I know I am with you!

Definitely not vegan but you fans of horse-riding will probably love it.

12 Live Horses Are Currently On Display In A Manhattan Art Gallery

[gothamist.com]

I don't think that horse back riding would be necessarily called vegan but I absolutely don't think its animal cruelty. A lot of people hear about breaking a horse and they think it's about breaking their spirit but its not that at all. Breaking a horse is about getting the horse to trust you, the process would be getting them first to come near you and then slowly earning their trust so you can put the saddle on and then eventually they can be ridden. some people might break a horse a different way but thats the way i've seen it done.

I've never heard of a vegan saddle but I bet if you looked hard enough you could find them. I use old saddles so I feel like thats okay because I didn't participate in the cruelty of animals, but i'm not going to let a perfectly good saddle (that something was killed for) go to waste.

I'm not sure humans will ever know whether horses enjoy being ridden but the horses I ride seem to like it. It's more an intuition thing than something you can prove.

As for the shoes it doesn't hurt them if they are put on properly. Horses hooves are sort of like human nails there aren't many nerves in that area which means they can't feel it all that much.

Hope This Helps

People are no bad. WE are good. Overall. That is the philosophy I have.