New York carriage horse dies in accident

A carriage horse in NY was spooked by a street performer and ran until he collided with a tree and died. I'm trying to figure out how a horse could collide with a tree. He must have had blinders on and was looking at something else, or perhaps he slipped or was trying to avoid something else. I've had horses that have scraped ME on trees, but they always knew exactly where their bodies began and ended.

But that's not the point of this story. There is no point to this story, other than I don't understand why more carriage and police horses aren't killed. Lucy and Buddy can hardly go around the block without  hyperventilating about something, such as a dark patch of asphalt.

This story about the carriage horse made me sad. I have conflicting emotions about carriage horses. As my father always fussed at me, horses are made to work and those horses have it better than the horses -- and men -- who spent all day out in the hot sun, day after day, plowing the fields a generation ago. I do believe the carriage horses are well cared for. They have to be because of the scrutiny of people like you and me. The padded shoeing helps on the pavement, though I wonder how much.

And for some children who never have a chance to see horses any other place, they are an encounter with  beauty and wonder. That's worth something. In fact, I have to stare at them myself, and cannot resist toughing them. They are special in that they CAN be carriage horses in a city.

Here's the link to the news story. Just thought I'd spread some gloom on your weekend.

What do you think about carriage horses used in the tourism trade in places like NY and Charleston (SC)?

Comments

[Jo Beaufoix]

Ooo that's really sad.

I can't imagine carriage horses in Nottingham which is the nearest big city to me.
I'm also amazed that more of them don't get spooked.

[Pony Tail Club]

I'm not sure they are that well cared for. I've read that even with padded shoes they often develop joint problems from being on pavement most of the time are are often put down at very young age. I hope that is not true, but I won't ride in a horse drawn carriage until I find out more.

[Sorcia]

I am dead against the use of carriage horses - or any horse, for that matter - in a city environment.

In Melbourne, (Australia), carriage horses "are an institution" but they also suffer from chronic hoof complaints, dehydration, ill treatment from the public and, allegedly, their drivers which prompted investigation by the RSPCA action in June 2007 (which was televised via a news report in Australia recently).

I have travelled to other cities that harbour carriage horses and while I appreciate that some are cared for, there are a lot that aren't. You say that they have to be well cared for due to the scrutiny. Well I can honestly tell you that the general urban public aren't horse people and (due to no fault of their own) they simply don't know what they're looking for.

I see no good reason to have an animal in heavy traffic other than for very selfish, limiting reasons. I tell people that if you so yearn to go for a jaunt with a horse, then get in your car and go rural and find a safe place to enjoy it. If you want your kids to know a horse, then do so in an environment that is conducive to a good education - strapped up to a cart on a car laden street is not that environment.

Carriage riding in city areas is, I feel, tantamount to cruelty and I view those who partake in it as condoning this cruelty.

Horses are very smart animals. They sense things, they know things, most of which would astound the average Joe. I am deeply saddened by the story of the New York horse. Worse, I can understand why it happened which makes me sadder still.

[Anne]

Thank you for your comments. It does not surprise me about the hooves -- I didn't know that, but I know that they frequently use draft horses whose feet already have a lot on them -- literally -- and I can see how no amount of padding could protect the hoof from the weight above and the unforgiving pavement below.

I do think they are pretty vigilant about the welfare of the horses in Charleston, S.C. They usually tour in such old sections of town that the streets are narrow and the traffic isn't overwhelming, though there is plenty of it. And bad as the pavement is, it has to be better on their feet than when it was cobblestone.... Not that that makes up for anything. I give up!