AUCKLAND HORSES.

Observer, Volume XXXII, Issue 52, 7 September 1912, Page 3

AUCKLAND HORSES.

Overworked Slaves

THE man who knows a horse from a cow is fully aware that Auckland is well supplied with a firstclass sample of slaves. Poor horses are a failure in Auckland mainly because of the dreadful roads, the steepness of many.of the most used arteries of which Wellesley-street, Victoria-street, Franklin-road and College Hill are good samples, and the incurable belief among horse owners' that because a draught horse costs a lot of money, he should be made to do the work of a traction engine. There are three or four large firms in this city who perfectly understand the limitations of a draught horse and insist that their carters shall be humane. It is a common sight to see a succession of heavy loads pulled up at the Hobsonstreet end of Grey-street for a very necessary " breather." There are innumerable other small owners, however, who persist in regarding a horse as a beast to be flogged along with load a good half heavier than his capacity. # * * There are no official restrictions. The horse can't talk, and if he has a one ton capacity and is made to haul two, no one apparently has any right to complain, provided there is no apparent " cruelty." In Auckland as in every other New Zealand centre, the vehicle and not the horse is the part of the outfit on which the official mind concentrates. The capacity of the express, or the dray, is the chief concern—the capacity of the man in charge, or the strength of the team, troubles no one. It is impossible for a single official to regulate the heavy traffic so that Auckland draught horses shall be fairly treated—and so a majority simply haul themselves to death, often driven by incompetent men who never give the beasts they drive a thought. A careful examination of the draught horses of this city would disclose a large proportion of sore shoulders, girth galls, and sore backs. A systematised method of loading according to the certified capacity of the horse, and not of the vehicle (which is an absurdity) would demons strate that a very large proportion of horses are cruelly overloaded, and an enquiry into the hours of toil of horses would show that although man is very careful that he shan't work too long, he doesn't worry about the length of the horses' " day." *" * * The whole thing wants urgent enquiry, and the co-operation of the municipality, the owners, police and S.P.C.A. It is perfectly reasonable that every man in charge of horses should demonstrate his ability and be certificated before he became a public flogger up our steep hills. It is just that horse-owners should be forced to prove the capacity of their animals by periodically bringing them for veterinary examination, and that these beasts should be registered and kept track of. The average New Zealander is quite sure he knows all there is to be known about a horse, but scores of them simply mistake a beast for a power engine, and treat him t ccordingly. The police apparently have no power to stick up a lame horse. An injured horse is dragged through the street to his stable or out into a paddock to die. We are not civilised enough to possess a horse, ai.ibulaLce, and, on the whole, we are exce**; .rely and needlessly cruel to servants that cannot protest.

The carter is often not to blame. Ho is expected to take a heavy load of scoria, or timber, or sand, shell, lime, kerosene, iron, or other heavy goods up steep hills, with small horse power. He generally gets there somehow to keep his job. He is powerless to have the roads mended, or to do anything but make his team haul the load given to him. The builder is the worst enemy the Auckland horse has. He has no compunction in sweeping a mass of old nails into the street, and cases of ruined horses through this cause are commoner here than elsewhere. The point is that horses are not only frequently utterly ruined by the carelessness of builders, but it is impossible to sheet home the blame and

obtain damages for losses. Auckland has a too large proportion of light horses suffering with navicular troubles. Few people ever take the slightest notice of a lame cabhorse, but if the citizen will step on a red hot needle, and let it remain in his foot and then run around on it all day, he will gather something of how the horse feels in the circumstances. Auckland is here accused of persistent and unnecessary cruelty to its horse population. It is a worthy subject for discussion by the municipal authorities, and as there are gentlemen on the City Council who are perfectly competent to express their opinion on the subject, it is hoped they may do so at an early date.