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Mason Grant
Nikki Mantyla
English 1010-067
April 27, 2015
Where Did All the Horses Go?
Close your eyes and imagine for a moment that you are on the street in downtown Salt
Lake City, Utah. You are walking with your little child or sibling when you hear a noise behind
you, clip clop clip clop clip clop. As the sound draws closer, your child or sibling also starts to
hear it, CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP, and then they turn around with a big smile on their
face and say "HORSIE!!!" While this may have been a reality in the past, it is now, as I have
described it, part of your imagination. You will no longer hear the clip clop of hooves on the
pavement, or have the pleasure of seeing the beautiful, tall, majestic animals that once pulled
carriages up and down the streets of Salt Lake City. My purpose in writing this article is not to
explain why this is so (although I will touch on that), but to explain why we should have them
back.
Many of you might remember when, a few years back, many people were outraged
when the 13 year old horse named Jerry collapsed in downtown Salt Lake on August 17, 2013.
The reason for his collapse has been speculated by many: some believe the horses were
mistreated and abused, or that they had to pull too much weight, or the temperatures were too
hot or cold, but in truth, these horses worked less than we do, and were treated better than
any other horse. Due to the strength and size of draught horses, pulling these carriages is very
easy for them. Horses are very resilient to weather, both heat and cold. And it is also important
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to consider why the owners of a horse-drawn carriage business would abuse their horses?
What purpose would it serve? This would hurt their business more than anything, so even
looking at it from a business standpoint, it doesn’t make any sense. My goal is to help people
understand more about these horses and that pulling a carriage in downtown Salt Lake is not
harmful or abusive to the horses. To do this, I will divide my article into three parts: Strength,
Weather Conditions, and Horse Care.
STRENGTH
Horses are incredibly strong animals. A Horse Pull is a competition in which a team of
two horses have to pull a certain amount of weight. The team that pulls the weight the farthest
wins. These competitions are designed with three rounds in which the team is attached to a
“boat.” A boat is like a sled that the horses pull; weight can then be added to the boat. After
each round more weight is added to the sled. These competitions are designed to see how
much weight a horse can pull. In an article Written by Chris Zadorozny talking about one such
competition, he says, “The winning team . . . pulled 6,390-pounds a full 27-feet, 6-inches.”(Para
5) These horses, called draft horses, weigh on average about 2000 lbs. This team of horses was
able to pull three times their body weight on a sled with no wheels, while walking on soft dirt
that gives way underfoot, almost 30 feet—a very impressive feat.
The carriages that the horses pulled in Salt Lake weigh about 1000 lbs on average. With
six people riding in the carriage with an average weight of 150 lbs, the carriage and passengers
together would weigh only 1900 lbs, the weight of only one of the horses. This weight is on
wheels, which makes for much easier pulling.
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WEATHER CONDITIONS
One argument protesters used to disband carriage companies in Salt Lake is that the
horses are exposed to extreme temperatures in the winter and summer months of the year.
What they may not have considered is that horses were born in the wild and do not have
blankets, heaters, air conditioning, etc. to help them cope with the elements. What they do
have is hair.
Horse hair is meant to keep the horse warm while in the winter months and designed so
they don’t overheat in the summer months. To help keep them warm in the winter, horses
grow what is called a winter coat. This simply means that when temperatures start to drop, the
horse will start growing longer, thicker hair to help insulate them and keep them warm. In an
article posted on the website Gaited Horses it states “The horse’s winter coat is a horse's first
defense from the cold. When allowed to grow, a horse's natural hair coat acts as a very
effective thermal blanket . . . A Horses winter coat is also naturally greasy, which helps it repel
snow, ice, and sleet. A heavy winter hair coat is a tremendous insulator and provides as much
warmth as the best blankets.” (Para 4) A horse’s coat is so effective that horses don’t even
notice the cold till temperatures drop to about 45 degrees Fahrenheit and they can withstand
temperatures well below freezing. When the weather starts to warm up the horse will start to
lose their winter coats and will be left with thin short hair.
During the winter months, the horses receive good exercise to help keep them warm
without getting them sweaty. In the summer months, drivers are required to carry water with
them to give to the horses when needed. Also, in cases of extreme temperature, carriages are
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pulled off the street and back to the barn where they have proper protection from the
elements. The Horses work up to 8 hours a day and are given time off during the week and at
least 5 weeks’ vacation throughout the year.
HORSE CARE
Another argument used by protestors to ban horse-drawn carriages is that every year
accidents happen that cause injury in horses and people, and, in very rare occasions, death.
While this is true, the numbers are quite small. I was not able to find any incidents where a
civilian was killed in a carriage accident, but according to an article written by Jennifer Molidor,
who is a staff writer for the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) said that “Since 2006, at least
nine carriage horses have died in New York City.” (#4) That means that in nine years, nine
horses died in NYC in a carriage related accident, averaging one death per year. According to
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHS, HLDI), in the state
of New York in 2013 there were 1,199 deaths in automobile accidents. Should we then ban
automobiles because they are 1,199 times more dangerous than horse-drawn carriages?
As for Carriage horse owners abusing horses, it is completely illogical for one to base a
business on horses and then abuse your most valuable asset. Abusing horses doesn’t help you
in any way. Abused horses are less likely to obey and more likely to act up when it could put the
driver, passengers and others at risk. If this were the case you would have passengers suing
you, drivers quitting their jobs, and no new drivers wanting to work for you. You would go out
of business faster than the time it took you to create the business in the first place. Whereas,
owners who treat their horses with love and care get positive responses from their horses,
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resulting in better behavior. Horses are capable of feeling love and confidence from a driver or
rider. If the horse senses that you are competent and confident it will place more trust in you as
a rider and when it hears loud noises or sees bright flashing lights it is less likely to spook
because they trust you. Also horses can become acclimatized to such noises and sights, just as
we humans have accustomed ourselves to them. While writing an article about the Carriage
horses in New York City, Dr. Janine Jacques, Founder of the Equine Rescue Network (ERN) said,
“It is easy to identify behaviors of horses that have been handled aggressively or abusively in
their past. The carriage horses obviously had been impacted by the continuous loving attention
they get from random strangers and handlers daily as every horse greeted me with trusting
inquisition - each wanting to know if I had a treat in my pocket as they put their head close to
my chest.” (Para 6) The behavior of these horses very clearly shows that they have been treated
with love and care and were not mistreated in any way.
As a horse owner myself, I have personal experience in this field. My family owns four
horses, three of which we have owned for the majority of their lives. They have all been treated
well and respond with love whenever we go out to pet them or ride them. They are obedient
and well behaved when we ride them. The fourth however, was abused by his previous owners
and is often scared, and not always well behaved when riding. When my family first got him he
would always run away from us, but has more recently stopped running away when we go to
pet him, but still shies away a little. He also spooks more frequently than the other three horses
put together. The effects of abuse are long lasting and not easily erased; horses will always
remember and be afraid of those that abused them.
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Going back to the story of Jerry and his collapse in downtown Salt Lake City,
organizations such as PETA and the Humane Society of Utah were outraged because they
thought that the horse collapsed because it was being abused and forced to work in harsh
conditions. The temperature on that day got up to about 96 degrees Fahrenheit, Jerry was the
only horse to collapse that day. Now you might ask the question, why was he the only one to
collapse? The answer is simple; he had colic. Colic means abdominal pain; there are many
different types of colic in horses. As reported by Jenifer Nadeau, M.S., Ph.D Associate Professor
and Equine Extension Specialist for the Department of Animal Science, in a study done in 1998
by The National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) “colic was second only to old age
as the cause of death [in horses]. The study also found that the incidence of colic was 4.2
events/100 horses per year. . . . Eleven percent of all horses affected with colic died or were
euthanatized.”(Para 2) Colic is a very real disease that can strike any horse at any time for any
reason and not much can be done to prevent it.
One question I think many protesters overlook is, what will happen to these horses after
they are no longer able to pull these carriages? I see two possibilities, the first being that these
horses would go to a pasture somewhere and live out the rest of their lives with no purpose,
nothing to look forward to, just sitting, eating and deteriorating slowly until they die. The
second option is they are sold to foreign countries to be killed for meat and other products
manufactured from horse parts. Neither of these possibilities is pleasant. Horses find a sense of
joy and purpose in their work and feel well-rewarded for their service.
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In conclusion, I believe that the ban on horse-drawn carriages should be lifted. As stated
by Jacques “Banning carriage horses in my opinion is unnecessary.” (Para 15) and I agree with
her because, as we learned from this article: 1) horses are strong enough to pull the carriages
without being overworked, 2) They are resilient enough to withstand most temperatures, and
when it is too hot or too cold, they are pulled off the streets, and 3) the horses are treated very
well and in no way are they abused by their owners. Ultimately, the horses would receive more
harm by the carriage companies going out of business than not.
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Works Cited
Gaited Horses. "Winter Care for Your Horse." Beverly J Whittington, 2000. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute "General Statistics." Fatality
Facts... Web. 20 Apr. 2015
Jacques, DR. Janine. "What You Should Know about the Carriage Horses in New York City." NYC
Carriage Horses. Equine Rescue Network. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Mollidor, Jennifer. "5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Carriage Horse Industry." Winning the
Case Against Cruelty. Animal Legal Defense Fund, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Nadeau, M.S., Ph.D, Jenifer. "Colic: Its Risk Factors and Prevention." FACT SHEET. Department of
Animal Science, University of Connecticut. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Zadorozny, Chris. "Horse Pulls Showcase Strength of Clydesdales." Ionia Sentinel. Ionia SentinelStandard, 24 July 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.