Protestors and counter protesters clashed over the Griffith Park Pony Rides on Saturday.
The Griffith Park Pony Rides have been a tradition in Los Angeles for decades but it will be coming to an end at the end of this month.
The city of LA says it did not renew the pony ride’s contract because of a lack of transparency with its owner.
A group of people is looking to save the pony rides while others want to see it shut down.
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“We have all these people here who are in support of the equestrian lifestyle of the ponies,” Carington Garland, a pony ride supporter, said.
“There are so few non-mechanized things for children to do today that are totally natural,” Paula Morris, a pony ride supporter, said.
Morris remembers the first time she rode a pony at Griffith Park.
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“Three years old when I first rode and im 86 now, so its been here longer than people think,” Morris said.
But those who oppose the pony rides are worried about the horses' health.
“You can’t operate a concession that continues to neglect and abuse their animals,” Zohra Fahim, president and founder of LA Alliance for Animals, said.
An inspection report from April of this year did find the working conditions to be satisfactory.
However, according to the report there were several legal violations and medical issues including calluses and saddle sores that were not being treated by a vet and the report stated that almost all the horses were geriatric, between the ages of 20 and 30 years old.
It is not clear if the report had anything to do with the city’s decision to end pony rides at Griffith Park.
“I even offered to give the pony rides to the city of LA if they wanted a different manager. I would give this to them, but they were very quick to say no to that they did not want to pursue pony rides here,” Steve Weeks, owner of Griffith Park Pony Rides.
Weks is the owner of Griffith Park Pony Rides and says he is heartbroken to see such a legacy leave los angeles.
The silver lining he says is the hundreds of people who’ve reached out to give the ponies good homes after the shutdown on Dec. 21.
“In this last week I must have had 300 people that wanted to adopt the ponies,” Weeks said.
Weeks says he is screening the potential adopters to find the best homes for the ponies.
