Tourism and Horse Welfare

It's an age old question - should horses be used for the pleasure of tourists? Many people think not. The welfare of all horses is important, but for those involved in the tourism industry, the evidence is out there in the public eye. One group of people trying to address the issues within their own area is the Havasupai tribe, of Supai in the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is somewhere I've never visited, but it's a place very close to my husband Simon's heart since his trip there a few years ago raising money for the Have a Heart charity. He was lucky enough to visit Supai, and he witnessed first hand these horses hard at work. The horses are owned by tribe members, and hired out to independent companies to transport tourists and their luggage into and out of the Canyon. There is clear evidence of poor welfare, and a prosecution has been made. New rules have been put in place by the tribe, so that horses have to meet a certain body condition score in order to be worked, and there are weight limits on the amount of luggage they can carry (http://m.azdailysun.com/news/local/havasupai-set-new-care-rules-for-pack-horses/article_d2ac1bd9-2326-5a0f-81ba-2ec496679e87.html?utm_content=buffer6e290&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC).

In this case, a number of complaints has led to the new rules offering improved protection for the horses, although of course time will tell how effective the protection is. My guess is that many outsiders would prefer the horses not to be used in the name of tourism, although personally I think it's a very complicated situation, with the money from the horses providing food and shelter for people. On this note, a group is campaigning for horse carriages to be banned in New York City (https://www.facebook.com/stophorseabuse/). 

Yet when I visited the Isle of Mann last year, one of my tourist stops was to the horse drawn tramway in Douglas. This is the last remaining horse drawn passenger tramway in the world, and was discontinued by Douglas Borough Council for financial reasons before being rescued by the government (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-36835201). Contrary to the group campaigning to stop horse carriages in NYC, the Douglas tramway has over 4000 signatures on a petition to save it (https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-for-the-retention-of-the-douglas-bay-horse-tramway.html). 

So where do you stand? What are your thoughts? All credit to those who strive to improve the lives of working horses throughout the world - including the Havasupai tribe.

Sue