Equestrians That Battle Anorexia

CLAIM: Anorexia has affected thousand of equestrian riders through out the U.S. but the difference is, no one is willing to admit it. When a person falls victim to anorexia, they feel that is their responsibility to be perfect. There is a relationship between anorexia and perfectionism, the extent of perfectionism is directly associated with anorexia. Anorexia nervosa affects about 8 million Americans, while 7 million of them are women. They all try to hide it and make everyone assume that they are just naturally skinny. They deny the facts and claim that they don't see a problem but there really is a problem. "No one has woken up yet and said "This needs to stop'" REASONS -judges are scoring primarily on the appearance of the rider rather then the skill, "looking elegant often seems to mean looking thin" MAIN EVIDANCE -Shelly was 12-years-old, 71 pounds. She couldn't get out of bed because she was too weak. Her liver and kidneys were failing and all of this because she wanted to be the smallest and because the people in her riding classes thought she looked like the "perfect petite rider." -incidents of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating within the group has risen noticeable over the past 10 years -"thinner is better" culture -Karry Davis, nine months pregnant- has battled with anorexia for eight years- riding show in a month and a half ad needs to fit into her riding clothes, she told readers that she would be willing to do anything to get back to her normal weight again, and she will once she has her baby.

-one girl entered a college horse show and lost so she went to ask the judges what she should work on and they told her, "You have nice equitation, but you'll never win seriously unless you lose five pounds," The student was 5'10, 130 pounds.

-a former judge claimed that he would "absolutely take points from a heavier rider if two people were equally skilled in the competition -Claire and her friends spent their winters in Florida riding during the day,