The Plight of the Abused Horses

It was a cold night, the worst in several weeks. There I stood, pipes in hand preparing for an evening of Celtic Music. It was Christmas time and the lights on Temple Square were beautiful. The peaceful breeze wafted it's cold embrace as the crowds pressed on toward the anticipated cornucopia of lights. Children were bundled up like cocoons and there was a general gaiety in the air that foreshadowed a successful evening for me.

That's when I became aware of a terrible tragedy taking place downtown. I must warn the reader, this story is so heinous and graphic it may cause you to become disturbed. Hats off to the brave animal rights protesters for bringing this travesty to light. Here's what's happening.

First, this company, "Carriages For Hire", forces these poor horses to reside in covered stalls, out of the rain and snow. Each one is forced to endure grooming, and must subsist on a meager diet of oats and highly nutritious grains. Of course they can eat as much as they want, but what of that? They are captives! And where do these beasts come from? That's the horror. CFH takes abandoned horses, horses that have been severely mistreated, and those that no one wants and they bring them here to Salt Lake, why it's like an Equine slave trade or something.

They then prepare them for their slave workday. It's horrible. I've seen one horse actually forced to wear a cowboy hat, oh the shame. Some are forced to wear their mane in braids with ribbons in their hair. During Christmastime they are paraded around with fake antlers on their heads and some have lights decorating their necks. Heck, I warned you, this is graphic stuff. Then it only gets worse. They are strapped to lightweight carriages that are pulled out of the garage by the drivers. That's right, I said each horse's driver actually pulls the carriage out to attach it to the horse, how humiliating for the horse. I mean, shouldn't the beast be allowed to go in and get it's own carriage? What if it didn't care for the style of the carriage selected for it? Come on! show a little common courtesy to these beasts.

After being attached to these carriages, they are then told to "Walk On". What? Are you serious? These are God's free creatures, how dare you issue such an order to them, oh the humanity. In the carriage each driver has a whip, that's right I said a whip. Not for use on the horse of course, but hey, they have them all the same. Just the mere presence of such an instrument of torture must drive the horses crazy. They are forced to wear heavy iron shoes as well. They claim it eases the burden on the horse as it walks on concrete, But I know it is a blatant attempt to quail the horses own sense of fashion and personal Identity. Would it be to hard to find designer horse shoes?

In talking with one driver, he explained that the whip is great for keeping unwanted drunks and vagrants from approaching the horses, I could not believe my ears. What more evidence need we? Here we have clear proof that they are denying these beast interaction with the street folk. How will these horses ever be ready to wander free in the streets of Salt Lake if they are not familiar with all the people that live downtown.

CFH is extremely clever as well. They have found a way to make their horses look as if they are healthy and happy in their work. How do they do it? I mean, these horses hold their heads high, their ears are erect and they seem to actually enjoy pulling those carriages. Their muscles are large and they have a wonderful prance as they walk, it is so insidious. It's all a clever ruse to cover the actual abuse these horses are experiencing. I spoke with one of the activists protesting and she outlined their grievances.

1. The horses must pull the carriage around the streets of Salt Lake for many hours a day.

Well, that's basically it, oh the humanity! I mean, what if a human had to pull a carriage full of people around town like that for hours on end, wait, they do that in China. In fact, I think that the activists protesting should offer to take the place of the horses. That would really be an act of service; put your foot where your mouth is.

Then I thought for a moment, wait a minute. In the early eighteen hundreds, horses did just the very thing this company is being accused of doing. Where was the outrage then? What about the fact that these horses are receiving daily exercise that will undoubtedly prolong their lives and make them much more happy. And what about the carriages? If humans can pull them around they must not be that heavy. These horses are Belgians, Bertrands, and Clydesdales. They can pull twice their weight without breaking a sweat. Hmmmm.

So let me see, the protesters would have these animals vegetate in a field somewhere, away from people. They would have them live a life of no work, merely frolicking in the pasture. The result would be folly for the poor beasts. So next time you are downtown and you see such protesters plying their trade, express your support by telling them to go pull a carriage and stop ruining the wonderful atmosphere for everyone else.

The bottom line is this. The carriages hearken to a more civil time. A time when life was slow and stress was low. A time when folks stopped and talked with one another and when the quality of time was more important than the quantity of time. So in conclusion, all I can say is, "Walk On Boys, walk on."