Horses
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:
University of Minnesota re-
searcher Julie Wilson will present a paper to
the American Association of Equine
Practitioners this month asserting that 840
racehorses suffered fatal breakdowns on U.S.
tracks in 1992––one for every 92 races.
Further, Wilson says, 3,566 horses––one
every 22 races––were so severely hurt they
were unable to finish the events.
New York City’s five-year-old
carriage horse protection law is to expire at
the end of this month. Following the defeat of
incumbent mayor David Dinkins, who vetoed
a previous attempt to weaken carriage horse
protection, counsellor Noach Dear has intro-
duced a bill to increase the horses’ work week
to 70 hours, abolish most of the safety and
humane provisions of the current law, and
allow the carriages to re-enter heavy traffic.
They are now restricted to Central Park. “To
see a carriage horse marooned in New York
City traffic is to see a 19th century artifact
cruelly transported into a 20th century night-
mare,” The New York Times editorially
responded.
Federal marshalls on November 3
seized 10 allegedly starving Arabian horses
from Milford Stable, in Yorktown Heights,
New York, after a Texas breeder claimed he
hadn’t been paid for them. The stable is chiefly
owned by millionaire leather goods designer
Paolo Gucci. Another 90 horses on the prop-
erty were each from 60 to 80 pounds under-
weight. The Westchester SPCA ordered the
stable staff to feed them properly, under
threat of a seizure order. Farm manager Yves-
Pierre Pollet reportedly claimed he often had
no money to buy feed due to a protracted
divorce proceeding between Paolo Gucci and
his estranged wife Jennifer.
The International Generic Horse
Association registers generic horses as protec-
tion against theft: POB 6778, Rancho Palos
Verdes, CA 90734-6778.
