Horse prices climb as fuel costs bite motorists

The price of road-trained horses has 'gone through the roof' in recent weeks, according to data monitored by the Consumers' Association of Ireland, writes Brian Byrne. The underlying reason is fuel and energy costs, which have soared since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Motorists who have been hit badly by petrol prices are very concerned about future availability of fuel for their cars, a spokesperson for the Society of the Irish Motor Industry confirmed to the Kilcullen Diary this morning. "For a while they were scrambling to buy electric cars, which have become very scarce," they said. "But when they realised that rapidly-climbing electricity costs would have to make them choose between charging their car and running their washing machines, that interest petered out."

Headlines that An Taoiseach earlier this week expressed concern about future fuel supplies accelerated a shift in direction towards horses as an alternative — despite Mr Martin's claims that his comments were taken out of context, and were even inaccurately reported. "That's not what I said," he told Claire Byrne repeatedly on Radio One yesterday. Ms Byrne was clearly not convinced, which may also have raised the paranoia levels.

Early adopters of the new horsepower solutions to their cars have turned to the sulky-racing fraternity, who have have quickly raised their asking prices at a much higher rate than even the house sales market.

"We only have a limited number of horses trained for the road, so we have to make as big a profit as we can while the going is good," one owner-racer said on condition of anonymity because they were not cleared to speak to the press.

Animal shelters which specialise in horse rescue and retirement are also bracing themselves for a surge of would-be buyers, while racing stables around the country are increasing security on their premises in fear of an increase in 'tiger gang' thefts of their horses.

The Minister for Transport has cautiously welcomed this shift towards 18th century transport, suggesting it would be much more sustainable than fossil fuels and would help reduce the country's carbon footprint. 

"We may have to consider changes to roads legislation," Eamon Ryan cautioned. "For instance, at the moment we don't allow horses on motorways, so we would have to legislate for that." He also forecast improved employment opportunities in necessary extra cleaning of the roads due to the increased use of horses. "There will be a two-fold advantage, actually ... gathering the horse-shit will also go a long way towards easing the fertiliser shortage."  

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