history

Horse ritual in Japan irritates me because of its inherent cruelty to animals

700-year-old Shinto tradition “Ageuma Shinji” abuses horses

I had never heard of this tradition until today when I bumped into it on Twitter which I am pleased about because it is bloody cruel on the horses. The tweet video is nothing but horrific from an animal welfare standpoint. A mass of baying, excitable Japanese having great fun while the horses are put …

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Horse-brass protecting the horse against evil forces by reflecting the sun's rays

What is the origin of horse-brasses?

Today horse-brasses are entirely decorative; adorning heavy horses at horse shows. However, their role is far more than decorative or it used to be. They are protective amulets defending horses against evil spirits. They are a remnant of ancient pagan beliefs. They can almost be traced back to a time when the horse was first …

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Donkey mosaic from Roman times

Origin of the donkey and breeding by the Romans

There is an interesting report in the journal Science concerning a study on the origin of the donkey and how it was selectively bred by the Romans later on. They researched the relationship between geographic regions and donkey genes (phylogeography). Donkeys are social animals. You will see some wonderful, loving relationships between donkeys and people …

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Reason why horse is so popular

2 reasons why the horse was and is so popular

The reasons why the horse has been and continues to be so popular is firstly because of their temperament which is based upon their sociability. In the wild they have a naturally sociable lifestyle. They cooperate with each other. This cooperation between horses in the wild is transformed into a cooperation between the horse and …

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Galicia's wind turbines are said to harm the welfare of the wild horses

Wind turbine noise threatens Galicia’s ancestral wild horses

The Times reports that local people in Galicia in north-west Spain believe that the noise of wind turbines is jeopardising the survival of their ancestral wild horses. In this beautiful, wild and open yet windy landscape, a wild horse herd belongs to a village, Sabucedo. In a ritual from the 16th century, villagers round up …

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Horse riding 5,000 years ago

When did people start riding horses?

When did horse riding begin? You will see slightly different answers from different sources so we are unsure. However, there’s a nice article in The Times today which I think sheds some light on this question. The author of that article, Kaya Burgess, states that the first cowboys existed about 5,000 years ago. It is …

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Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Speciesism - 'them and us' | Cruelty - always shameful

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.