Of the 275 horses carrying tourists to Morskie Oko in the Tatra Mountains, only one was not allowed to work after veterinary examinations, including orthopedic examinations. The rest, according to veterinarians, are in excellent shape, said veterinarian and equine disease specialist Dr. Marek Tischner. According to the Viva! foundation 90 percent horses are not suitable for work.
- The horses from the route to Morskie Oko undergo detailed examinations every year before each summer tourist season.
- Last year, all of the 300 horses were allowed to work on this route. This year, 274 out of 275.
- The work of horses is strictly regulated by the regulations of the Tatra National Park.
- In May, a meeting of representatives of animal carriers and pro-animal organizations was held with the Minister of Climate and Environment, Paulina Hennig-Kloska.
- A 12-point agreement was then concluded – it reduced, among other things, the number of people in the car from 12 to 10 people and tests of an electric bus began.
However, the horse examination commission raised objections to the excessively long rest of the horses on the mountain, which was extended from 20 to 60 minutes from June this year.
Commission of veterinarians
Last weekend, the horses were examined by a committee of three veterinarians, including one appointed by activists from the Viva! foundation. and two hippologists, including one zootechnical engineer specializing in the breeding and use of horses. In addition to this committee, three supporting veterinarians took part in the research.
The tests of horses weighing tourists on the route to Morskie Oko were very good. The condition of the examined horses did not raise any doubts. All of them are in excellent shape, only one horse, which does not yet have the appropriate license, was not allowed to work on the route due to lameness – explained Dr. Marek Tischner.
According to the Viva! foundation, which demands the complete abolition of horse transport, over 90 percent horses should be withdrawn from work on the route to Morskie Oko, but such a decision can be made by a majority vote of the committee, so there is no chance of supporting it.
At Dr. Latocha’s (vet. on behalf of Viva!) research site, horses have heart rates and breathing rates that exceed the norm every year. However, with this arrangement of votes in the committee, there is unfortunately no chance of making decisions that protect animals and withdrawing 90 percent. animals from the route, because this should be done according to logic and research results – said Anna Plaszczyk from the Viva! foundation.
She added that a blind horse and a horse with the so-called spat, i.e. degeneration of the joint.
In my opinion, this only proves that the commission in this composition, apart from our veterinarian, is not interested in protecting horses, but only in protecting the interests of the fiacres and maintaining horse transport to Morskie Oko at all costs. These horses work under overload, which will soon be proven by calculations by independent experts – argues Plaszczyk, adding that her task is that the horses on the route work under an overload of about one ton.
Dr. Tischner explained that the visually impaired horse has been working on this route for three years and has an acute sense of hearing and cooperates very well with another horse. In turn, in his opinion, spat does not disqualify a horse and is a common condition of working horses.
Horses resting too long?
The investigating committee raised reservations about the hourly rest for horses at the upper stop in front of Morskie Oko, introduced in June at the request of pro-animal activists. According to experts, this may result in muscle cooling.
– For the well-being of horses, warm muscles cannot be cooled down before the next exercise, i.e. riding downhill. Muscle cooling after an hour of standing is a huge risk for horses, especially in cold weather. Such a warm horse standing in the cold may catch a cold or suffer from serious muscle weakness. Therefore, we recommend returning to the previous rules, i.e. a 20-minute rest. We don’t know why animal rights activists lobby so hard for an hour’s break, since there are no biological indications for such a rest, explains Dr. Tischner.
Horses from Morskie Oko on a diet!
Veterinarians also noticed that some horses were too fat and recommended that the drivers introduce a different feeding method.
Fatty horses are the result of incorrectly understood care for animals, which we have already pointed out many times before, postulating a reduction in the nutritional ration of many horses – explained Dr. Tischner.
The examination of the horses from Morskie Oko consisted of several stages
The examination of horses on the route to Morskie Oko is carried out in several stages. The first stage is an orthopedic examination at the lower stop at Polana Palenica. The heart rate, breathing and dehydration are also checked there. Then the horses, fully loaded, go to the upper stop, i.e. to Polana Włosienica in front of Morskie Oko. There, the same parameters are tested again and again after a 10-minute rest. After 20 minutes, the horses are examined by another veterinarian.
There are still about 40 horses left to be tested in the second round.
