Social media has brought rise to the classic term ‘influencer’; a person with tons of followers and likes, who will take pictures of themselves or their environment (but it’s usually of themselves).
This influencer culture is pushing people to up the ante in order to get a shot that no other influencer has on their profile.
One Instagrammer and YouTubber has recently copped a lot of flak, with her followers accusing her of taking it a little too far in order to show off her trip to a gorgeous island.
Credit: Kristen Hancher/Instagram
Canadian social media star Kristen Hancher, who sports 5.8 million followers on Instagram and a further one million subscribers on YouTube, was holidaying in Anguilla and decided to hop on a horse.
But the 20-year-old didn’t just take horsey for a gallop along the beach, Ms Hancher took the horse up to it’s neck in order to get a good picture. Sadly for her, she’s been slammed by people for endangering the horse.
“Omg you don’t take a horse that deep into the water,” wrote on person.
“All the actual equestrians like myself are quaking,” said another.
Other people were complaining that Kristen wasn’t using the right saddle and wasn’t sitting correctly to make sure even she was safe.
Credit: Kristen Hancher/Instagram
Her representative has spoken to Buzzfeed, who has assured everyone that what Kristen was doing was a-okay in terms of horse safety.
“Kristen is an animal lover. The horse was safe at all times. There were no waves and nothing that could have endangered the horse.”
According to the Daily Mail, horse rides into the ocean aren’t uncommon in the Caribbean, where Kristen was holidaying, and tour guides usually get the fillies to have a dip.
To further Kristen’s defence, a study concluded that there could actually be some positive effects for horses if they go for a swim. We’re not talking about chucking on some horse goggles and making them do a couple of laps, but swim training can be beneficial in the right circumstances.
Credit: Kristen Hancher/Instagram
“The changes in physiologic parameters by swim exercise duration were examined in five female well-trained Jeju crossbred riding horses that had riding experience of more than three years without swim training experience,” said the study’s abstract.
“Swimming is a well established method amongst trainers and owners, often used as a means of conditioning and rehabilitating horses. Most importantly, it provides a low risk of injury as the horse is not subjected to the pounding that track or field work can have on the joint.
“Swimming has also been found to be highly effective for treating horse diseases such as arthritis and tendonitis.”
So we can all collectively chill out on the social media abuse at Kristen.
[“source=ladbible”]
