According to Aftonbladet, horses are the subject of constant violence at one of Sweden’s largest stables. The owner denies the allegations.
According to the story, the horses had wounds, scars and other injuries. Illustration picture. EPA/AOP
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported on Wednesday that one of the largest riding stables in the country treats horses badly.
Several horse keepers who worked at the place report that they witnessed animal cruelty, systematic violence and constant whipping of horses.
– You can see it in the horses’ eyes. The horses give up. Their body is so delicate that you can’t touch them, never worked at the stable Isabel says.
Aftonbladet does not mention the team by name. According to it, it is a well-known company whose owner acquires around 50 horses every year. Horses have also ended up for top riders.
24 year old Sarah according to the horses had clear whip marks on their hindquarters and thighs when they returned from training. There are pictures of the tracks in the story.
– The horses were whipped until they gave up. It was horrible to watch, says Sara, who was fired because of the violence.
– There were hard kicks with spurs and blows with whips. When riding, the horses were only pulled by the mouth. They had wounds in their mouths, he continues.
Sara claims to have seen a case where a young horse became anxious when tied up.
– The owner of the stable took a broom and hit it hard on the head.
The hidden truth
Horses were whipped repeatedly. Illustration picture. PDO
20-year-old Isabelle was told she should hit the horses harder.
According to the caretakers interviewed for the story, the horses were not taught what they had to do. The animals were whipped until they understood.
– The horses were like machines that had to perform. If they didn’t do that, they were beaten, Sara describes.
– I have worked at other stables as well. Those horses didn’t have stripes. It takes pretty serious violence to get stripes on a horse, 21 years old East says.
The keepers were instructed to put the warp on the horses before they were let out to pasture.
– The owner said that they (whip marks) must not be visible on the road, because they can be misunderstood, commented Isabell.
The stable’s employees were afraid to intervene because the owner is influential and well-liked.
Horse owners, on the other hand, could not enter the stables without an appointment. When someone made an appointment and showed up, the workers were instructed not to hit the horses.
Denies everything
The owner of the stable, who appears anonymously in the story, denied that horses were whipped or violence was used in any other way during the stable’s exercises.
The owner explained that the streaks on the horses in the pictures were sand. The claim of hitting the horse on the head was considered a lie by the owner.
– It sounds strange, the owner replied, when Aftonbladet reported that he had seen videos in which he whips horses.
– I have a well-functioning company. I love my job and horses.
Sara, Ida and Isabell do not appear in Aftonbladet’s story with their real names.