A licensee shall, in addition to other requirements of this article, comply with the minimum standards of this section:
(1) All horses shall be provided with daily food and water, free from contamination. Such food shall be wholesome, palatable and of sufficient quantity and nutritive value to meet the normal daily requirements for the condition and size of the horse.
(2) All buildings and sheds used for stabling horses shall be well lighted and ventilated and provide protection from the weather. All buildings and sheds used for stabling horses shall be kept clean and in good repair at all times, and manure shall be removed therefrom daily. Any enclosure where horses are kept shall be graded and raked so as to keep the surface reasonably dry. All such facilities shall be subject to inspection at reasonable times by the designated licensing facility upon request.
(3) Flies and other insects must be controlled through general sanitation and necessary means.
(4) All horses used in the horse-drawn vehicle business must weigh at least thirteen hundred (1,300) to fourteen hundred (1,400) pounds and be considered in general good health;
(5) Horses exhibiting the following shall be deemed unfit for work:
(a) Sores or abrasions caused or likely to be irritated by the wearing of services, girths, harnesses or bridles;
(b) Serious injury or illness;
(c) Obvious signs of emaciation, malnutrition, lameness or exhaustion; or
(d) Excessive parasitism.
(6) Horses requiring veterinary care shall not be moved, ridden or driven except for the purpose of humane keeping, or pasturing or obtaining medical care.
(7) Horses shall be properly shod with rubber compound type horseshoes, borium shoes, or similar nonslip type shoes to keep the animal from slipping on the pavement; and the hoof shall be kept trimmed.
(8) Horses shall be kept clean and in particular the areas in contact with harness or other tack.
(9) Horses shall not be worked more than two (2) hours without being given a cumulative total of thirty (30) minutes rest. The maximum working period for any one (1) horse shall be eight (8) hours out of every twenty-four (24) hours.
(10) The speed at which any horse is driven shall not exceed a slow trot.
(11) No horse shall be overridden or driven to result in overheating or exhaustion.
(12) Horses shall be provided water at the loading site and on routes at all times they are working.
(13) All harnesses and bridles shall be kept oiled and cleaned so as to be soft at all times.
(14) All harness will be properly fitted and maintained, and kept free of makeshift like wire, sisal rope and rusty chain.
(15) No horse is to be worked with equipment causing an impairment of vision other than normal blinders.
(16) No one (1) horse shall ever pull more than five (5) adult passengers.
(17) Unsanitary conditions shall not be permitted to be present on any town route, horse rest area or any area where the horses are kept. All such areas shall be kept clean and free of conditions which might harbor or be conducive to the breeding of insects or rodents.
(18) No horse shall be subject to any cruel or harassing treatment, including any violation of the mandatory rest periods, feeding and watering schedules and workload limits established pursuant to this article.
(Ord. No. 17-85, § 1, 2-7-85; Ord. No. 90-2005, § 14, 4-12-05)