Horse Welfare & The Household Cavalry

On yesterday's BBC1 "Midlands Today" there was an interesting story about equine welfare. The item concerned the horses of the Household Cavalry, which, as the presenter noted in his introduction, form part of what many people regard to be amongst the best of British heritage. However, on this occasion the presence of some Household Cavalry horses in a muddy field in South Worcestershire had met not with public applause, but with disapproval. In short, several people had called the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and one local horsewoman was considering writing to the Queen.

A Household Cavalry vet was duly interviewed and maintained that the health and welfare of their horses was not at all compromised, although they would shortly be moving back to London. No action on the matter is being taken by the RSPCA.

I have to say that this story evoked very mixed feelings in me. Having had some horse dealings with serving and former Household Cavalry people, including their vets, a part of me was delighted that someone had put them on the spot, and not a particularly comfortable one at that.
For the fault of these people, in my view, is their own over-preoccupation with how things appear, and propensity to "tell tales" themselves if things don't "look right". Perhaps a bit more attention to substance rather than show is required here ! Incidentally, this applies to the horse world as a whole, and particularly perhaps in Middle England.

For this story - like all stories - has another side to it. As someone was has been based in Worcestershire for five years, I have noticed a propensity amongst local horseowners to contact the RSPCA when they feel the horses of other people are being neglected, even when the animals in question are quite healthy, which appeared to be the case with the Household Cavalry horses. These callers to the RSPCA tend to be people either relatively new to horses, and/or those with strong views about how how horses should be managed, such as a preference for maximum clipping, rugging and stabling in (ie up to 24 hours a day) during the "winter".

The fact is that a genuine cavalry horse, as distinct from a show or sports horse, should be capable of dealing with "harsh" conditions, including bad weather and muddy ground. The big problem for horse welfare in Worcestershire, from my perspective, is animals who are "not fit for purpose". This lack of "fitness" typically has several attributes. Firstly, it is difficult to obtain a good hardy middle weight horse (as distinct from pony) of the "cavalry type" these days. Secondly, animals are often insufficiently "fittened" by their owners and become chronically unsound. Thirdly, there is tendency to mollycoddle, and "vet", to the point of cruelty.

This brings me back to the subject of "vetting". For, in my opinion, some of the major contributors to poor horse "fitness", as I have described it, and consequently welfare, are to be found amongst the vetinary community, as well as other "equestrian professionals".