‘All horses must have tails’: major show brings in new rule on welfare grounds

The Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) is bringing in a rule next year – and an advisory this year – stating that all horses must have tails.

The move has come owing to the prevalence of entries in heavy horse classes with tail hair no longer than the length of the dock – or shaved docks.

GYS entries and livestock coordinator Amanda Stoddart-West told H&H the show team had noticed increasing numbers of essentially tail-less horses for the last couple of years.

“I don’t understand it, but it seems to have become a trend,” she said. “It means that for an hour in the ring, these horses have no tails all summer. We’ve had some complaints about it; members of the public and other equestrians saying, ‘Surely that’s not right?’”

Mrs Stoddart-West added that she saw many shaved or trimmed heavy horses’ docks at shows last summer, while she was acting as a voluntary welfare steward.

“Everyone we asked said it was because it was quicker than plaiting,” she said. “That’s just not good enough. It’s really sad for these horses.”

GYS vet Julian Rishworth told H&H tails are a “vital part of a horse’s basic requirements”.

“They should never be removed for aesthetic reasons,” he added.

Shire Horse Society CEO Victoria Clayton said the society was not aware of the rule.

“We had heard that there were rumours of such, but we had not received any official communication from the Great Yorkshire Show,” she told H&H.

“Our rules state that the docks ‘must be covered by a fan of hair’ for in-hand showing classes, although we do not apply this to turnout classes on safety grounds. It is hoped that safety is considered by the GYS for the turnout classes. Some horses who take part in turnout classes are also shown in-hand and we hope this is taken into account.”

Ms Clayton added that “hair getting caught in harness and traces is dangerous”. But Mrs Stoddart-West suggested that plaiting or wrapping tails could mitigate any such issues.

“They’ve done that for years,” she said. “And look at pure driving; they all have full tails. All horses should have tails; it’s as simple as that.”

Ms Clayton added: “The Shire Horse Society would not knowingly support any practice that caused horses to suffer any kind of welfare issue. The Shire Horse Society does not accept that clipped tails fall into that category. The Shire Horse Society’s primary purpose is to protect, preserve and promote the continuance of the breed.

“Where flies are deemed to be a source of extreme annoyance to a horse, there are other more efficient ways to limit this annoyance than having a longer tail, for example fly rugs, fly masks, keeping the horse in during the day and putting it out at night and garlic powder in the feed. All of these are not uncommon practices where/when flies are deemed to be problematic. A longer tail will not keep flies off a horse’s eyes or ears. Not one of our members’ equine vets have raised welfare concerns about clipped tails.

“We stand by that shorter tails are necessary for safety grounds for horses used in the turnout classes.”

World Horse Welfare director of communications and public affairs Jessica Stark told H&H the charity does not believe shaving docks for aesthetic reasons is ethical.

“Horses’ tails play an important role and are used for balance, communication and to deter flies,” she said. “For some individual horses, there might be medical or other legitimate reasons to shave their tails but the decision to do this should be welfare-based to ensure it is in the horse’s best interest.”

Petition

A petition on the Government website is also calling for a ban on shaved or very short tails for welfare reasons. The Suffolk Horse Society’s owners’ manual includes extensive guidance on plaiting tails.

British Equine Veterinary Association veterinary projects officer Lucy Grieve told H&H that whenever anyone does anything to an animal, the benefits and harms to them and us should be considered and that in most situations, there are compromises.

Examples “of situations where most people would be happy to compromise” could include keeping a horse on box rest to allow an injury to heal or clipping so a horse can be ridden in winter.

“If shaving or trimming a tail prevents problems (for example harness entanglement) or even saves time, and those benefits significantly outweigh any harms (for example inability to swish away flies), the decision may be easy,” she said. “If the outcome isn’t clear, we should probably re-evaluate our choice.

“Things become doubly difficult when there isn’t evidence of the degree of benefit or any harm. I don’t know of any scientific papers that indicate the incidence of full tails becoming entangled in harnesses, nor any evidence that demonstrates that the lack of a full tail results in increased fly stress. Where evidence is absent, we need to use opinion, experience, anecdote and common sense. Unfortunately, these can vary wildly.

“We should all reflect on our interactions with animals and do our best to minimise the negative effects and do our best to maximise the positive – as part of this process, and notwithstanding the need to protect our animals, we should also recognise the difference between what effects are proven and what effects are assumed.”

H&H has contacted the Clydesdale Horse Society for comment.

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