(Beth Clifton collage)
Biggest show in U.K. agrees that a tail is an essential part of a horse
GLASGOW, Scotland––“Some great news for a change!” emailed Animal Concern Scotland campaigns officer Elena Edwards on March 3, 2025, but Edwards bannered the intention of the Welsh government to close the last greyhound track in Wales above her own unique and signal victory on behalf of Clydesdale show horses, native to Scotland.
Boldly going where few if any Scottish animal advocates had gone before, Edwards less than two years earlier took on the horses’ asses by doing her own intensive investigation––and won her first major concession from the show horse industry, less than one year after risking ridicule by standing up for the horses’ bloody rear ends in public.
Don Staniford of End Salmon Farming & Elena Edwards of Animal Concern Scotland.
“The last shall come first”
Much as there is to report about the anticipated end of greyhound racing in Wales, sometimes the last must come first, especially when it saves suffering and no one else spoke out until just one person finally did, inspiring many others.
“It’s been over a year since we began campaigning to see an end to shaving off the tails of heavy horses,” Edwards began, “with many letters, emails, phone calls, and documenting horses as young as five months old with their tails shaved off.
“So we are absolutely thrilled,” Edwards said, “that the Great Yorkshire Show,” the 188-year-old biggest such event in England, “has come to the same conclusion that it is inhumane and entirely unnecessary to remove the tails by any means, and is bringing in a rule next year – and an advisory this year – stating that all horses must have tails.”
Shire horse with shaved tail. (Elena Edwards, Animal Concern Scotland photo)
“Surely that’s not right”
Continued Edwards, “In an interview with Horse & Hound, Amanda Stoddart-West, Great Yorkshire Show entries and livestock coordinator, stated, ‘For an hour in the ring, these horses have no tails all summer.
“We’ve had some complaints about it; members of the public and other equestrians saying, ‘Surely that’s not right?’
“Everyone we asked said it was because it was quicker than plaiting,” she said.
“That’s just not good enough. It’s really sad for these horses.”
Agreed Great Yorkshire Show vet Julian Rishwort, “Tails are a vital part of a horse’s basic requirements. They should never be removed for aesthetic reasons.”
Victoria Clayton, CEO, Shire Horse Society.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“We’ll be following up”
Shire Horse Society chief executive Victoria Clayton, risking becoming confused with a horse’s rear end herself, objected that “Hair getting caught in harness and traces is dangerous. We stand by that shorter tails are necessary for safety.”
Responded Edwards, “Just what are they doing to these horses that puts them in such danger by having their natural tails? In particular, what excuse can there be for shaving off the tails of five-month-old foals for shows, who shouldn’t be going anywhere near harnesses at this age?”
Pledged Edwards, “We’ll also be following up with all the other shows whom we’ve raised this concern with, asking them to follow the excellent decision of the Great Yorkshire Show.”
Edwards first raised Clydesdale tail-shaving on August 31, 2024, after a year-long investigation, she wrote, “following a call from a concerned horse owner.”
(See “Big lickers” reined in, but tongue-tied horses remain at mercy of shavetails.)
Tail docking. (PETA photo)
Tail-shaving is an invitation to biting flies
Tail-shaving is a different practice from tail-docking, which means tail amputation, and has long been recognized as inherently inhumane.
Despite that, the Anheuser-Busch brewery docked the tails of the iconic Budweiser beer wagon Clydesdale team until, responding to a campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the company announced in September 2023 that “The practice of equine tail docking was discontinued earlier this year.”
Tail-shaving, unlike tail-docking, is not in itself an inherently painful procedure, but––the same as tail-docking––leaves the horse exposed to attack by biting flies.
More than just a frequently severe pain in the ass, biting flies can transmit a range of equine diseases, including anthrax, anaplasmosis, tularemia, equine infectious anemia, equine trypanosomosis, vesicular stomatitis, and pigeon fever.
Clydesdale with shaved tail.
(Elena Edwards photo. Animal Concern Scotland)
Confession of incompetence
Historically, shaving a horse’s tail was widely considered a confession of incompetence on the part of drivers and plowmen.
The term “shavetail” used to describe a newly commissioned military officer reputedly dates back to the cavalry practice, centuries ago, of shaving the tails of the mounts of new commanders as a signal against following them in ill-advised charges.
But no one seems to have noticed or become concerned about the growing prevalence of shaving heavy show horses’ tails until Edwards in October 2003 “sent a letter to the Clydesdale Horse Society,” Edwards recounted, “and received a reply that they do not accept that shaving a horse’s tail is in any way a welfare issue, and as they have received no complaints from their equine vets they will continue to allow the practice.
Clydesdale. (Beth Clifton photo)
“No benefit to the welfare of the animals”
“We have since been in touch with the British Horse Society, World Horse Welfare, British Equine Veterinary Association, National Equine Welfare Council, and the Royal SPCA,” Edwards recounted when she took her campaign public, “whose equine specialist offered this as their stance on the matter:
“The practice of fully shaving off the tails of Clydesdale horses deprives them of their natural fly swat, and also interferes with communication through body language, which is incredibly important in equines.
“As there are other means of ensuring that the tails of working horses do not become entangled or snagged in harness, such as plaiting of the tail, there is no benefit to the welfare of the animals which outweighs the negative impacts of the practice. Therefore it should end.”
Shire horse with shaved tail.
(Elena Edwards, Animal Concern Scotland photo)
“Tail-shaving was prevalent”
The British Equine Veterinary Association agreed that tail-shaving “purely for cosmetic purposes is not justified.”
Continued Edwards, “I also contacted the Shire Horse Society. With no response, I went to see the Shires being shown for myself at a country show, where I regret to report that it was clear that tail-shaving was prevalent.”
“At least ten states have banned the docking of horses’ tails,” an American Veterinary Medical Association spokesperson told CNN reporter Ramishah Maruf in September 2023, but the AVMA does not prohibit the practice, and has no position on tail-shaving.
Said Keith Dane, retired former senior director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States, “I haven’t seen the shaving of tails on Clydesdales or other draft horses in the U.S., or heard of the practice here. But for some of the same reasons we oppose tail docking,” specifically “loss of function in swatting insects and communication, we would also oppose the shaving of horses’ tails.”
(Beth Clifton collage)
Welsh greyhound racing ban has not yet happened
Now about greyhound racing being banned in Wales.
First of all, it has not happened yet, but on February 18, 2025, Welsh deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies, said: “I believe that now is the right time to move to ban greyhound racing in Wales. We are proud to be the first nation in the United Kingdom to do this.“
Wrote Daniel Davies, political correspondent for BBC Wales News and David Deans, political reporter for BBC Wales, “No timeline has been announced for the ban, but Irranca-Davies said it is not ‘impossible’ it could come in before the next Welsh Parliament election in May 2026.”
(Beth Clifton photo)
Last track in 2023 won permission to expand
The only greyhound track in Wales is the Valley Stadium in Ystrad Mynach, opened in 1976 as a combined greyhound track and soccer field.
It received zoning permission in 2023, the BBC reported, to “extend the existing clubhouse and grandstand building “to provide office, hospitality, amenity and veterinary facilities,” and to convert the soccer field into greyhound kennels.
“Following New Zealand’s announcement in December that it would be banning greyhound racing by 2026, this news from Wales will only help the push for a ban in Scotland,” speculated Elena Edwards.
Scottish first minister John Swinney, Edwards said, “has stated he will give ‘full and careful consideration’ to calls for greyhound racing to be banned. Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell, who has been at the forefront of presenting a Members Bill to end greyhound racing in Scotland, has commended the decision by Wales, and pushed for the same consideration in Scotland.”
Beth & Merritt Clifton with friends.
Edwards promised to keep ANIMALS 24-7 informed of progress.
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The post Winning one for the horses––and perhaps a big win for greyhounds too appeared first on Animals 24-7.
