The Carriage Horse Debate: Overblown

I promised to get back to this issue, and now I am. I haven't addressed it ever before on this blog, because my views tend to piss people off. If you don't like being angry, swearing, and long arguments, now would be the time to go read yet another bad Craigslist ad on Snarkyrider.

Still here? Good. Let's get to it.

A little background for those of you who may not know: in many large cities and at some historical sites here in America, horse-drawn carriage rides are offered to tourists for prices that vary from $5-$150/hour. Rides can be very short or over an hour long, in nearly any kind of wagon or carriage.

  
Anti-horse-carriage-tour advocates say that the industry's horses are badly treated. They are subjected to exhaust fumes, they must climb steep ramps to their stables, walk for hours on hard pavement and work in inclement weather, they don't have free access to food and water for hours at a time, and they have to pull heavy loads. They must work 8-10 hours per day with only one or two short breaks, and their environments are sometimes hazardous.

Oh my goodness, just think of all that! It sounds like... 

             ...actually it sounds like the daily jobs of many Americans. 

 
What exactly is the goddamn problem?

Maybe my blue collar is showing through my blouse, but I think too many people have forgotten what work is all about. Too many people are simply aghast at the thought of anyone, including an animal, doing hard outdoor labor under less than ideal conditions. These weaklings can hardly conceive of not being able to have gourmet coffee and air conditioning in their offices, much less sweating in a field or factory all day.
  
Well cry me a river and then drown yourselves in it, you sissy, entitled fuckers! How dare you assume that your incredibly privileged lifestyle is the norm! There are millions of people right here in the USA working under those same "horrifying" conditions right now. Is it tough? Yeah, sure. It's not called "work" for nothing!

Factory workers, janitors, builders, road construction workers, miners, beat cops, surveyors, farmers, landscapers... they do not want or need your pity.

  
I'm sick of the rhetoric, the hyperbole, the overblown sentiment. Here's what I'm talking about: someone on the Carriage Horse Cruelty Facebook page felt the need to post THIS as an example of "heart-wrenching," "infuriating" and "unbelievable" mistreatment:

I am glad that we have reached such a pinnacle of advancement in the world that some people are deeply concerned about horses eating grain off of the ground, but fuck me, REALLY?! What will be next, accusations of cruelty over letter your dog eat the stuff you accidentally drop on the kitchen floor?

Now look, as a lover of horses, I will be one of the first to point out the wrongs that some in the carriage horse industry commit. But can we please step back a second and get some goddamn perspective on this issue? 

It is normal and often necessary and altogether okay to work hard for a living, even under conditions that are not very comfortable. It is OKAY to sweat and get dirty. And lest you make the argument that, "it's only OK when it's humans, because WE can choose to work or not!" then why do we get bent out of shape about carriage horses, but not service dogs or cowboys' horses, sheep herding dogs, drug sniffing dogs, endurance horses, dogs and horses used in prisons, or horses in the Mounted Police? Don't they also endure walking on hard ground for hours, limited freedom, heat and cold, carrying loads, long days, few breaks, potentially dangerous working conditions, etc etc?

If we think that it may be wrong for humans to use animals, okay, cool, I am willing to have that conversation. However, that's not what the majority of people are saying. They're saying, "bomb sniffing dogs are so cool," but also, "poor carriage horses have to work in traffic!" When we draw these imaginary lines, we're just making ourselves look like hypocrites.

I can already hear your objection. "But North Horse, the carriage tour industry is different! They're evil and the others are not!"

Tsk, tsk. Let me enlighten you. Few jobs are inherently good or evil.


First of all, service dogs, mounted police horses, all working critters are not immune from abuse. There are lots of examples of them being mistreated, on and off duty. In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that I posted the story about the Virginia police officer who starved a 14 year veteran police horse. And remember the infamous case of the North Caroline K9 officer Charles Jones, who was caught on video hanging and kicking his police dog at the Highway Patrol Academy? (He was fired, but not punished.) Even if actual abuse isn't an issue, animals working these jobs can suffer PTSD and other mental and physical problems.

And service dogs? Yes, they get abused too, most often by the people they are there to help. And did you know that a trained service dog can cost $15,000 - $50,000 dollars? Many times, charities buy dogs and lend them those in need, but wow! That's what I call big business.

On the other side of the coin, not all carriage tour operators are bad people. Many of them are simply horse people who have found a way to make a living doing something they love. They own their horses and have a vested interest in keeping them happy and healthy for as long as possible. They are knowledgeable folks who tell jokes and will recite the history of their route, as well as the names, ages, pedigrees and personalities of the horses. 

Yes, of course there are minimum wage seat-warmers who don't give much of a damn about their "living taxis," and carriage tour companies who are at best careless and neglectful, and at worst deliberately abusive. However, the carriage industry is exactly like the equine industry as a whole: there are assholes and saints... except much more visible. Therein lies the crux of this issue.

Because carriage horses are huge animals, pulling big, brightly colored wagons, in some of the most-visited areas in the world, they are VERY visible, and so everyone seems to be hyper aware of what happens to them.They also don't have the feel-good PR that service dogs, mounted police, etc have, so they're more likely to get negative attention.

So I am NOT arguing that bad stuff doesn't happen in the carriage tour industry. It does. I am, however, arguing that 1) by itself, hard work is not "cruelty" and 2) bad stuff happens in any industry, and especially any industry involving animals. Instead of making carriage tour operators the ultimate badguys while largely ignoring the abuse of other working animals, we should come up with some better standards for everyone.


Hang onto your hats, because my blue collar is about to turn socialist pink.

If we as a country want to have working animals, we all need to step up and help pay to keep them safe and happy. Yes, that means taxes and rules.

In the case of carriage tours, tourists should be prepared to pay more for rides, and perhaps even taxpayers who vote for the carriage industry to stay in their cities should chip in. This funding could allow us to create retirement homes for carriage horses (or at least guranteed humane euthanasia), make sure drivers are educated about the needs of their horses, perhaps with a licensing test, and pay for independent organizations to inspect the living quarters, tack and daily lives of carriage horses. Right now, we are relying on charitable organizations and the carriage tour companies themselves to fill these roles.

We could also create road lanes specifically for carriages, and have traffic cops escort them to and from their stables and the parks where they work. We give up some cash, we get peace of mind knowing we're doing right by carriage horses.

I would like to see similar rules for standards of care, handler education and retirement provisions for police horses, service dogs and other working animals. I am especially appalled at the lack of education that some mounted police officers and K9 officers have about the animals they work with.

Let me leave you with some facts about, and rules for, working carriage horses today:

Carriage horses in New York are required by law to have 15 minute breaks every two hours. They cannot work when temperatures are over 90 or below 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Horses must wear winter blankets during cold or wet weather while waiting for passengers. Horses must have a five week "furlough" every year. Carriage horses in NY are required to stay in Central Park or immediately adjacent areas on weekdays. Their workdays cannot be longer than 9 hours (and that includes the breaks). Carriages must be equipped with emergency breaks and reflectors. Full rules are here.

Here is the New York, New York training manual for carriage drivers.

ClipClopNY is the biggest New York carriage-horse-supporting website: they organize tours of stables, hold fundraisers to pay for horses' retirements and educate the public on how to help keep carriage horses safe.

Some former carriage horses, like Bobby, do end up at auctions where they often go to kill buyers.

More than half of New York City's carriage horses live in Clinton Park Stables. Pictures of these stables can be found here.

The vast majority of horse-drawn tours take place in rural areas, not in cities.

One of the coolest horse drawn tours I have ever been on is the Lost Canyon tour in Wisconsin Dells. Incredible natural scenery, well-take-care-of horses, guides who are funny and incredibly knowledgeable, and more corny jokes than you can shake a stick at. The only criticism I might make is that all of the horses' tails seem to be docked. Video here (not made by me).