24 June 2007 - Vol. # 36
Volunteer **
horse size **
does a horse like his job?
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Tabling on Saturday, June 30th
The
weather is great and the horses need your help. The
Coalition to Ban
Horse-Drawn Carriages needs volunteers to help get signatures on
petitions to the Mayor and City Council -- and to hold posters. We
are also asking passersby to participate in our post card campaign
to Mayor Bloomberg. This is not a demonstration but an educational
event. It is an excellent opportunity to help the horses and to see
how supportive both tourists and New Yorkers are. You can volunteer
for one hour or four. We need to know when you will be there so we
are sure to have coverage. Please contact Teresa at verush@aol.com
if you can volunteer.
WHEN: Saturday, June 30th, 2007 WHERE: midtown -
information will be given to volunteers. TIME: 1-5 PM
DOES SIZE MATTER?
we think so..............
In our brief existence as an organization focusing on the inhumane
and exploitative carriage horse trade in NYC - and our efforts to
ban it, I have been very fortunate to get to know people from all
over the world who support our efforts. Some of these people have
never actually seen the carriage horses in NYC (there are over 200)
but because of the nature of the work the horses are forced to do,
assumed they were big, strong draft horses. This could not be
further from the truth.
Draft horse breeds include the Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron and
Shire and were traditionally used for farm work - pulling plows and
heavy wagons - largely replaced by tractors. They can weigh about
2000 pounds - more than twice as much as a smaller horse.
Some carriage companies in other parts of the US use only draft
horses - the "gentle giants" - because they are the largest and
strongest of all breeds. This is not the case in NYC. The law
does not address the size, breed, age or gender of the horses
used. It is not unusual to see a mix - draft horses and small,
almost petite horses - pulling carriages packed with tourists.
Many of them are breakdowns from the racing industry. The issue
of size was brought to our attention when we noticed that most
of the horses we see struggling and straining are small and
petite.
Of the draft horses we personally know who worked in the
carriage trade - two -
Lilly O'Reilly and
Monty - were not young. Both were about 20 when they were
disposed of and each showed severe signs of hard work from bowed
legs to permanent scars caused by ill fitting bridles. Juliet,
the horse who collapsed and was beaten by her driver last
September in Central Park, was said to be well over 20. And
Teddy, pictured below , was not considered to be "pretty" any
more. (Lilly, Monty and Teddy were rescued by
Central New England - Juliet was not so lucky and died in
her stall.)
While
carriages filled with tourists - some quite heavy - can weigh well
over 1,000 pounds or more, an honest carriage driver will tell you
that the problem is not so much the weight of the carriage, as the
effort the horse has to make when he starts up again after a stop.
We have seen horses struggling - especially when they pull the
carriage west on Central Park South, which is on an incline.
Considering the number of starts and stops the driver makes on the
busy traffic congested streets of NYC, this effort is continuous.
After
reviewing the pictures I sent to her, an equine expert and horse
rescuer remarked "Awful. Truly awful. The horse in the first pic
looks like he has something wrong with his legs. A lot of these look
like they would be off the track racehorses. Thoroughbreds have
awful feet and very delicate legs and simply aren't designed for
that sort of work."
A horse working in this industry better be able to make the grade
- to pull the weight in the carriage. This could be four sizable
adults plus a driver and a trainee. And if the group includes five
adults, we have seen the driver agree to squeeze in that fifth
person, which is against the law.
Under
no circumstances do we advocate using any kind of horse in the
carriage industry. (we support horseless, people propelled pedicabs)
However, the picture to the right is that of
adorable Teddy, a draft horse now living at Central New England
Equine Rescue. He is a former carriage horse given up because he had
unsightly sarcoids all over his body. As you can clearly see, Teddy
is a big, strong boy with legs like tree trunks and is much bigger
than many of the horses we see in NYC. He has made excellent
progress at CNEER and is doing very well.
DOES THIS HORSE LIKE
HIS JOB?
from the web site of a carriage company
THEIR
ANSWER: "Carriage horses are bred to work in harness
In fact, the exercise keeps him healthy. Horses recognize, respond
to and develop an affection for their drivers."
OUR ANSWER: The truth is that horses are herd animals and
while they do respond to love and attention and develop strong bonds
with their humans - they love to be with their own kind. It is the
real exercise - such as galloping and bucking on their own, running
and socializing with their equine pals, rolling in the dirt,
grazing, that keeps them young and healthy. A horse in harness,
between the yokes of his carriage and wearing blinders, has severely
restricted movement. As for the so called "affection" from their
drivers -- When the drivers are waiting for customers they usually
ignore their horses while talking with their other driver friends. I
will grant that some of the drivers love their horses - but I have
not seen evidence of this. The only affection I have seen is when
they ham it up in front of their customers.
My "favorite" story of driver "affection" was when a bored horse
attached to the carriage was attempting to walk on the sidewalk. The
driver who was kibitzing with his cronies, while he waited for
customers, yanked the horse back and cursed at her like a drunken
sailor - "you **&( - get back here - you g.d. *&@^+%." Enough
to make the most hardened person blush. I shudder to think how he
treats this horse when people are not watching. Another time I
witnessed a horse trying to drink from the filthy water trough in
Central Park. The driver, who had passengers in his carriage, pulled
the horse's head back from the water and turned to the passengers
and said "See - I show her who is boss." Nice guy! And they
wonder why we want to see this abusive, exploitative industry end.
"It was a very rare thing for anyone to notice the horse that had
been working for him."
-Black Beauty - London, 1877
"The horse is God's gift to man."
-Arabian Proverb
| Thank you for caring about the horses, Elizabeth
Forel - Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc. for the
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages |
