Spectators' horror as horse drowns at popular country fair

In yet another example of humanity's arrogance and cruelty we have this:

The animals are ridden bareback into the water. When their feet come off the ground, they begin to swim.

Tradition dictates that the horse's head should be dunked beneath the surface before it is ridden on to dry land again.

But this distressed animal is thought to have pulled away from its owner in a panic, lost its footing and possibly broken a leg.

...

One man, who was present at the horse's drowning, said: "It's a macho thing with the young men.

"They are trying to prove how hard they are by riding the horses through the deep part of the river. That poor horse didn't want to be there. You could see the terror in its eyes."

Disgusting, but it gets worse:

"As I understand it the horse was bought earlier that day by someone who was specifically told not to take the horse into the water as it was not used to it.

"Of course this person insisted on taking it in. I'm told that the horse broke its leg while in the water before drowning."

And of course, because this event is a fucking tradition, there is apparently no way to stop such cruelty.

I am absolutely disgusted.

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