From the title of this post, you can guess that our experience walking horses in the Krewe D'Etat parade was not a positive one. Allow me to recount the whole experience and you can see for yourself why.
We arrived at the stables at 3pm Friday along with the other walkers, grabbed a Cascade Stables t-shirt and hat and waited around for about 45 minutes. During that time we learned a few things from people who had already walked horses in a parade the day before. We found out about how much we would get paid ($30 from the stable, plus tips from the riders), that the horses were not owned by the stable, and that they were probably going to dope the horses. This last statement was affirmed when I saw a stable employee walking around with a cup full of syringes.
After the waiting around period, the stable owner, Barbe Smith, came out to talk to us. She told us three things. One, the riders pre-tipped, so don't bug them for more tips. Two, pretend like you know what you're doing even if you don't. And three, don't stop under the overpass because someone could die. Then they loaded up the horses and the walkers and took us to the start of the parade route.
On the way to the parade, we met a woman who is boarding her horse at the stables and she told us a little more about the horses we would be leading. Most of them had never walked in parades before and had been purchased at auction months earlier. The stable rents the horses from outside parties specifically for the parades and afterward the horses likely go back to auction. This woman we met had been riding some of the horses over the previous week and told us that they are not well-trained riding horses, either. We also heard from the other walkers that the people who would be riding the horses did not necessarily know anything about riding.
One scary thing that happened was when they were unloading the horses from one of the trailers. I didn't see what caused this, but one of the horses freaked out coming off the trailer and either fell or reared and then fell. I looked over just in time to see the horse flip onto its back. It stayed down for several moments, but eventually got up and seemed to be okay.
I was given a small chestnut horse named Sport to lead. He looked like an older horse and was fairly calm throughout all the excitement of marching bands practicing nearby, floats lining up, and revelers passing through. I met my rider soon after we got there and he told me he had been doing this for 25 years, knew how to ride, and could go off-tether. I confirmed that with Barbe before the parade started and she said it was fine. We had to wait around for probably another half an hour, during which time my rider came by and fed Sport carrots, stable hands checked the tack and added more gold spray paint to Sport's hooves, and one stable employee injected my horse with some sort of tranquilizer.
By this point it was clear that those of us walking the horses were barely regarded as people. No stable employee told me anything about what to expect in the parade or why they were doping the horses, nor did anyone give any of the walkers instructions about leading horses, even though most of the other walkers we talked to had zero experience working with horses. By this point Brendan and I were both infuriated and didn't know what to do other than our best in leading these horses and trying to keep our horses, our riders, and ourselves safe throughout the parade.
So the riders mounted up and the parade began. The next scary thing that happened was a horse got spooked by something (there were a myriad of things that could have scared an untrained horse. The flambeaux were blamed. Flambeaux are people who walk alongside the parade with giant flaming sticks), reared, and the rider fell off. He had a bloody lip, and I heard that the horse had stepped on him after he fell off. That horse was pulled and the rider was going to be taken to the hospital. I never heard anything else about how he was. (Brendan: I overheard my rider talking with the man in the car ahead of us. The fellow who went to the hospital had no critical injuries.)
We continued on, and once we were walking down Magazine Street I took the lead off my horse, but stayed up near his head in case anything went wrong. My rider was having fun and seemed confident, and Sport seemed fine aside from uncomfortable from being held on too tight a rein. The parade moved very slowly, and there were times when we would stop for what seemed like a long time before moving very slowly again.
About 15 or so minutes into the parade at a point when we were stopped, I noticed Sport pawing the ground a lot, and keeping his head very low to ground, and behaving in a way I've seen horses behave when they are about to try and lie down. I also noticed that his neck was very sweaty. I told my rider I was afraid Sport was going to try and lie down and asked him if I could put the lead back on and walk him around. He was fine with that. I began leading Sport in circles and about the time we completed our third circle Sport went down. Barbe's son, who'd been leading a horse just ahead of mine, handed his horse off to Brendan and came running over. It all happened so fast, but I remember telling my rider to let go of the reins and Barbe's son helping to get his feet out of the stirrups. Then Barbe's son took the lead and got Sport up again, and I went over to my rider and helped him up. He was a little shaken, but fine, and ready to get back on if Sport was okay.
Sport was not okay. This horse had been fine when unloaded from the trailer. He was calm, but also very alert and energetic. But when he went down, he was sluggish and sweaty and could barely hold his head up. The only reason he went down was because of the tranquilizer. I told Barbe's son I didn't feel comfortable leading a horse that might fall down, and he said he would lead Sport for awhile. He kept saying he would fine once the parade got moving again. So, once it was moving, my rider got back on, but Sport was not sound. His hind right leg wasn't moving quite right, and Barbe's son made the judgment call to take him out of the parade. My rider ended up getting into a convertible just ahead of us and riding in that for the rest of the parade.
Barbe's son took Sport back, which meant Brendan got to lead his horse, which was carrying the Krewe captain (the organizer of the parade). I took turns with another walker leading a horse named Rita. Rita was hard to lead. She constantly wanted to go faster. The man who was leading her was doing his best, but he had very minimal horse experience, and I had a hard time with her too even though I have a lot of horse experience. In the circumstances, though, it was nearly impossible to get a horse to listen.
It was around 10pm when we finally got to the end of the parade. They loaded up the horses as they arrived, but since they were staggered throughout the parade we had to wait awhile for everyone to show up. By this time, we had been working steadily for 5 hours with no breaks or water. They did not offer us water at this time either, though some of our fellow walkers had acquired alcohol from their riders at the end of the parade. We had to go back to the stables in order to get paid, so we chatted with the other walkers while we waited. No one else we talked to had had horses rear or fall down, but Brendan did hear that a total of ten horses had been taken out that night, both from the Krewe D'Etat parade and the parade just ahead of it.
I'm still so angry about it. These people, Cascade Stables, and namely Barbe Smith, the owner, are running a completely shoddy operation that is dangerous to the horses, the walkers, and the riders. They are putting everyone in the worst possible situation. The horses that are terrified because they've never been in parades before (let alone Mardi Gras parades, which have huge screaming crowds along the entire route who come running up the horses to try and get beads or doubloons from the riders), and to try and counter that they drug the horses, which causes a host of other possible problems, like what happened with my horse. Then there are walkers who are nervous because they have no idea what they're doing who are at risk for injury. One woman we met who had walked in a parade the day before had a broken toe from a horse stepping on her foot. Something like that could happen even to a horse-person, but if these people were given just a little bit of training it would greatly minimize the risk. And it's not as if there wasn't time. We were all at the stables just standing around for nearly an hour. They could have given all the walkers a chance to lead the horses around and simply get used to it. And then there's the riders who don't know what they're doing. I had to continually tell the rider on Rita to let up on the reins. He apologized for this and said he kept holding them even though he knew he didn't need to because when she started moving he just instinctually grabbed at them as something to hold onto.
Horses, riders and walkers are getting injured because of what Cascade Stables is doing. And for what? Just to make a buck. Part of me almost wishes one of the riders (because they're the ones with any kind of rank and money) would get seriously injured to draw attention to what's happening. But I don't really wish that. Instead, I'm going to try and draw attention to what's happening. I'm going to wait until we go to the stables on Thursday to pick up our checks so I can try and find out what they're using to dope the horses, then I'm going to write to both The Gambit and the Times-Picayune. I'm hoping this will be the last year Cascade Stables is able to provide horses for Mardi Gras parades.
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11 comments:
You could use parts of this to send to the newspaper. I hope you do expose this.
Hi, I ran across your blog rather by accident, and I have to say I'm rather interested in this particular post. It just so happens I ride at Cascade, and I walked horses during Mardi Gras. All I can say is that I have no idea what your problem is.
First off I will defend the person you are defaming with this post. One Barbe Smith, yes, she is the owner of the stable, and yes she does it for money, its called a business. The purpose of a business is to make money. DUH. You're assumption however is gravely mistaken if you think she does it JUST for money.
No one in their right mind would run a bussiness as frought with peril, potential litigation, and difficulty as a stable just for money. I know that Barbe is personally distraught and tore up whenever anything happens to any of her horses, and she views them all as her horses. You don't know crap about her if you think she doesn't care for them.
Secondly you state such concern for the horses, walkers, and riders getting hurt. Considering the numbers of people involved and the situation (It's freaking Mardi Gras Genius, if you don't get hurt somehow, its a minor miracle) this is one of the safest things you can do. Even Riders on the floats get hurt being pegged by throwback beads and falling.
Third, your information on where the horses come from is mistaken, a number of the horses are well trained school horses, and a number of other horses are horses kept off site specifically for Mardi Gras, some are bought for the purpose of Mardi Gras, but that goes without saying, unless of course you are suggesting that they keep an extra forty horses lieing around all year for use 1 week of the year?
On top of that you complain that the horses aren't trained. I personally rode many of these horses along with the other stable regulars to make sure they were suitable. Any horse that was deemed unsafe was replaced. all reasonable precautions were taken. What you suggest is rather unreasonable. Essentially what you would like is for Barbe to have a herd of riot trained horses kept year round for use one week of the year. That doesn't even make any sort of sense.
As to the walkers not being trained? You WALK A HORSE. It isn't hard, those three words pretty much sum it up. As to walkers getting injured? that's because sh*t happens. Horses freak out or do weird things, its because they are an animal, and thus not altogether predictable. As you yourself admit any horse that behaved too poorly was removed from the parade as soon as possible.
I really don't know what you are complaining about. I can only assume you are seeking the attention of the blogosphere, and "I had a great time, and while there were some problems but overall things went alright" just wasn't selling it.
You can be against riding horses in Mardi Gras, I could perhaps at least accept that stance as having some validity, but don't you dare attack Cascade Stables and the fine people who run it. Especially not when all you have to go on is a few hours observation of a stable operating during the craziest week of the year.
I seriously hope you are brave enough to leave these comments up, though I doubt it. I'd be happy to address any other issues you might happen to have.
Jon,
I can see you are a supporter and presumably a friend (or relative) of Ms. Smith and Cascade Stables. While I am willing to grant that Barbe cares about the horses and that a business needs to pay its bills and make a living for its owner, I also believe that Cascade Stables has gone beyond what is ethical in trying to make extra money (or even perhaps just out of civic pride) in supplying horses for Mardi Gras.
Brendan has grown up around horses and we know a lot of stable owners and horse owners here in Wisconsin due to our involvement in 4-H and in natural horsemanship. So let's agree Barbe cares.
But as Susan Neiman points out in "Moral Clarity" it is actions, not motivation, that determine moral behavior.
1. If Mardi Gras leads inevitably to injury, then I wonder it has lasted so long. No, injury during Mardi Gras is still an unusual and generally avoidable accident.
2. Yes, only well-trained horses who can handle crowds and chaos should be in Mardi Gras parades. I like horses in parades and we had a horse who loved being in a parade and another who didn't mind because nothing bothered him.
3. Drugging horses to keep them calm is not only unethical, but can be dangerous both to horse and rider, as the parade experience of that small chestnut demonstrated.
4. If Barb wants to keep a herd of calm, well-trained horses just to use for Mardi Gras, that's up to her. But it is both dangerous and unethical to buy unknown horses just to use one week and then discard. You say you were among the riders who determined whether the horses were safe to ride. Then why were they drugged?
Possibly, if the horses were brought in at least a month or two before Mardi Gras and given intensive police-level riot training, there could be some excuse. But any horse that needs to be given a tranquilizer should not be used.
It's good to have horses in parades, but perhaps Cascade Stables and the parade organizers need to have higher standards for what horses can participate.
Dear Jon,
The two comments you see deleted were not deleted by us but rather by their author. Why, I don't know, But they were not nearly as coherent as yours is, so I will attempt to address the issues you bring up.
I am sorry that you think that we think that Barbe doesn't care for her horses. I don't have an inkling about her inner feelings towards her business, and I'm sorry that our phrasing leads you to believe that we're accusing her of something we can't ascertain. I can, however, observe the experience and comment on how it appears to me (Barbe's feelings towards her horses are not relevant to the discussion of whether her practices are harmful or helpful except where it impacts the actions she takes).
I have worked with horses in 4-H shows, Natural horsemanship workshops, at big stables and small stables, in parades, and on trails. And NEVER, in all my experience with horses, have I seen so many injuries and accidents as I saw last weekend. That bespeaks a less careful attitude towards horsemanship than I was trained with.
You say that walkers are JUST walking horses. But they're not. They're walking horses with an inexperienced rider on their backs in a dangerous setting. My specialty in horse shows has always been the trail classes (or obstacle courses in some places). I know what scares horses and I know the amount of experience needed by both horse and handler to successfully navigate these obstacles. No training was asked for and none was provided to the horse handlers, and these horses were obviously not trained to deal with the experience. Since Cascade Stables has been using horses in parades for years, they are familiar with the risks and must do something to mitigate them. Only a few injured people and horses each year is unacceptable equestrian practice.
Furthermore, drugging a horse as a matter of course is dangerous to both horse and rider as documented in countless articles and veterinarian's statements. A parade is definitely a theatrical performance, you would agree? allow me to quote:
(from the New York Times) But Peter Paris, the A.S.P.C.A.'s vice president for public affairs, said: ''While it may not violate a specific cruelty statute, the use of tranquilizers in theatrical situations is inhumane. Basically, if they have to drug the animal in order for it to perform onstage in a way it would not perform otherwise, with proper training, that is a misuse of the animal, and of the medication."
Back to me: The question is one of training. If Barbe cannot provide a safe experience for horse, handler, and rider, she should not do it. If, as you say, the expense of doing this safely eliminates her profit margin, then she either should not do it for profit or she should not do it. If I had learned that the horses had been trained and the handlers received training (or they only hired trained handlers) and something still went wrong, well, then I would accept the excuse that horse handling is a dangerous activity and by working at the stables, I am accepting that risk. Inexperienced horses plus inexperienced riders plus inexperienced handlers (after asking around, I learned that my fiancee and I were an anomaly) equals an accident waiting to happen... Tranquilizers are just as likely to increase the danger as to mitigate it. (Other acepromazine symptoms that have been reported in horses include excitement, restlessness, sweating, trembling, tachypnea, tachycardia and, rarely, seizures and recumbency... that's why tranqs should only be used when necessary)
Feel free to comment back to continue this discussion or visit our website to contact us directly at www.andjuggling.com
Sources:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E04E
http://www.elephantcare.org/Drugs/aceprom.htm
Jon,
Thank you for responding to our blog post. We welcome responses and are happy to engage in a thoughtful discussion of any topic we write about.
As Brendan said, Barbe's feelings about horses are not relevant to the discussion of her actions involving horses. The actions I witnessed and the information I learned from other walkers is what makes me think that Barbe's business of providing horses for Mardi Gras parades is unsafe.
Walking horses in a Mardi Gras parade is not one of the safest things one can do when the horses are not trained to deal with the craziness of Mardi Gras. I happily suggest that Cascade Stables keep horses year round to use in Mardi Gras parades. Horses that walk in a parade are not useless for other activities. If Barbe is already using school horses for the parades, as you say she is, I suggest that she only use her own horses for the parades. That way these horses would have experience walking in parades year after year, and would therefore be much safer to lead and to ride. I think that makes all sorts of sense.
Walking a horse isn't as simple as just walking a horse if one has never worked with horses before. Horses are large and strong animals and someone with no experience leading a horse could easily lose control, especially when the horse is in an unfamiliar and scary environment.
I have to wrap us as my time is up on this library computer, but please continue this discussion and feel free to tell Barbe about it so she can join in.
I don't have time currently to make a detailed reply, but I will at some point. In brief though I believe it is wrong to make such sensationalistic claims in your blog and such a judgmental title when in fact you have almost no idea of how things work or are done at the stable, all of your information is at best secondhand, and mostly from people you admit don't know what they are talking about.
Also just to put it bluntly, Mardi Gras is not your average parade, and police horses ARE often sedated to relieve them of the stress of the situation.
As I said you can be against working horses in Mardi Gras in general, that could be defensible, but your attack on Cascade is by and largely unfounded.
Oh and I'm not a relative of anyone at the stable, I pay to take lessons there, and enjoy the company of the fine people who work there, just so you know.
Jon,
Our response was inspired and based almost entirely on our first-hand experience with Cascade Stables. Any secondhand details are only supporting material.
And yes, I think we can make a judgment based on these experiences. Cascade Stables' treatment of horses and humans was negligent, and it led to injury.
I have been reading this blog with interest and great concern. Brendina, you are not the only person who has had negative experiences with Cascade and their care of the horses, that are used for Mardi Gras. Those horses are auction horses that are brought in right before Mardi Gras, 2 weeks before. The 25 or so horses are fenced in all together, with wet moldy hay to eat. The trainer at Cascade works with them for 2 weeks to train them to handle carrying a drunk, inexperienced rider. Mind you, many of these horses may have never had a rider on them before. But with enough drugs, they are deemed fit to be ridden and led. As you can imagine, this is not exactly safe for anyone. But it is a money maker for Cascade. The krewes pay them very well to provide the horses for the parades. Chances are the krewes have no idea where these horses come from or how they are treated. After these horses are used, they are then sent right back to be auctioned off (which usually means the slaughter house). This is not an improvement for them - this is more horror. Animals should not be treated this way and people should be educated on how to stop this nonsense. This year during Chaos, one the horses actually laid down during the parade (at least once) b/c he was overly drugged.
At the very least, there should be a better end for these animals. I'm in the process of finding resources for creating an equine rescue center in south LA, near New Orleans. If anyone is interested in exploring this venture with me, please let me know. The only other rescue operation that I've found is up near Shreveport, LA -which is very far, esp. considering how many horses there are in this state. Please help by getting involved...
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