What Are Horses Doing In Central Park?

As many of you remember from past blogs I am an advocate for the ban on horse drawn carriages in Manhattan and throughout other cities worldwide. My beliefs are not based on animals not working – as I do believe in work animals – but in the inhumane treatment of such animals. Horses need to graze and run and not end a day of work locked in small stalls in some decrepit industrial building. The conditions of these equine warehouses are deplorable. Try to imagine pastures and barns in Central Park designated for grazing and replenishment. Come on, think about! If they were built on the upper end of Central Park what a tourist attraction that would be! It’s not for the lack of space this idea is not entertained as, at the very least, there are 20-30 acres available for such buildings.

Another issue raised within the carriage industry is livestock should not work along side the garbage spewed from the tailpipes of the countless vehicles on our tiny island. When a horse is at rest its nose is literally at the same height of tailpipes.

Sadly there is more. Most horse drawn carriage drivers are not educated in equine maintenance or anatomy. And although I’m sure there are drivers' who feel compassionately towards their animal many are completely unaware of their mistreatment. Just the other day I saw only one driver (out of a line of around 25 horses) fill up a water bucket for their horse – which I commend him for doing in this weather – but he forgot to unhook the martingale. The poor animal couldn’t put his head down low enough to get the water. In my eyes this is the equivalent of torture. I've spent my whole life around horses and I’m constantly learning new care practices, so I think it’s safe to say education and instruction is a must for the drivers!

As this issue is now gaining more and more momentum it is as important as ever to speak up! We need a ban or at the very least major reforms.

I am extremely picky with what animal and environmental advocate groups I associate myself with as there are so many run by idiotic lunatics that give us vegetarians/vegans/animal rights advocates a bad rep (if you browse through many of my previous blogs you’ll definitely stumble across a few of my rants on these nuts), but I am 100% behind New Yorkers for Clean Liveable & Safe Streets. They propose some incredible alternatives to carriages instead of just channeling pent up angry into a ban.

Check it out and make sure to sign the petition. The few moments it takes could just be the tipping point in the right direction for these amazing creatures!

*Imaged borrowed from www.funnyanimalsite.com