Category Archives: Horses

More than 5,000 feral horses culled in Kosciuszko national park since aerial shooting resumed

Posted on by

Conservationist says for first time number of animals removed exceeds annual population growth

More than 5,000 feral horses have been culled since the recommencement of aerial shooting in the Kosciuszko national park, with the NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, describing the number as proof of the need to control the threat the animals pose to the alpine wilderness.

Conservationists said for the first time the number of horses removed from the park would exceed the annual growth in horse populations, giving hope that a major threat for under-pressure ecosystems was starting to be addressed.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Brazil floods: horse stranded on roof is rescued as death toll rises to 107 people

Posted on by

Animal dubbed ‘Caramelo’ was trapped for days, balancing on two strips of slippery asbestos after flooding hit the Porto Alegre area

Emergency workers have rescued a horse that had been trapped for days on a rooftop after severe floods in southern Brazil, as the death toll from the disaster rose to 107 people.

The animal, dubbed Caramelo on social media, had been balancing on two narrow strips of slippery asbestos in Canoas, a city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area that is one of the hardest-hit areas in the state, much of which has been isolated by floodwaters.

Continue reading...

Selfie-takers caused pony to fall to death at Welsh beauty spot, says charity

Posted on by

Visitors to Gower urged to maintain distance after spate of incidents, including newborn foal falling off cliff

Visitors to a Welsh beauty spot have been warned not to go close to ponies to take selfies after a newborn foal fell to its death from a cliff.

In another incident a woman was injured when she was kicked by a gypsy cob pony on the Gower peninsula in south-west Wales, while ponies have also been injured or killed by cars and disturbed by drones.

Continue reading...

Woman filmed kicking and slapping a horse cleared of animal cruelty

Posted on by

Sarah Moulds, 39, bemoans ‘trial by social media’ that followed video of her striking pony going viral

A former teacher who lost her job after she was filmed kicking and striking a horse has been cleared of animal cruelty.

Sarah Moulds, 39, was found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, her grey pony named Bruce Almighty.

Continue reading...

Mystery of at least 10 horse deaths in Victoria sparks urgent investigation

Posted on by

Agriculture Victoria says it is ‘working with local veterinarians and experts to investigate the cause of multiple sudden horse deaths at three properties’

The mystery deaths of at least 10 horses on three separate properties in Victoria has prompted an urgent investigation by state authorities.

Agriculture Victoria on Sunday confirmed 10 horses had died suddenly on properties on the Mornington Peninsula, in south-east Melbourne and south-west Victoria since 4 July.

Continue reading...

Veterinarians warn horse owners in Australia’s flood zones to guard against Japanese encephalitis

Posted on by

Warm weather and stagnant flood waters have created ideal conditions for mosquito-borne diseases

Veterinarians have warned horse owners to be on the lookout for symptoms of Japanese encephalitis as widespread flooding and warmer days creates “the perfect storm” for mosquito-borne diseases across eastern Australia.

It comes as the Australian Medical Association has urged people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and to get vaccinated for Japanese encephalitis if they are eligible, after a slow vaccine uptake in at-risk communities.

Continue reading...

Horse euthanised after first Hendra virus case in five years reported in Queensland

Posted on by

Biosecurity Queensland euthanised the horse in Mackay on Friday after it contracted the virus, which can be fatal in humans

Queensland has recorded its first case of Hendra virus since 2017 after a horse tested positive in Mackay.

Biosecurity Queensland said the result was confirmed on Friday and the horse was euthanised after its condition deteriorated rapidly.

Continue reading...

Before Covid, moving to the country to get a horse felt like a career-killing move | Calla Wahlquist

Posted on by

It took a pandemic and work-from-home order to convince me it’s possible to keep working and live where you want to live

I have spent a lot of time picking up rocks. This is not what I dreamed about doing as we sat in Melbourne during the city’s sixth lockdown and waited out the three-month settlement period to move to our new farm in central Victoria. That time was spent on cottagecore fantasies and planning out wildly unrealistic renovation schedules.

Then we took possession in October and I’ve been picking up rocks ever since. Rocks and sticks and, for one particularly disgusting week before we had scrubbed down the house, a series of dead starlings that had become stuck in the fireplace and under the oven.

Continue reading...

RSPCA investigates after huntswoman filmed kicking and punching a horse

Posted on by

Naturalist Chris Packham calls for legal action over ‘appalling abuse’ at Hertfordshire event

The RSPCA is investigating after a woman was filmed by a hunt saboteur group apparently punching and kicking a horse.

The woman was condemned by the anti-hunting campaigners, as well as the naturalist Chris Packham and the organisation that oversees hunting with hounds in the UK.

Continue reading...

Masked Horses: photographs by Tim Flach

Posted on by

Wildlife photographer Tim Flach’s series Masked Horses speaks to the role of the horse as a companion to humankind over the ages. A disguise, or a protection the images reflect on our current pandemic. Flach’s animal photographs have often been likened to classical portraiture and his portraits of horses wearing gas masks, head protectors, equine inhalers and blindfolds are both captivating and disturbing

Continue reading...

Kissing cowboys: the queer rodeo stars bucking a macho American tradition

Posted on by

Photographer Luke Gilford couldn’t believe his eyes when he first stumbled across a gay rodeo. He set out to capture the joyous, tender, authentic world he saw there

Luke Gilford was at a Pride event in northern California in 2016 when he was drawn to a stand by the sound of Dolly Parton singing 9 to 5. What he found there would change his life. Members of the local chapter of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association were promoting what they do, and how they live. Gilford looked on in astonishment. “I grew up around this world,” he says. “I had no idea this existed. I really didn’t think it was real.”

A sought-after film-maker and photographer, to whom Barbara Kruger is a mentor and Pamela Anderson and Jane Fonda muses, Gilford cuts a striking figure. A New York Times profile that same year recounted how you could often catch a glimpse of him downtown, in a hand-me-down cowboy hat, football-style shoulder pads over his bare torso.

Continue reading...