Thank you for your refreshing comment, Greta.

That’s correct, Murat – and there was video, too. Where was Channel 2?

Incorrect Murat2Trot, Win Animal Rights has a current on-going campaign which was launched as a result of that disgusting misuse of the mounted police. So, please check your facts before shooting off your mouth.

Gabriela – so true!

Only these ghouls who delight at the slightest misfortune of carriage horses would stand there, take photos, and then congratulate each other for being so “brave” as the person who took this video is being praised as by NY-CLASS’s PR machine.

That’s just ridiculous. Actually people who care about animals usually care more about other people and it is well known many animal abusers also abuse other people.

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men…..Francis of Assisi

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Mahatma Gandhi …

Hear! Hear!

I was at the National Horse Show today in KY talking with the folks at the ASPCA in attendance… they were disappointed that one of their senior HLE agents couldn’t make it to the horse show. Why? Because he was off dealing with several horrendous neglect / abuse cases with horses elsewhere in New York state. They weren’t healthy carriage horses bucking with joy from being out and about – they are probably horses for whose families the money has simply run out…

Ms. Parnes,

Please check out the Camelot Horse Auction on Facebook. There you will find numerous horse rescues desperately trying to keep all kinds of horses off the meat truck to Mexico. These rescues are struggling to stay afloat during these hard economic times when many horse owners must sacrifice their pets in order to feed their children. Feel free to donate lots of money to help them, as it is inordinately expensive feeding just one horse, let alone many. Can you imagine the flood of carriage horses from all over the country overflowing into these “farms upstate to live out their lives in peaceful dignity.” Plus, carriage horses often live extraordinarily long lives, well into the twenties and thirties. So when they retire now, many younger than 15, you’ll have at least 10 to 15 years to contribute money to the farms to keep these big guys in a good weight. You might also check out what happens to horses who are actually starving–See Grace-the Little horse with the Big Spirit on Facebook.

100 degrees? Are you sure this was in NYC? Because our horses MUST return to the stables by law if the temp goes over 89 degrees.

Plus, on hot days, drivers must MONITOR their horse’s water intake – I won’t give you an equine husbandry lesson here, but there are very good reasons why a driver would pull his horse away from the water after a certain period of time, and none of them have to do with being “impatient”. Not to mention some horses will just stay there and play in the water all day if you let them.

As for your “regional farms” and “sanctuaries” — they are overflowing with homeless horses, and many are going under for lack of funds. A well-cared for horse with a viable job is in the BEST position of all.

I also want to know exactly where all these wonderful upstate farms for retiring all the excess out of a job equines are. Your idea is completely out of touch with what is the reality of the horse world currently. Who is going to fund all these retired animals? Do you have any idea what the costs are to properly care for one horse are in just one year? Let alone many years till they die. A horse with no “job” is in jeopardy for his life right now and shipping to Canada and Mexico. this is a FACT. Between skyrocketing hay costs, drought and a broken economy, all animals that do not have a “job” are at risk. If they don’t go to slaughter, they starve out in someones back 40. Do some real research.

Carriage horses are the original GREEN transportation. Lets have MORE of them!

Thank you, Good Horse. FYI, I am in the industry, and so is Eva Hughes. One of the reasons you don’t see much of us in these forums is because our comments are deleted–we don’t “fall into place” with the general sentiment. Please feel free to come track us down on Facebook under Carriage Horse Facts. We accept all sides, and love a chance to show off our horses!

Where is the cruelty in a horse accidentally tripping? Can you point to it in the NY cruelty statutes?

How will putting these horses out of their jobs, where they are fed and cared for – and under constant public scrutiny “prevent cruelty”? Instead of being here in the city where we can see them and enjoy them, who knows where they will end up “out there”….

Thank you, Lorraine.

Lorraine – careful who you call a convicted animal abuser. If you make a mistake that could be considered libel. Maybe you should make sure about your facts before putting yourself in danger of litigation.

Again, just an overly emotional outburst without any facts to back up the accusations. Any PROOF that carriage horses are treated inhumanely like summonses, court cases or arrests?

Any PROOF that any carriage horses are abused, presumably to attract tourists and entertain them, as per your post? Again, where are the copies of citations, summones, court cases or arrests?

Ahhh, the old “cold wind under the tail” routine? Bummer. For the lay people reading this, you know how you take your dog out for a walk sometimes and they inexplicably zing about on the leash like they’ve gone insane? It’s the same principle. Of course, your dog only tangles itself up in the leash (and maybe your legs too) but horses in harness usually get themselves into trouble when they’re fresh, even when they’re loose in their pastures.

Eva, claim to know with certainty that this horse bucked. If you know horses so well and that they can become “extra frisky” then someone should be monitoring your industry carefully and constantly daily and if weather and a little less work can cause something this serious, New York City is NOT the place for these horses. How would a driver physically be able to visibly see this horse throw “his hind leg over the shaft” and fall? They are usually at the front seated in their carriage, on their cell phones, talking, texting, talking to customers, reading the paper or busy making U turns. Of course the horse “calmly waited” he was on conked out on the ground. Did you expect the horse to jump up and scream and call 911? You claim to know with certainty how it happened, yet you don’t know nothing of his injuries? The “REAL” story Eva is that there is no way to make New York City safe for carriage horses or people. FACT.

Bad analogy, because dog fighting and bear baiting is meant to be cruel. These horses are well-kept. You sound like someone who would like to end any and all working relationships between humans and animals.

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/4612/NC/US/
Just for the record.

A horse tripping , or getting tangled in his harness is not a “collapse”. A horse that goes down and when it is freed, gets up and walks off is not one that has dropped from exhaustion. I was watching two of my friends pampered pleasure and performance horses, who have lovely pastures, matted stalls and work less than an hour a day, playing in the first snow and one of them slipped after some rough “horseplay” and fell – went down flat as the horse in the story. Not being in harness, he got up, looking as if he felt foolish, and resumed his play.Let’s not twist a relatively benign accident into something to beat the carriage industry with. And I have had 7 horses in my lifetime – all beloved and none kept for profit – no economic motive to this post..

Again, MS Forel your posts are fraught with OPINION and INSINUATIONS- How many more auto accidents are there in NYC every day that result in fatalities and injuries than those sustained in the six horse-drawn carriage “incidents” in six months? (That’s just one
“incident” a month.) I bet there are more than six auto collisions in just one day in NYC.

One horse Charlie died of unknown or unpublished causes. Where is a copy of the complete necropsy, if you and your comrades at the ASPCA have nothing to hide?

Another horse was KILLED by a taxi that hit it and its carriage– the carriage driver was NOT at fault- the taxi driver was, if memory serves me right.

So that’s two equine deaths- neither due to cruelty or abuse- and no human fatalities in SIX months as far as the carriage “incidents” go.. Again, how many humans and horses have lost their lives in as the result of collisions caused by motorized vehicles? Well, we know that one horse lost its life, and several people wee injured by the taxi. We don’t know how many people have died or have been injured in auto collisions, but I bet it has been a lot more than those injured in carriage collisions in NYC.

Healthy horses who accidentally get a leg over their traces, can and do get tangled up and tripped up on the street or anywhere else when this happens, but they don’t collapse.

For that matter, how many horses become accidentally tangled up in their harness and go down during CDE trials, driving classes in shows or hitch classes at draft horse shows? I bet it is more than the number that have fallen in NYC – even counting the two NYPD horses that slipped and fell during the OWS demonstrations. Why are you not concerned about THESE other horses?

And as for your petty insinuations, you should be ashamed: “I wonder what kind of day that was- was he worked sick?” Shame on you for implying that NYC carriage horses are worked sick. Carriage drivers form strong bonds with their horses- very expensive horses, I might add. Only someone very foolish fails to take care of their valuable and valued working prtnere. I get it that you don”t like the carriage horses in NYC. But no one died and made you Queen of NYC, so I suggest you quit heckling and sniping at honest people who are just trying to do their jobs and make a living. Why don’t you get a hobby?

Actually, Donna, it was the horse being a horse that led it to fall in the first place. Like ALL horses on cool, brisk days… especially after several days of not working or having anything to do, this horse bucked and bucked big, having fun AS HORSES DO. And he accidentally got tangled up, tripped and fell, but was uninjured.

if you’ve EVER spent anytime watching horses running and bucking in a field, you’d know that even then, there are plenty of horses that trip and fall…. and get back up unscathed.

More lack of facts. The necropsy has not been released. The scant information that was released stated the horse had ulcers, which is probably true of the overwhelming majority of horses. The American Association of Equine Practitioners estimatest the number of horses with ulcers at between 60 to 90 percent. That’s like an autopsy on a person being done and the doctor announces there were numerous small infections on the face and back. Guess you wouldn’t be saying the person died from zits, right?

Sorry, but I don’t see any “buggys” on the streets of NYC. I do see carriages- mainly vis-a-vis carriages, the same as those the English called “socialibles” because the facing seats allowed passengers to converse with each other easily.

And really, when are uyopu going to get a new spiel. Your same old nose-to-tailpipe claims are not only inaccurate- a 16 to 17 hand horse’s nse is several feet above the average car’s or truck’s tailpipe- but it is tired, too.

Strange how you just keep recycling the same old same old again and again. You need to take a break, take the blinders off, and go watch a few videos produced by StopLiesSeeTruth on YouTube. These videos depict the REAL TRUTH about how NYC carriage horses and their drivers live and work.