’s fly swatter and communication device.

Breeders often impregnate any horse with a uterus, paying little attention to disposition, or even if the market needs yet another horse.  Every year, thousands of equines, from the huge majority of foals from PMU farms, to the injured or not fast-enough racers, and on to much loved ponies that were “outgrown” end up in terror, pain and anguish, at the slaughterhouses, on their final journey to a human’s plate.

Each of these examples is born from unnecessary actions.  Breeders can tighten up their programs.  Premarin can, in every case, be replaced by much safer herbs and/or synthetic or plant derived hormones.   And every horse owner can take responsibility for the final days of their animal’s life and make certain it has a suitable home, or is humanely euthanized if in pain.

I’ve been told that, as photographers, we have no responsibility for the atrocities that happen to our subjects.  Yet, we hold the very key to how the public perceives these events.  It is we who capture these sentient beings during all of their moments.  And it is we who decide which photos will represent the norm.  Thus, it is we who, in a large part, help build and maintain the norms of our equine society.

Other considerations include submitting photos of children on horseback, wearing no helmet.  Again, by doing so, we are contributing to the very real possibility that someone, or many, will become brain injured or even die.  We know that the slight bodies in fashion magazines encourage young girls to stop eating; it is no different with helmets or the lack thereof.

Do we also submit images of mares and/or foals, loose and wearing halters?  At one of the stables at which I boarded, a two week-old, Standardbred filly lost her life when her halter was entangled in very safe, board fencing.  It happens all the time, yet when horse owners see haltered, loose horses, consistently in magazines, they shrug off the possible consequences.

A code of ethics is a work in progress.  Each person, each business, develops their own standard.  Life experience is a powerful mentor that helps shape and mold one’s world view, and the ethics that one is willing to live by.

Like any decision of importance, this does not come easily.  It is often much easier to bypass that which one knows is right, as one travels the path towards a large sum of money.  Yet, this responsibility, significant and perhaps even burdensome, is charged to all of us, as equine photographers and as part of humanity.  Ethics not only governs which shoots we will or will not work, but also how we treat each other within the profession.  Separating business and personal ethics is neither desirable or even possible.  How we live our lives tends to govern how we run our businesses.  When in doubt, The Golden Rule always applies.

Our continually evolving ethics must involve all areas of our lives, including care and compassion towards animals, the altruism to which we aspire, and the respect that we have for the environment of our beleaguered planet.  When this occurs, then our business ethics, like a well-crafted piece in a jigsaw puzzle, simply drops into place.