Comments on: No Horsing Around this Time

By: Karoline Amezqua

Karoline Amezqua — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:30:27 +0000

Put an animal–in this case, horses–between people (they also are animals, not divine gods) and a dollar bill, and you can kiss the horses good-bye when they can no longer work the streets pulling a carriage all day long.

“If one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty, but where a lot of people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people.”

“The fact that man knows right from wrong [possibly] proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot.” And yet, the fact that we do wrong so often shows our typically moral inferiority.

Human extremism in thought, word, and deed, sucks.

By: lynne

lynne — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:23:26 +0000

The bottom line is that, it is far safer to take a carriage ride than ride a bike. Or walk, or exist. The argument “carriage horses are abused because the city is a risky place to live” is hilarious. Ban all animals and living beings in NYC because they are mortal. Grow up peeps. The stables are great, the horses are great. The only abuse is in your own heads.

By: Morton B

Morton B — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:26:16 +0000

Get a life, Laura. Don’t you have anything better to do than troll news stories and blanket the comments section with lies? You’re not even a New Yorker. Any real New Yorker knows that the streets are far to dangerous for a horse.

By: Barney J

Barney J — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:31:07 +0000

The bottom line is there have been NINE accidents in NINE months. It’s simply unsafe for horses, drivers and the public on the streets of NYC.

By: Catherine Messina

Catherine Messina — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:40:31 +0000

Having just finished reading the article with great hope that it would be in favor of abolishing the carriages, I was dismayed to see it take a turn toward the opposite. I’m certainly not against the presentation of both sides, but it seemed to me it weighed heavily in favor of the carriage industry. Then on to the comments (sigh) all of which seemed to be written only by carriage supporters. Excerpt – “look at the faces of the children when they see the horses, when they get to pet the horses, and, if they’re lucky, they get to feed the horses a carrot.” As if this cruel industry was all sweetness and light. (not to mention this is not about the delight of children). But I suppose any press is good that brings this situation to light. Those with a conscience will know right from wrong.

By: K Taylor-Rhys

K Taylor-Rhys — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:23:17 +0000

Seems to me if the stables and horses are well kept, as the experienced horse people seem to be saying (horse people are generally the FIRST to shut down horse abuse!) then the animal rights people have forgotten that America was founded on the relationship between people and horses. How did we transport ourselves, and our belongings to the west coast to achieve “manifest destiny”? How do we catch and medicate cattle on a 600,000 acre ranch – will be ban the use of horses on the ranch, and relegate those cows to live in large sheds instead of roaming the range? These people don’t tend to THINK – they have a cause that makes them feel important, and fills up their otherwise dull lives. If it weren’t the carriage horses, they would be out protesting something else. I agree … it’s a kind of mental illness. Would those people shun and ban Clint Eastwood movies next, because of the horse abuse in them?

By: V. Rebel

V. Rebel — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:59:28 +0000

Ok so let me get this straight the majority of these comments are in fanboy of the horse drawn carriages. I wouldn’t be surprised if that they all belonged to the same family. You’re all so repetitive, the horses are shoo happy, they are all well groomed, they have endless duopoly of water and food. No to mention fans and automatic sprinklers, I wonder if you people might have spotted the rainbows and pots of gold as well . Yes it may all be peachy for the horse indoors but what abbott in the hustle and bustle of the unforgiving streets of NYC?

I don’t know if you folks missed the fact that there are no sprinklers on every street corner, no hay beds in the roads, no fans nor heaters. NYC climates are hard to endure at times, people can cop, we can shield our strobes in air conditioned stores our heated cabs. As for the horses it’s not all that simple. You speak of ignorance but there is no greater ignorance than the refusal to change. How can you possibly say that a horse is better off living in crowded NYC than in an open field free to roam where they please. You want your kids to see a horse then take them to a farm not central park. If you don’t agree with the new plans then attend one of the meetings and let your opinions be heard. Demand the answers and action you want. Don’t be fearful of progress, this is not a war. BE APART OF THE SOLUTION NOT THE PROBLEM.

By: T Haertlein

T Haertlein — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:03:02 +0000

We went to Clip Clop NY to see for ourselves what was going on with the NY carriage horses. We found a pleasant, well-kept working barn. The horses looked good and were well groomed. They were friendly and wanting to interact with our large group as we wandered about the building. An abused or stressed animal would go to the back of the stall and attempt to ignore us or turn away. Not these guys, They were very friendly – something a horse out in public needs to be.

The stable was airy with good ventilation. Fans and misters were available for summer heat. There were sprinklers throughout the building. Each stall was matted and well bedded. There was free access hay and water. Manure was managed well enough that there was next to no odor in a building housing 75 horses… something that is not possible if not regularly kept up with. The workers we saw throughout the building were calm and gentle with the horses and we saw several being prepared for their day’s work – including walking down the ramps. The horses negotiate the ramps at a normal walk, not sliding down or walking with a hesitating step as if to keep their balance. Not an issue to be concerned with.

Worst thing we saw during the day was the small number of protestors at the stable shouting and waving their signs at the horses as they left the building as if to scare them. The staff handled this professionally.

By: Laura McFarland-Taylor

Laura McFarland-Taylor — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:44:59 +0000

By the way, this: “In 1988, when three horses died during a heat wave, …” is not true.

Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins of the day? Seriously – are there no real journalists left? None who want to do actual leg work and reporting? Not just Googling and blogging and taking people at their word?

It’s all very depressing…

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:33:00 +0000

It would be nice the anti carriage and horse people knew what they were looking at. I truly don’t believe that is a horse wasn’t in front of a carriage they would have any idea what the animal was. Notice I said animal; horses are animals as are dogs, and cats.
I was there over the weekend and tried to speak with a few of the protestors, which I might add is not an easy task to do over their yelling and swearing. I asked a very, very simple question about a horse’s body language. It’s a question anyone who has the slightest knowledge of horses knows the answer to: what does it mean when the horses back leg is crooked? Not only were they unable this question they became very irritated and began yelling when I asked again why they would not answer my question. The obvious reason is because they don’t know the answer. By the way, that’s when a horse is resting they will crook one of their back legs.
The anti-carriage / horse people just don’t like horses. Their protests have nothing to do with protecting the animal because they have refused time and time again invitations to visit the stables. They love to shout about these tired horses, and how awful they look; which by the way are some of the most beautiful happy and healthy horses I have ever seen. How can they possibly judge how a horse looks when they don’t know the body language of a horse? They ignorantly believe that when a horse’s head is in a “droopy” position they are tired, or sick. They ignorantly believe that the “chestnuts” on a horses legs are from some sort of abuse. There are several studies being done at the moment by the mental health associations on racial animal rights activists as it being a mental disease and I really believe their findings so far to be right on the mark.