Two charities are calling for the practice of submerging horses in the river at a horse fair to be scrapped.
A horse drowned while being washed in the River Eden at this year's Appleby festival in Cumbria earlier this month.
Now the British Horse Society and the RSPCA want the tradition at the popular, annual event to be dropped, saying it is "archaic" and "dangerous".
The RSPCA and Cumbria Police are still trying to trace the dead horse's owner and are following up a number of leads.
According to tradition, the animal's heads must be dunked beneath the water before it can be returned to dry land and put up for sale.
'Clearly abhorrent'
Lee Hackett, welfare senior executive for the British Horse Society, said: "Witnesses report that the horse's rider repeatedly dunked the animal's head until it failed to submerge causing the rider to flee the scene.
"The drowning of a young horse is clearly abhorrent and, although it would seem to be a tragic one-off event, it is essential steps are taken to ensure it cannot happen again.
"The practice of completely submerging horses' heads is archaic and serves no clear purpose."
Around 60,000 visitors a year flock to the event during which they watch Romany, gypsy and travellers race horses in front of prospective buyers.
A spokesman for the RSPCA said: "We would back any call to ban the submersion of horses' heads at Appleby as we feel it is unjustified and dangerous.
"We'd also want to see a restriction that meant no horse would be allowed in the water without a head collar and a head rope, which was less than a metre long, which would increase the safety of the horses."
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