Carriage Horse Facts
QUOTE:"I was born in NYC. I lived in NYC. I worked in NYC for years. I spent a lot of time in and near Central Park. I saw the horses sweating, hanging their heads, frothing at their mouths from the heat, thirsty, tired."
ANSWER: Horses must sweat, or like people, they will sicken and/or die. There is even a very serious sickness that some horses get called anhydrosis, where they lose their ability to sweat. So seeing sweat on a horse is a good thing; when you see a horse NOT SWEATING on a hot day, THAT is when you worry. That said, a FIT horse will not sweat all that much; a NYC carriage horse will usually bleed sweat out from under their padded harness on a hot day, & maybe get some streaks of sweat on their flanks and chest, & under their manes. NEVER will you see a NYC horse lathered in a sweat the way a weekend warrior's horse will - you know, those pleasure horses who are stalled 23 hours a day, and taken out for a ride on the weekends. These horses are not fit, & the sporadic work will produce excessive sweating and lather. Nervous horses will also produce the same. You see NONE of that on NYC carriage horses, as they are fit and not nervous.
As for "hanging their heads, frothing at their mouths from the heat, thirsty, tired.":
1) Horses the WORLD OVER will stand at rest with a lowered head - IF they are allowed to. We use very loose check lines to give them that very opportunity; we do not demand that they stand at attention when they are waiting between rides. You may remember from Black Beauty how the checkline or "bearing rein" was notched very tightly, so that the horses's heads were always up, so they "looked good" to passerby. This is exhausting for a horse, hard on their neck & back muscles, not to mention their mouths, as they get no relief from the bit. Watch the mounted cops' horses when they are standing still, you will see the same exact stance. We COULD crank their heads way up high so that people like you will say, "oh, pretty horse!", but our horses' comfort comes first, sorry.
2) "Frothing at the mouth" is a good thing; it means the horse is "on" the bit; there are even some types of bits that are made from "sweet" metals to ENCOURAGE frothing. How on earth could froth be an indication of THIRST - froth is MOISTURE, if the horse were dehydrated, there would be NO froth.
3) "Tired" - I have news for you: it is very, very, VERY hard to tire out a draft horse or a Standardbred, and those are the type of horses we use. The ONLY time you will find a horse that is somewhat tired would be at the end of a weekend day in December, our busiest times. But even then, they are FAR from exhausted, simply tired from an honest day's work. That covers what, 8 days out of the year? The rest of the time you couldn't tire them out if you tried. What does a "tired" horse look like, anyway? Do YOU know? All indications would be that the answer to that would be "no".
QUOTE: "How is it that a horse i working under better conditions than most? What are you referring to? Where else are they working that makes NYC a better environment for them? NYC is a chaotic and loud place. It is jammed with traffic. It is not a natural environment for horses any longer."
ANSWER: Newsflash: NYC was FAR more "loud and chaotic" and "jammed with traffic" when horses were the primary source of transportation.Thousands upon thousands of iron wagon wheel rims ringing against cobblestones as they lumbered down the streets; the shouts of thousands upon thousands of drivers out in the open, yelling at each other out of necessity because there were no traffic lights or rules of the road. All kinds of streetcars, wagons, carriages and pedestrians jockeying for space; wheels getting caught with the vehicle next to them, overturned carriages and runaway horses a daily routine. As for a "natural environment", I submit that the city is far more "natural" a place for these animals who have built every city in the world, then a stall 23/7 during the week, and going round in circles in a riding ring on the weekends. Horses have traveled with man to every corner of the earth, and adapted. Living in NYC works no hardship on our horses, as a matter of fact, they thrive beautifully.
QUOTE: "I don't believe they should drag around a carriage with tourists"
ANSWER: Check your dictionary: horses do not "drag" anything. Carriages are wheeled vehicles, and wheels preclude "dragging." That is just overwrought, loaded, and incorrect language. The modern, lightweight carriages that we use have ball-bearing wheels to boot; asphalt was invented precisely BECAUSE the laws of physics dictate that pulling on a smooth, hard surface makes it EASIER for the horse.
QUOTE: "There is a reason they wear those blinders: to keep them focused and unaware (as best they can be) of the horrific traffic and disturbances around them.
ANSWER: Actually, no. Blinders have more than one reason for being part of the traditional horse harness; first, they protect the eye from the tip of the shaft (the wooden pole that runs along each side of the horse), should the horse turn his head all the way around. It also keeps them from anticipating the actions of the driver, such as moving the lines (reins) or touching up with the whip, as horses' eyes are on the sides of their heads. Lastly, it stops them from seeing anything suddenly coming up behind them.
QUOTE: "Union rules are for the drivers of the carriages. The horses themselves are not protected in the manner they should be or they wouldn't be working in the city."
ANSWER: NYC carriage horses have some of the strictest and most well-enforced laws governing their use of ANY horses in the U.S. From stall size, to vet checks, to shoeing, to vaccines, to harness, to vacations at pasture, and many, many more areas, EVERYTHING regarding NYC carriage horses is prescribed by law and monitored by FIVE city agencies. The children in this city have NOWHERE NEAR the oversight that our horses do.
QUOTE: "I feel it is very cruel to inflict the grueling lifestyle of the city on beautiful horses meant to roam and run in more pleasant environments."
ANSWER: "Grueling" is pure projection on your part; there is positively nothing "grueling" about how our horses live. You are right about 2 things - they are beautiful, & horses are roamers by nature. That is why the steady exercise and walking they get everyday is very close to what they would be doing in the wild, and it keeps them fit. As for "more pleasant environments", horses are happy when they are physically comfortable & have plenty to eat; those are their very tippy top priorities lol, nothing else comes close. Being with their people, eating throughout the day, & returning to a comfy stall at night makes them very, very happy in that horsey kind of way. Maybe YOU don't like the city - but they could care less.
QUOTE:"By all means, as I said, I am open to learning new information all the time...so if you have links to send, great. Bottom line for me no matter what human beings say, if you look at the horses you can readily see in their eyes, their unhappiness, they're the walking dead. It is heartbreaking."
ANSWER: You certainly do not sound like you are "open to new information", but I gave it to you anyway. The absurd line "you can see it in their eyes" is just so much anthropomorphic, projecting hogwash - just like people think dolphins are happy & smiling all the time. I will tell you something though - nothing made me really bristle in your post until I got to your description of my beloved horses as "the walking dead." How dare you? Our horses are members of our families, they are well-cared for and happy as clams. Don't push YOUR emotions onto them and insult them; pity and respect are mutually exclusive.
Have some respect for our horses - they deserve it.
Labels: care of carriage horses, Eva Hughes on NYC carriage horses, truth about the carriage horses
posted by Tania Lawson at 7:05 PM
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