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Rolling Stones Burdened by Beasts

Thu., Apr. 19, 2007 12:12 PM PDT by Sarah Hall

Wild horses? More like stoned ponies.

Serbian animal activists are up in arms over a plan to sedate as many as 300 horses stabled at a racecourse in Belgrade where the Rolling Stones are slated to play on July 14.

The horses are kept just yards from where the rockers will be taking the stage at the Hippodrome, the city's largest fenced space.

Jovanka Prelic, a hostler at the racetrack, told Reuters that the horses would be monitored during the event and that any of the animals that became overly nervous or started to panic would be given sedatives.

He said that the equestrian clubs involved with the track were hopeful that concert organizers would allow enough stable staffers to be on hand to administer tranquilizers as needed.

The concert is expected to draw more than 100,000 fans and will mark the first time the Stones have played in Serbia.

A 2003 outing was scrapped after the assassination of then-Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, while a 2006 performance was called off after Keith Richards suffered a head injury in a fall from a coconut tree.

Now, with the band finally prepared to rock Belgrade, animal rights groups are lobbying to have the concert moved to a different venue, where it will cause less equine stress.

Serbia's largest animal activist group, the Organization for Respect and Care of Animals (ORCA), cited research showing that noise and vibrations are the greatest causes of stress to animals.

ORCA head Elvir Burazerovic told Reuters that as far as the group was concerned, drugging the horses was not an acceptable plan, nor was moving the animals to another location.

"Transport also causes a lot of stress and besides, there's no alternative location for the horses," he said.

The only viable solution, according to Burazerovic, is to find a new venue capable of holding over 100,000 concertgoers.

"Surely our big city has enough open spaces where even 150,000 people can fit in. We think the Hippodrome should be left to horses," he said.

Concert organizers shrugged off the group's concerns, pointing out that concerts had been held at the Hippodrome before and stating that plans for the event were progressing smoothly.

Burazerovic said that ORCA was planning to appeal directly to the band.

"I believe we'll succeed since such a reputable band will not allow such a stain on its record," Burazerovic told Reuters.

The animal activists may have a valid point with regard to their concerns about noise. Following a Stones concert in San Francisco in 2005, city officials were flooded with noise complaints from residents who were bothered by the music from miles away.

On the other hand, the Stones have performed in close proximity to horses in the past without incident.

Last September, the band played Kentucky's Churchill Downs, marking the first time the historic racetrack had ever hosted a concert. At the request of the track's president, the Stones toned down their performance slightly, removing all explosions out of consideration for the equine residents.

Despite initial concerns about the horses' wellbeing, trainers and track officials reported that the beasts were not bothered by the music.

"The horses didn't do anything," trainer Paul McGee told bloodhorse.com. "The concert was a huge success."

In fact, the performance was so successful that the track has booked another crew of aging rockers—the Police—to perform on July 14, the very same night that the Stones are due to test the nerves of Belgrade's horses.