While I don’t know much about horses, I do know that horses are grazing animals and that I see them in pastures a lot. What I am not used to seeing is horses having to stand/run/live in a very tiny area that is essentially a big mud hole, with NO grass available for eating. These horses continuously eat wooden fence posts. Is that because something is missing from their diets/lifestyles, say, perhaps, the need to graze? Why are they forced to live in a mud pit? Everyday I walk by these horses and everyday I am sad by these SEEMINGLY improper living conditions. I say seemingly because I may be wrong in my bitch. Does this cause concern for anyone else? Am I way off here? Please educate me if this is a perfectly healthy and happy way for horses to live. I just want the best interests of the horses represented, not the club members/riders who live in the city and for some reason need horses available right downtown.
—NSTulip
This article appears in Dec 10-16, 2009.
they’re so eager to leave, they try to every chance they get…
one even made it to quinpool last summer… before being arrested and returned to it’s prison. hell, I’m surprised they didn’t taze the thing.
i’m getting a my little pony from santa
they have escaped in the past? wow, even worse.
Horses with no grazing pasture get fed hay and grain in the barn. Cribbing (chewing wood) is not rare, and it is akin to fingernail biting–a bad habit. The horses do need exercise but turning them out pasture and riding them regularly provides them with enough. Breaking out does happen, but it is in the spirit of adventure rather than a desperate escape. So, do not do a ‘free willy’ thing for them–they are not being abused.
Someone once complained to me that my cat wasn’t a real cat because he is a 100% indoor cat. I was told that cats who stay inside don’t pounce properly and therefore aren’t happy or normal. I told this person that my cat will live to be 20 years old with all the tuna he can eat and all the sunbeams he can stretch out in and be quite happy.
The horses are fine. Even horses kept at farms out in the countryside chew on fences (the cribbing bit). As long as they’re getting enough exercise and food they’ll be okay. That barn just got a whole new ventilation system as well I believe. They’re living in luxury.
The horses aren’t just here for the rich city folk that just HAVE to ride horses… they provide the city with theraputic riding for disabled and challenged people.
If you’re worried about those horses I would advise you to stay away from a certain farm with trail rides out by the playland.
Since those horses are housed in the same place as the police horses, I doubt very much that they are being abused or neglected. Rather they are very well fed and taken care of.
I agree, OP. Working for a living sucks.
“”Since those horses are housed in the same place as the police horses, I doubt very much that they are being abused or neglected.””
Sure, they have nothing to worry about from the Halifax police as long as they’re not black, smoking a joint or sitting on the grass in a public park…they’ll be fine!
I thought we had the last Halifax Police horse die recently ?
Maybe the Police could get Segways, can’t you just see the comedy of a HPD officer chasing a skinny shoplifter down a steep Halifax hill 😉
Justice did pass away after being on retirement for three years. HRM Police still have Sarge and Cruiser on patrol.
thanks BroTim, I’ve learned something new today. Which is always a good thing.
Even though the horses are stabled in the city, they do get the opportunity to vacation in the country and graze and enjoy big fields. If you were truly interested in their welfare, you would stop by the barn and ask one of the hands about their upkeep.
grass will make them fat if they don’t get exercise and eat too much of it…hay is a better diet overall. i suspect that the horses are exercised enough somewhere unless alot has changed because i used to ride in Pony Club in the valley and competed against the Bangel Lancers who are housed on Bell Rd . They were really good. Stiff competition. I was surprised to come here and see them in the small fence though i must say….