By Anna Sanders 12/12/11 4:40pm

Media Horse

I'm here to see a man about a horse.

Do the Neighs Have It? Activists Try to Dissuade Tourists from Carriage Rides

The two little blonde girls, each no more than nine, stood next to their parents on the cobblestone sidewalk at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, slouching in the way only bored children can. Moments before, an older woman had come up to the family wielding a flyer emblazoned with the words “DON’T RIDE A HORSE CARRIAGE,” and proceeded to feverishly explain what she viewed as the evils of the industry. During the speech, the girls’ father stared blankly into the intersection. He finally looked down at his daughter and asked, “What do you think about that? You asked earlier…about the horses? How they were treated?” Read More

By Anna Sanders 12/05/11 11:52am

Media Horse

The white Percheron carriage horse that fell/collapsed near Central Park yesterday. (Photo: Win Animal Rights)

Carriage Night-Mare Continues As Horse Falls Near Central Park (Video)

A carriage horse slipped and fell near Central Park yesterday afternoon, raising more accusations from both animal rights groups and the Horse and Carriage Association of New York City.

Around 4 p.m. yesterday on Central Park South and 59th Street, a white carriage horse tripped and fell. While no one was hurt, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), an advocacy group, stated the horse “collapsed” in a press release. The association, in turn, responded in their release that groups like NYCLASS are “making his minor tumble out to be a major incident.”  Read More

By Anna Sanders 11/22/11 2:32pm

neigh melee

102_3117

The Carriage Horse Wars Stampede Through City Hall

The following article has been updated to include a statement from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Ruby looked restless. The brown horse shifted in place, turned around, and occasionally poked her white muzzle between the red bars of her 8 by 10-foot stall on the second floor of the Clinton Park Stables. Her golf ball-sized eyes glistened and she sighed, staring out at us all the while. The Observer reached in and stroked Ruby’s snout between the bars, wondering if the horse had any clue of the battle raging around her.

Since the death of Charlie, a carriage horse that collapsed on 54th Street last month, the struggle for—and against—the City’s horse-drawn carriage industry has grown into an all-out war, with the Horse and Carriage Association of New York now filing formal complaints against some of the industry’s biggest challengers.  Read More