Horse Welfare Since 1950 14CHAPTER Katherine A. Houpt and Natalie Waran Introduction here are approximately 6.9 down in lateral recumbency, but they days of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty million horses in the United do not provide a natural social envi- (2001), published originally in 1877, TStates, more than in any other ronment that even tie stalls—where is that a horse seldom is kept by one country in the world (American horses are stabled closely one to owner for his or her entire adult life. Horse Council 2000) (Table 1). That another—provide. Typically a stalled Often a horse changes hands—and fact alone should inspire Americans horse seldom has access to a natural, careers—a number of times over his to improve equine welfare, although high roughage diet and is fed limited or her lifetime. After leaving the it must be said that the state of amounts of high-concentrate feed breeding farm, an animal may start domesticated horses is better now and/or hay that are quickly con- out as a race horse, then be sold and than it was fifty years ago. sumed. Such management leaves a retrained as a hunter, jumper, event The advances that have been made horse in a virtual wooden box with horse, or equitation horse when his or in veterinary medicine, including sur- long periods of physical inactivity. her racing career is over. He or she gical technique and, especially, anes- This unnatural state leads to the may then be sold several times when thesia, mean that diagnosis of an development of stall aggression, stall outgrown by one owner, found to be intestinal torsion or displacement is walking, weaving, wood chewing, or unsuitable for another’s level of expe- no longer an automatic death sen- cribbing, or to difficulty in handling. rience, or not competitive enough for tence. Improvements in surgery for Controlling these “vices” often is a third. In mid-life or later, he or she lameness and in anti-inflammatory done using inhumane methods. may then be used as a lesson, rental, drugs have eliminated such painful A situation unchanged since the or camp horse, and finally, when practices as blistering or pin-firing a lame horse’s lower limbs, ostensibly to expedite the healing process. Table 1 Improvements in nutrition and in Number of Horses and Participants control of infectious disease have by Industry, 1999 allowed many horses to live into their twenties, thirties, or beyond. Activity No. of Horses No. of Participants Horse husbandry has improved in one respect: unlike in days past, few Racing 725,000 941,400 horses are kept tied with halter and Showing 1,974,000 3,607,900 lead rope in narrow “tie” stalls in dark and dirty stables. But horse hus- Recreation 2,970,000 4,346,100 bandry has worsened in another: more horses live in box stalls or iso- Other* 1,262,000 1,607,900 lated in small, grassless corrals than Total 6,931,000 7,062,500** in natural herds on pasture now that fewer horse owners live in rural areas. *Includes farm and ranch work, police work, rodeo, and polo. **The sum of participants by activity does not equal the total number of participants Box stalls (typically 10–12 feet because individuals could be counted in more than one activity. square) allow the horse to turn Source: American Horse Council around, walk several paces, and lie 207 infirm, unrideable, or simply too old Cruelty can occur if the horse is to be useful, be sold at auction and injured in the handling process, badly Table 2 sent to slaughter. Relatively few hors- frightened, whipped to be persuaded Horses Slaughtered es die of old age, although some for- to move, or not properly stunned tunate retirees may be euthanized (Reece, Friend, and Stull 2000). The and Processed at due to age-related ailments. greater equine suffering occurs not at Packing Plants in At the turn of the millennium, the slaughter but during transport and in the United States most pressing welfare issues of the the pens used to confine the horses domestic horse surround conditions before and after transport. Many found in slaughter and transport to slaughter-bound horses begin their Year Number slaughter; pari-mutuel racing; the journey far from Texas and obviously 1990 345,900 pregnant mare urine (PMU) industry; must be transported long distances the competitive and show industry; as a result. Heat stress is an addition- 1991 276,700 and in the development of husbandry- al factor in the summer months. 1992 243,500 related stereotypes. (Urban carriage There have been several studies of horses are a highly visible problem in transport to slaughter under simulat- 1993 169,900 some localities, since they usually are ed or actual transport conditions. 1994 107,000 part of a local tourist industry, but Horses transported for twenty-eight they often generate concern out of hours in summer can lose 10 percent 1995 109,900 proportion to their relatively small of their body weight, which results in 1996 105,900 numbers.) considerable dehydration (Friend et al. 1998). After transportation for 1997 87,200 twenty-four hours, 15 percent of the 1998 72,100 Slaughter horses (three of twenty) in the Friend et al. study were judged unsuitable 1999 62,813 and Transport for further transport on the basis of 2000 47,134 weakness or high body temperature. to Slaughter The more crowded the horses, the 2001 56,332 Sound, well-behaved, well-trained more likely they are to fall and, once horses are relatively scarce and can down, to be trampled. In another The number has dropped substantially in the past ten years. be expensive as a result. There is, study horses transported in more however, an oversupply of horses who crowded (less than 1.3 square meters Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service are lame, suffer from chronic obstruc- per horse) conditions had fewer tive pulmonary disease or are other- injuries but were more dehydrated wise infirm, or are unmanageable, and had greater changes in white miliar horses, who normally establish unwanted, untrained, or past their blood cell counts (Stull 1999). Provi- dominance through physical intimi- useful life. sion of water in the trailers during dation in corrals prior to loading The fate of most of these “problem” rest stops would help the horses com- (Grandin, McGee, and Lanier 1999). horses is to be slaughtered. Most pensate for the water they are losing The Grandin, McGee and Lanier horses are sold for slaughter for as sweat, but not all horses in the study found that 8 percent of horses human consumption (primarily out- trailers would be willing to move to arriving at a slaughter plant exhibited side the United States) rather than water since that would involve enter- serious welfare problems. In addition for pet food, or are rendered, as they ing another horse’s personal space 30 percent had visible bite wounds. were fifty years ago. They are slaugh- (Gibbs and Friend 2000). Double- Examination of the carcasses revealed tered at one of two slaughter plants in decker (or possum belly) trucks cause bruises on 25 percent of all the the United States, both in Texas. The more injuries to horses in the upper slaughtered horses, more than 50 number of horses being slaughtered levels than do single-deck trucks percent of which were kick or bite is decreasing, as fear of zoonotic dis- because the entrances are narrow wounds. Other problems included eases and competition from other (Stull and Rodick 2000). The per- foot and limb injuries such as frac- countries increase (Table 2). centage of injured horses was 29 per- tures, wounds (including infected Horses at slaughter are stunned cent for double-decker trailers and 8 wounds), and thinness to the point of with a captive bolt pistol, then exsan- percent for single deck trailers. Corti- emaciation. Owner neglect must have guinated, which should result in a sol, body temperature, and white been the major cause of the poor painless death. As with all slaughter blood cells were found to be affected body condition of the latter horses. procedures, however, much depends by transport. The greatest cause of The federal Commercial Transport upon the competence of the person- injury to transported horses, however, of Equines for Slaughter Act, passed nel using the equipment provided. was fighting, caused by mixing unfa- in 1996, stipulates that double-deck- 208 The State of the Animals II: 2003 er trailers can no longer be used to Horses may race only seven to tion) three-day event, for example, transport equines, the ceilings of twelve times a year but may typically forty-four were identified as Thor- equine transport trailers must be six stay in training almost year-round. oughbreds, including five of the even- feet (three meters) high, and horses One way to reduce the number of tual top ten finishers, although not all must be rested and watered every musculoskeletal injuries in racehors- necessarily ever had raced (Sorge twenty-eight hours. In 2002 Repre- es is to determine the factors associ- 2002). Nevertheless many Thorough- sentative Connie Morella of Maryland ated with injuries. Length of pre-race breds do eventually end up at slaugh- introduced H.R. 3781 in Congress; conditioning is an example. A humer- ter. McGee, Lanier, and Grandin the bill would ban slaughtering of al fracture was found to be most like- observed 1,473 horses at auction and horses for meat. Such a ban could ly to occur when the horse returns to 1,348 horses at slaughter plants actually increase equine suffering if training after a two-month period out (2001).