Horse-ripping, or horse slashing, is an animal cruelty phenomenon involving serious injuries in

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s, often involving mutilation of their genitalia and slashing of the flank or neck. It has not been established, however, how often these injuries are caused by human cruelty. "Horse-ripping" is not an entirely neutral term since it implies there is always a human act behind the mutilations.

Incidents

There were 160 reported incidents in Britain between 1983 and 1993, and 300 incidents in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

between 1992 and 1998. It has become a widespread belief in recent years that these attacks are carried out deliberately by people, and generally sexually motivated.

Animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

officers have also drawn links between attacks on horses and 'fertility cults'. At least one case initially believed to be horse-ripping was later shown to have been caused by another horse. Convictions are rare, though a man has been convicted in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for a large number of such attacks on horses and ponies, along with the murder of a

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

person and the

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...

of several others. Horse-ripping, which is regarded as pathological, is distinguished from

castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...

of male animals, which is regarded as a normal pastoral practice. In Great Wyrley, England, during the Edwardian period

George Edalji George Ernest Thompson Edalji (22 January 1876 – 17 June 1953) was an English solicitor and son of a vicar of Parsi descent in a Staffordshire village. He became known as a victim of a miscarriage of justice for having served three years' ...

was wrongly convicted of horse ripping. Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, author of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

series, defended Edalji.

Critique

Investigations have shown it doubtful whether all 'horse-ripping' incidents can be ascribed to human acts. For the similar

cattle mutilation Cattle mutilation (also known as bovine excision and unexplained livestock death, or animal mutilation) is the killing and mutilation of cattle under unusual, usually bloodless circumstances. This phenomenon has been observed among wild animals ...

, primarily a US phenomenon,

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

s and animal cruelty have been blamed, but research showed there were natural or undetermined causes in the vast majority of cases. Media and the public often regard all incidents of horses being found injured as resulting from human acts, even if it has not been proven that the causes are unnatural. For this reason, some would argue that the concept should be analysed in terms of mass psychology and might qualify as a

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...

phenomenon. However, it is agreed upon that true cases of human-inflicted mutilation are a pathological or criminal phenomenon.

In literature

The short story ''Romulus'' (1883) by the Danish author

Karl Gjellerup Karl Adolph Gjellerup (2 June 1857 – 11 October 1919) was a Danish poet and novelist who together with his compatriot Henrik Pontoppidan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1917. He is associated with the Modern Breakthrough period of Scandi ...

features cruelty to a noble race horse. The story was inspired by a contemporary case where the Royal Chamberlain was accused of animal cruelty.Knud B. Gjesing: ''Karl Gjellerup'', Archive for Danish Literature
(in Danish) The play ''Equus'' from 1973 elaborates the psychology of a young horse mutilator. It also was inspired by a then-contemporary series of horse blindings. Based on the play, the film ''Equus'' was produced in 1977. In Dostoyevsky's novel '' Crime and Punishment'', the protagonist

Rodion Raskolnikov Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Родион Романович Раскольников, Rodión Románovich Raskólʹnikov, rədʲɪˈon rɐˈmanəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈskolʲnʲɪkəf) is the fictional protag ...

has a dream about a

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

being whipped and eventually bludgeoned to death with an iron bar by a drunken man, while a large crowd encourages and helps him. The novel ''

Arthur & George ''Arthur & George'' (2005) is the tenth novel by English author Julian Barnes which takes as its basis the true story of the " Great Wyrley Outrages". Plot introduction Set at the turn of the 20th century, the story follows the separate but int ...

'' by

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...

centers around Arthur Conan Doyle's involvement with the Great Wryley Outrages, a series of mutilations committed against horses and other livestock in 1903.

Incidents

Critique

In literature

See also

Notes

Further reading