Stallkänslan [‘Stable:feeling’] was made as a part of the collaboration project between the Swedish Equestrian Federation and Sweden's largest anti-bullying organization, Friends, with the purpose to strengthen young leaders in order to create a safer equestrian sport.
The equestrian community has long identified itself as an open and safe place for everyone. But that’s not always the case. A lot of young people experience bullying and feel left out. In Sweden’s biggest report about bullying and exclusion among children and youths, the 2021 Friends’ report shows that every fourth person between the ages of 10-16 state that they have been subjected to violations. Bullying and exclusion is a social problem that also exists in the equestrian sport. The Swedish youth report, Ungdomsbarometern 2020, also shows that young equestrians experience this exclusion more than youths over all - a contrast we just couldn’t ignore.
Knowing that children and young people feel discomfort when thinking of the stable is unacceptable. The film Stallkänslan was our way to contribute in getting people to open their eyes, react and act against bullying and exclusion.
The objective with the film was to raise awareness and build engagement involving the wellbeing and safety issues in the equestrian sport. And to bring awareness to the support system that is available through the collaboration between Svenska Ridsportförbundet and Friends. We wanted young people and adults to open their eyes and see the reality for what it is, by showing a nuanced picture of bullying and exclusion that people could identify with. That's why we wanted to emphasize the contrast between reality and vision. The difference between where we are, and where we want to be.
With social media as a starting point, we wanted to inspire and start the conversation on what kind of equestrian sport we want to build - free from bullying and exclusion.
It’s the contrast in the film Stallkänslan that touches you. The contrast between reality and vision runs throughout the whole film. It’s based on the insight that there is a gap between the equestrian sport's self-image in general and the same people's image of their individual situation.
One of our biggest challenges was to reach out with a message to the equestrian sport that they didn’t identify with. They see themselves as inclusive but they are not according to several studies. In other words, the image of the equestrian sport isn't the same as the reality. That's why it was extra important for us to create a film that moved the viewer on a personal level, no matter what part of the story they identified themselves with.
In order to make the contrast visible and easy to understand, we had to make it emotional. We therefore tell one story visually and another one audio visually. By letting the voice over paint the picture of a dream scenario of being in the stable, at the same time as the scenes that unfold prove the opposite. The visuals represent reality and the audio the vision, as well as the picture that the equestrian sport identifies themselves with. The vision's hopeful words in contrast to the dark scenarios grips the viewer.
The knot that we create in the viewers stomach becomes a force for change. This feeling is also created by the image composition where the viewer is forced to stay in the uncomfortable feeling. The loneliness is experienced by the use of big and open settings in contrast to the small individual. Small rooms create a false sense of safety where small glances tell the unspoken story.
We challenged the typical image of bullying that we all know, and updated it to today's reality where more and more situations take place on the internet and on social media. Bullying isn't always easy to recognise when you come across, it can be tricky to know who is nice and who is being mean. Nevertheless, things also happen in the quiet, in who is invited or not.
Despite the total budget of 300 000 SEK, from the first idea to the final film, we managed to make our vision into reality. A genuine story that got the Swedish equestrian community to open their eyes, see the reality for what it is, and look at themselves and their behaviors in a different light. People from the equestrian sport opened up and engaged with the film by watching it, commenting, sharing and liking it. This started the conversation and testified to the will to change - the will to create a Stallkänsla [‘Stable:feeling’] where everyone can feel butterflies, instead of a knot in their stomach.
