Animals in Hunting
Fox hunting involves horses, hounds and fox’s. Hounds are
driven around the countryside by people on horses, in order to catch a fox. The
horses are ridden across a range of terrain such as hills, thick mud, water and
sand, through woods, across ditches and will jump gates and hedges. There day
will normally start at 11AM and may not finish until as late as 5pm. The hounds
will also stay out this long. The packs may be up to 40 hounds. A hunt may kill
four fox’s in one day dependant on conditions such as weather.
This affects the horse’s welfare as it is too long to be ridden in one day. It causes them injury to their backs due to the long periods of time they are being sat on. Also hunting take place in winter and most horses will be clipped. Throughout the day horses will sweat, then when they come to standing around they can develop a chill from sweating and then standing in the cold. The horses also jump gates, hedges, wire and ditches and it is often that accidents happen as the horses get tired. All these horses showing that they are easily going to develop pain and injury. Horses are trickle feeders and are meant to constantly eat, they go huge amount of times whilst being ridden without any food and water meaning that they can become dehydrated. Also going for long periods of time without food can cause stomach ulcers to develop and also cause the horse to colic from developing a twisted gut. These factors show that the horses are not free from hunger and thirst. On the other hand, when the horses return home after a day’s hunting, they are welcomed by a fully bedded stable, hard feed, forage and buckets of water. They also have a warm bath and then plenty of rugs for the night. This ensuring the horse is free from discomfort and free from hunger and thirst. Horses love the activity, and it can easily be seen that they are enjoying their day out, preventing from fear and distress. When at home they are able to be turned out and also socialise with one another, allowing them to express normal behaviour.
This affects the horse’s welfare as it is too long to be ridden in one day. It causes them injury to their backs due to the long periods of time they are being sat on. Also hunting take place in winter and most horses will be clipped. Throughout the day horses will sweat, then when they come to standing around they can develop a chill from sweating and then standing in the cold. The horses also jump gates, hedges, wire and ditches and it is often that accidents happen as the horses get tired. All these horses showing that they are easily going to develop pain and injury. Horses are trickle feeders and are meant to constantly eat, they go huge amount of times whilst being ridden without any food and water meaning that they can become dehydrated. Also going for long periods of time without food can cause stomach ulcers to develop and also cause the horse to colic from developing a twisted gut. These factors show that the horses are not free from hunger and thirst. On the other hand, when the horses return home after a day’s hunting, they are welcomed by a fully bedded stable, hard feed, forage and buckets of water. They also have a warm bath and then plenty of rugs for the night. This ensuring the horse is free from discomfort and free from hunger and thirst. Horses love the activity, and it can easily be seen that they are enjoying their day out, preventing from fear and distress. When at home they are able to be turned out and also socialise with one another, allowing them to express normal behaviour.