I've used a dressage whip often enough in a round pen. Training a horse isn't always pretty.
A pro doing some work for us: 
Internet photo:
Take one step at a time. First call the Humane Society and/or the ASPCA and report them.
If you are in Illinois, I can point you to some people who would be willing to come out and train the "trainers." Otherwise, you can contact a horse rescue and ask them to do the same. Two things: they probably are not breaking the law, and not every rescue shelter knows what it is doing.
Was it a real genuine bull whip or a common buggy whip available at any hardware or feed store.
It is normal to use a buggy whip to get them moving.
Obviously you are racists and Latinophobes, so make a anonymous phone call to the county animal control, from a pay phone while wearing a pointy white hood.
The ASPCA and the Humane Society won’t do crap for you, they don’t have training or the facilities. They might ask you for a donation, though.
Call the ASPCA or Humane Society in your area, just express your concern.
These people need to be reported yesterday.
Bullwhips are NOT meant for hitting animals. They are primarily used to make noise to direct herds of cattle. You could get the same result with a gunshot, but of course then you’d be wasting a lot of ammunition.
Cattle handlers don’t use bullwhips to hit the animals because the whip will damage the hide. A direct hit by a bullwhip can break human bones.
You can use a bullwhip to train a horse, but only in so far as you learn to crack it properly (and safely) in order to control the horse with the sound.
Many people are not aware the the crack of a bullwhip is actually a sonic boom. The force of energy going through a cracking bull whip actually breaks the sound barrier at a certain point in the cracking motion, and that’s what causes the sound.
That’s a lot of power for any living creature to be hit with.
How about PETA ,,, PEOPLE for the ETHICAL TREATMENT of ANIMALS . Perhaps they will arrest the horse for not responding correctly to the illegals for reasons of racism .
Do you know if the horse was an illegal alien also,, if so forget about the whole thing .
In Texas, the sheriff’s department normally handles cruelty to livestock. I would call them as I imagine California has cruelty laws pertaining to horses as well as others.
Not sure where in CA you are located but maybe this link will help. Contact a local rescue, near where this is happening. Most rescues are well informed of local animal cruelty laws and may have accepted or rescued animals in that location in the past. Some Mexicans are notoriously bad horsemen...ever heard of “horse tripping” or “Mexican rodeos”....nasty. Get these animals help right away, they can’t do it themselves!
http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/CA-HorseRescues.html
Videotape the activity and then send it to PETA, expressing your concern.
Call EVERYBODY, like YESTERDAY. Sheriff, ASPCA, etc.
Call EVERYBODY, like YESTERDAY. Sheriff, ASPCA, etc.
My God,report them.
Animal Rescue League is my fave.
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Were the animals acually struck by the whip? Or was it simply cracked above them?
I've used a dressage whip often enough in a round pen. Training a horse isn't always pretty.
A pro doing some work for us:
Internet photo:
A lunge whip is like a cross between a bull whip and a buggy whip.
It is a proper tool for exercising or training a horse that does not have a rider. The horse is in a long line (lunge line) and is kept moving in a circle by following it with the whip. The whip is generally flopped along the ground behind the horse, occasionally making a sound. It is rarely, if ever, used to actually strike the horse, and never in an overhand motion.
Whatever they were doing was not proper...but as others have said may not constitute abuse. (and there story is likely to be a lot better than what you saw.)