Thank you, Olivia. Our adversaries constantly compare working horses to enslaved human beings, and it is obscene and outrageous.

the word slave is not reserved for the african-american population, it implies something that supercedes race or even species. if you dont have the right to make decisions in your own life because you are owned by another, that is slavery. be it human slavery or animal slavery, olivia john, of course i can never know the pain that your ancestors felt, and i abhor the notion of slavery, horses feel just as we do.

Kiley, I agree, these beautiful creatures of that age should not be working, they should be out in a pasture enjoying their senior years, not being forced to work til they drop dead. Seems like they are not really checking these horses health very well!

Olivia, I’m sorry that you’re so sensitive and resentful that you believe the use of the word “slavery” automatically compares the case in point to the treatment of human beings in America in it’s early stages. There is no excuse for the treatment of slaves…whether it be African-American or black (heaven forbid I offend someone by not using their preference of term), Haitian, Taiwaneese, Cambodian, or any of the other nations where human slavery is still alive. Since you are such a sensitive person, I also find it abhorrent that you would call someone an “insensitive white girl.” You have no way of knowing what color or race the writer is, and for you to throw an insult at a stranger for nothing more than the APPROPRIATE use of a word, is extreme. As a person of mixed heritage, I know that the slavery in America, while unspeakably horrible, is not my fault, nor the fault of anyone living today. No one living today deserves my pity OR my blame. Please try to understand that not everyone is out to denigrate another person’s race or cultural history. “Slavery” is a word that describes any man, woman, or creature who is forced to work in sub-par conditions, against their will. Just so you know.

I find it hilarious people still pull the race card so freely. Amazing fact for those who are completely ignorant: people from every creed and color have been slaves at some point in history… I guess that must have been forgotten. People need to get a clue before they make idiotic remarks about someone being and “insensitive white girl”… it shows a major lack of integrity and intelligence.

Oh please! This isn’t about race, it’s about animal cruelty. And stop thinking black people were the only slaves through out history, they weren’t. And stop thinking YOU were ever a slave, YOU weren’t!

You’re no more African than I am,(white male) .I guess I’ll throw an insult while I’m here. I bet you’re one of the ignorant ones that think the rebel flag was a symbol of slavery, but in fact the flag that was flying in this country at the beginning was the AMERICAN flag. Anything after that was pointless, we as a country learned that slavery wasn’t the answer and we overcame it, but people like you won’t let go of something that you didn’t live or really even understand. Also, you have a cracker name !!

Are your chains to tight? It’s just a word. Build a bridge and get over yourself.

I’m not a New Yorker, just a visitor from Vermont where there are plenty of horses working logging and on farms. What I saw in NY were horses, who seemed well cared for. They were a good weight, where well shod (means they had appropriate shoes, very expensive part of horse ownership),When I looked in thier eyes I saw only horses who seemed relaxed and friendly. None I saw had that anxious suspicious look that abused horses get.. Many indeed were tired of being petted on the face (a human thing, not a horse thing), but the drivers seemed to be doing their best to keep forlks from doing that it too much. I love horses, and have several, but they are not intellectual giants. If you give them good food, regular exercise, kind trieatment, and the company of other horses, they are mostly pretty happy. Yes it would be lovely if they all had big pastures and huge stalls, but that is not absolutey needed. These horses get exercise, something most pet horses are sadly lacking. I’ll bet these guys love thier stalls. All I see is well cared for working horses. Not perfect, but good. Better than alot of neglected pet horses get. I wish I didn’t have to work either, but it doesn’t ruin my life that I do, and it’s not ruining these horses lives either. Spend you money on the thousands of neglected horses languishing in lousy pastures with bad food, no vet care and all too often, isolation from other horses. Now there is a miserable horse.

They’ll never agree, all of those cruel people would lose their horses if there was transparency.

Well said, Michele!

well said

Actually what he means is they would be dead if they did not pull a carriage. Time for you to understand how this world works.

Do you really think all those horses would be put out to pasture if they were “retired”? Most likely they would be auctioned and sent to Canada for slaughter. I agree that the conditions they are kept in are terrible, but we need to think this through and understand the impact of what we are suggesting.

This is pure nonesense. That’s ridiculous to think that people who advocate for animal rights, especially this issue are out to make money off misery-the animals. And that human beings who are the real mercenarys- i.e. drivers-are the good guys-they aren’t. Horses do not belong on city streets filled with cars, trucks, etc. and the insanity of traffic here. We do not need to be exploiting these animals for our own gains-no matter what Bloomberg and Quinn say. There are other more lucrative ways to make a living.

Right, and those who are priviledged to work a horse while sitting on their laurels with little to mostly no supervision to verify adherence to regulations- sufficient enough to secure the horses detriment need not be considered to your equation.
What kind of degree gave you the chiseled remarks to comment on peoples livelihood? I’m real happy you can live in the security and luxury of your job, living conditions. But everyone has a purpose in this life, and if we all had that same luxury, combined with the same beliefs and attitudes like yours. Attitudes that cannot hold understanding, sensitivity, & compassion for the other animals we share our world with. That have no voice and are at the complete mercy of our actions. Yes, I think I’m happy that some people have the extra time on their hands, and CHOOSE to dedicate it to matters such as these. If it were you, I am doubtful to say you would consider doing the same. You would consider what could directly Benefit you? Tomatoes – Tomato’s And by the way, You Will Lose out in the long run. Truth always prevails, and proof of that is London, Toronto, and Paris among other cities have already banned it. Wh;y don’t you meditate on that for a while. Your so smart, you should have no problem understanding the logic.

This is a completely incoherent argument.

End the carriage trade industry practice yesterday.

Carriage horses go on to other careers as pleasure driving, trail riding or therapeutic riding horses. THAT’s what “happens” to them. Nearly all carriage horses are placed for retirement through private networking by their owners; some go to former drivers and their families, some are retired to the owner’s farm, some are retired with long-time admirers who wanted to be the horse’s retirement home when the day came that they stopped working.

And for those horses whose owners prefer them to go to a draft-horse friendly organization who understands their needs, or for former working horses who cannot find a home, often because of health problems, there are sanctuaries like Blue Star Equiculture (www.equiculture.org), which is the official retirement home of the Horse and Carriage Association of New York, and has also served as a retirement home for carriage horses from Philadelphia and Connecticut. NYC carriage horses are also placed through the New York Humane Society’s carriage horse retirement program.

Carriage-type horses are not the result of “indiscriminate and irresponsible” overbreeding. Yes, there is A LOT of irresponsible overbreeding, but by organizations such as the AQHA, and other light breeds of horse, not used for the carriage trade.

A carriage horse who has found a job in the city is indeed “lucky” as the Mayor argued – he or she came from being at risk for ending up in the slaughter pipeline (he or she was for sale, which is always a risky proposition), to having a home and many connections and many people who love and care for him or her. When the time comes to retire, carriage horses are not sent to the sale, but carefully placed with homes that the carriage owners believe will be good forever homes. Unfortunately, as is the case with trying to rehome any horse, occasionally there will be a “bad apple” of a post-carriage-career home who might try and sell a “gift horse” for a profit at the sale and put the horse at risk.

We support the working horses in NYC and everywhere else. Working horses have homes, good care and the love and companionship of their owners and drivers.

Who died and made you Queen and spokesperson for ALL horse owners, horse rescues and refuge farms? We operate a small privately funded not-for-profit retirement farm. We have been in operation since 1999.

We support wholeheartedly the carriage horses and drivers in NYC and everywhere else. The NYC carriage hroses have an official retirement farm called Blue Star Equiculture.

We have two semi-retired carriage and farm horses here who are enjoying a “light work load” while serving as ambassadors for older horses everywhere- not just carriage horses.

Allyson – you might try researching your own facts rather than just regurgitate the talking points of the RARAs.
Paris and London BOTH have carriage rides — there is a hackline under the Eiffel Tower. Google it.
That you would repeat the easiest of lies to dispel means the rest of your post isn’t even worth answering.

Boston’s got 3 carriage companies going now, that i know of. and there’s at least one down in Plymouth, Ma. Virginia Beach, VA has a HUGE carriage company that goes all over the Hampton Roads area. Savannah, Georgia also has carriage companies out for tours. ever go to or hear of Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts or Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia? They’ve got carriages too.

the horses i worked with were not ‘broken’. they LOVED their jobs. one of our mares had to stay home in semi retirement (only worked 2 days a week) and the days she stayed home, she weaved in her stall, and hated life because she wasn’t working. these horses LOVE their jobs and they HATE when they cant do them.
walk a mile in the carriage company’s shoes (human or equine) before passing judgment. just because you PAID to sit in the back of a vis-a-vis doesn’t mean you ‘know’ how the carriage company works. i love how people try that excuse.

I also wanted to add that this idealistic ” retirement farms” idea is ridiculous and shows complete ignorance to the reality of the situation…who is going to take them? Where are these farms? Are you all offering? I know of some needy horses that run through the local sales here that would love to retire somewhere all expenses paid.

The fact is most people are full up. There arent very many new horse owners out there. The everage horse owner has horses for 5, only FIVE, years and then sells and moves on. It takes alot of commitment to keep one all of its 30 plus year life. The hard fact is that this wont happen for many horses. There just arent enough proper homes with land, know how, disposable income, and want to out there.

Horses are the original GREEN transportation…Keep em.

Anthropomorphism is a a word that should be banned.

Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics ASSUMED TO BELONG ONLY TO HUMANS) to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as spirits or deities.

The word is anthropomorphic is:
1) from the 17th century when people knew so much less about animals and SOME of them ignorantly ASSUMED certain characteristics were only human characteristics.

2) it lumps animals in with non-living things, phenomena. duh!

Anthropomorphic is a silly word that someone came up with in the 17th century who decided animals had no human characteristics or that some characteristics were confined to humans The word should be TAKEN OUT OF ANY RELIABLE DICTIONARY.

You can’t have all the knowledge and the opportunity we have today to see how animals behave with each other and other species and not believe they do have many human characteristics or that certain characteristics are confined to humans.

Charles Darwin “There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties.… The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.”

It is true that horses have been pulling carriages for centuries, but not in New York traffic!

These horses are taken very well care of, they are put up daily in good, clean stables, fed well and have medical exams. Sh!t happens, supposed healthy people drop dead every day, so a horse will do the same at one time or another. These are work horses, they have jobs, if they don’t they might as well not exist.

thank you , “german tourist”
The slugs and opportunists in this town will never stop this horrendous profession until the cash dries up.
any tourist who gives them a penny is perpetuating the tragic lives of these equine victims

soooooo, i guess you want to leave Germany for some other country that doesn’t have carriage ride for tourism?

They end up there anyway. So why must they endure additional abuse? …. and I do mean abuse, no matter what the trade (which seems to be well-represented here among comments) say. You can see it in the horses’ eyes, in their demeanor, that they are dispirited, resigned and miserable.

Care to cite the source of your information? Please don’t cite Wiki or some other non-academic source. I really don’t believe that horse manure is composed of about 1/3 live bacteria. Better go check your “facts” or rtaher factoids again.

Guess I should move off my farm ASAP! *rolley eyes* Horses are GREEN. I would hazard a guess that there is more crap in the streets alot scarier than a little biodegradable, herbivore horse poop.

Horse poop has many practical uses. Here are some crazy horse poop facts…
Dried horse manure is great for growing roses
A horse produces 33-50 pounds (15-23 kg) of feces per day.
If a horse is kept in confinded quaters, the owner must muck out up to 8 tons of waste per year.
Fresh horse feces can stink a bit, but many people actually favor the unique smell of dried horse manure.
Three-quaters of fresh horse poop is water and the last portion is dead bacteria, undegested fiber, fats, dead cells, and phosphates.
Horse feces are usually green if green roughages are eaten. Light-colored hay produces yellowish feces.
Horse manure is a clean, natural product used by landscapers and farmers as topsoil and fertilizer. Special horse-manure composting bins and products are on the market

http://thehorsepedia.com/horse-poop-the-facts/

Always glad to see folks who KNOW horses commenting. Thank you.

OMG, you people have no idea what you are talking about. A horse is a conscious being and has feelings and should have rights like anyone else. You all must be young souls.

Right on, Jim! Thank you.

We’re glad we’re not the ONLY ones who have noticed Channel 2′s weird predilection for over-blown carriage horse stories… The “Great Horse Manure Epidemic of 2011″ has been followed up with the “Klutzy Bucking Carriage Horse Mistaken For Collapsed and Dead” story…. Seriously, what gives?