As Texas cities consider bans on horse carriages, activists may turn to Fort Worth next
After longhorn cattle and a supposedly sleepy panther, horses may be the animal most synonymous with Fort Worth’s history and identity.
You’ll see horses every day of the week in the Fort Worth Stockyards. More than 3,000 horses were featured in this year’s Stock Show & Rodeo parade, including a horse-drawn carriage with Mayor Mattie Parker. And carriage rides are popular with tourists around downtown certain times of year.
But a growing number of U.S. cities are outlawing horse-drawn carriage rides or considering such a ban — including Dallas and San Antonio.
A leader in the push for a ban in Dallas is animal activist Gloria Raquel Carbajal. She began a petition to ban horse-drawn carriages there and has spent two years sharing videos of what she describes as animal abuse and traffic hazards. She has been gathering support among residents, and now the Dallas City Council will consider the issue this year.
She plans to bring the movement to other cities, starting with Fort Worth.
“Honestly, it would be Fort Worth because it’s in the area, it would only make sense to me to go to the nearest city,” Carbajal said. “The issue with the horse-drawn carriages is that they’re not being regulated.”
Not so, says Fort Worth council member Carlos Flores, whose district includes the Stockyards. Flores thinks the city’s regulations are up to par.
“Operators of horse-drawn carriages are issued permits by the city’s Ground Transportation Office. If concerns or complaints are made about an operator, they are investigated by Animal Care & Control. These are popular amenities in our historic, entertainment & cultural districts,” Flores said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.
Flores, who grew up around horses on a ranch, added that the carriages operate only in designated areas to ensure public safety “including the health and well-being of the animals.”
He also noted that horses are sheltered, watered and rested on extreme weather days.
“Horses and carriages will always have a place in Cowtown,” Flores said.
Council member Elizabeth Beck also believes in the importance and symbolism of horses to Fort Worth.
“Fort Worth is Cowtown, we have a strong Western culture here in the city, and I think that probably influences our residents’ opinions on horse-drawn carriages,” Beck said.
Beck added that she hasn’t heard any concerns raised from constituents.
“I don’t get the sense that it’s a big issue of concern for our residents. I think the use of horse-drawn carriages is pretty limited,” Beck said. “I don’t know the extent that they’re utilized in, in other cities. So it would be hard for me to compare Fort Worth to say Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and so on.”
In San Antonio, horse-drawn carriages are often found in the central downtown area of the Alamo city intermingled with pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
But San Antonio council member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez hopes that will change.
“There’s a lot of horse-drawn carriages in San Antonio and I remember just feeling like, ‘This doesn’t feel right,’” McKee-Rodriguez said. “But I didn’t quite understand city council’s role in it until it was brought to my attention and I thought, ‘Wow, this is something that I can do for us.’”
At the end of 2022, McKee-Rodriguez and council member Phyllis Viagran proposed a ban on horse-drawn carriages in the city. The ban will be decided on this year by the council.
The Partnership to Ban Horse Carriages Worldwide lists petitions to ban horse-drawn carriages in 39 cities across the world. Fort Worth is not one of them.
But Jodie Wiederkehr, the group’s founder and executive director, believes the movement could have traction in Fort Worth.
“Dallas, Texas, and Fort Worth have a history of horses, but the last thing either Dallas or Fort Worth wants is a death on their hands of a human or a horse,” Wiederkehr said. “A lot of the cities end up banning horse carriage rides when there is a serious or deadly accident. And again, the last thing we want is a fatality or somebody seriously injured due to this trade.”
Wiederkehr said that even in regulated, less busy areas, horses can be a danger because the animal can be easily spooked. She cited an incident in 2016 in St. Louis when a horse charged toward and drowned in the Missouri River after being spooked.
“Horses are prey animals, so the smallest noise or movement can spook them,” Wiederkehr said.
Wiederkehr believes that horses can still be cemented in a city’s Western culture through sanctuaries or rescues where people learn about horses and their historic contributions.
“Horses have done so much for humans, it’s time for humans to simply protect them and let them be. Let them live in their natural state,” Wiederkehr said.
