WATCH ABOVE: Horses used for carriage rides are of a sturdier breed, but can still suffer injury. Global’s Sarah Volstad reports.
MONTREAL – An accident earlier this week involving a calèche horse infuriated many and brought up questions about the ethics of the horse-drawn carriage industry.
But, the work isn’t as strenuous as some might think.
Mike Grenier is a volunteer at Vaudreuil rescue operation A Horse Tale.
He points out the horses used for carriage rides are of a bigger breed made for pulling carts, but that doesn’t mean they won’t suffer injury.
Grenier currently has three retired calèche horses in his care; others are just there to rehabilitate from small injuries.
He often goes to the Old Port to visit the horses he’s cared for.
“From just looking at the conditions that are there, I don’t see any difference from any other barn that you would go into at any location,” said Grenier.
Nevertheless, an online petition against horse-drawn carriages has been started to get the horses off the street “where they never belonged in the first place.”
The petition states “horses have always been the innocent victims – whether taken to war without a choice and worked to death; or used in rodeos, horse racing or inhumane horse-drawn carriage industry.”
Grenier insisted calèche horses really need just three things: food, water and shelter.
Horses do suffer small injuries – like people who sprain an ankle or break an arm.
“We’ve had our horses being in the field come back with a limp,” he said.
“They run after each other, they turn a certain way, no different than us. You wake up in the morning kind of going ‘what did I do?'”
READ MORE: Mayor to require mandatory vet checks after horse falls in downtown Montreal
Grenier is inviting Montrealers to visit A Horse Tale on August 15 to meet the horses and learn more about the work they do.
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