OK, here's the back story. The rider is actually a polo player, and was on that course and horse as a dare of sorts. Kind of like, "Oh yeah, I can do that, give me a horse and I'll show you." His "chair seat" equitation and method of driving the horse forward effectively also indicate a very skilled polo player.
While he certainly has no finesse or clue about how to ride a jump, he definitely knows how to ride on the flat. How many of us could regain a loose stirrup, at speed no less, so effortlessly and consistently? Also, he didn't catch the horse in the mouth at all, in spite of those hard-looking landings; he appeared to be using his hands to brace himself on the horse's neck on the way down. With respect to being abusive, I've seen much worse at supposedly high-level shows I've attended.
The fact that the rider didn't end up eating dirt on that course proves he has plenty of balance in (and above) the saddle. How many of us could stay on after doing a version of equine motocross freestyle like that?
If you can read Spanish, you'll know that the disclaimer states the horse was left with mild back pain, which further comments indicate was relieved by chiropractic and massage. He was fine for jumping - with his regular rider - the next day.
Did you ever grab a horse's mouth while learning to balance, or land hard on one's back while learning to jump? Everyone has. Does that make us all cruel? Long story short - yeah, the horse was ill-used, but no less and CERTAINLY no more than, say, cutting and roping horses that have to stop on a dime and have chronic hock issues, dressage horses with back problems, CT horses that fall in the elephant trap, school horses ridden several times a day by rank beginners, and so on and on. If you can't see even a tiny little bit of humor in that guy's aerobatics...well, I don't know what to tell you. But one thing's for sure, I'm not going to argue about it.
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