In support of Palma´s horses

Dear Editor, HOW pleased I was to see in The Bulletin that the owners of the haplass carriage horses are forced to have them checked once a year. The animals are mercilessly exploited and I don't care if they are considered fit enough to run the Grand National. The sight of miserable sweating horses harnessed up for hours on end with no shelter in boiling temperatures, trotting round Palma, or anywhere else on the Island, should cease. People who use them should be mightily ashamed of themselves. So the King and Queen of Spain have ridden in them .... that makes it all O.K. does it? The horses all suddenly mutate into wonderful fit happy animals do they, just because the King and Queen ride in one of them? The carriages should be boycotted. I sit in a street cafe and the sound of those grotesque jingling bells could not contrast more acutely with the misery the horses must endure, trotting through thick noisy traffic in horrendous temperatures throughout the summer months. Let the tourists use the wonderful open-air bus tours that cruise Palma and all other parts of Majorca with ease. Horse drawn carriages are out dated, cruel and resemble a third world attraction like Egypt. With so much traffic, also a needless hazard. Last week I was in the centre of Palma and a carriage pulled up beside me. The horse was in an appalling state. So skinny and sweating, the poor thing could hardly haul itself along, let alone the carriage and a group of tourists. I had words with the driver about it but he started shouting abuse and stuck his middle finger up at me. The carriage had the number “One” on the back. That poor horse. It would be very interesting if you could do a follow up report to see if any of the horses failed their veterinary tests. I have vowed to find that carriage again. If it is still operating, the veterinary examination is, in my opinion, a complete farce. Dorothy Allen, Galilea.