Think of the perfect night of romance. Dinner at an expensive restaurant, maybe a moonlit
walk, or even better, a horse drawn carriage ride under the stars. You feel the gentle
breeze on your skin, hear the serenading of crickets, the clip clop of the horse’s hooves.
Or, actually, the drag, clop…and her loud, labored wheezing, and the click and grind
of teeth against metal as she neurotically chomps at the bit. Like I said. Romantic.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. This video is the
fourth in my series on horse ethics. In the first, we looked at horse riding in general
and the musculoskeletal damage that it causes as well as whether riding itself is ethical.
In the second, we took a closer look at the effects of the bit in particular, and in the
third, took a hard look at possibly the largest, cruelest, and most deeply corrupt horse industry-
horse racing.
I strongly urge you to watch the video on horse racing to further expose the industry
for what it is- a cash machine built, literally, on the backs of living, sentient beings who
are, also literally, ridden into the ground and discarded. I’ll have links to that video
and the entire horse ethics playlist in the description below
But today we’re going to talk about the horse carriage industry. Carriage horses are
a longstanding tradition in many cities in the United States, and internationally. In
some areas of the world they are still a practical means of transportation. What I’m going
to focus on today are entertainment-based horse carriage rides- you can watch my video on
horse riding for the ethical and vegan stance of on even the “practical” use of horses.
Also, I won’t be going into the effects of the bit and harnesses on carriage horses
in this today as I covered those in detail in the previous videos.
Horse carriage rides have been in and out of the news in the US in recent years, especially
with New York mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2013 campaign platform including the clear intention
to ban the industry altogether and replace horse-drawn carriages with clean energy electric
cars, something he is still struggling to achieve as he’s repeatedly come up against
strong opposition.
Before I get into the arguments on either side, let’s take a look back at the origins
of this industry. It was roughly sometime around 6000BC when we realized we could get
animals to carry things for us and sometime around 3500B.C. when we added wheels to a
sled to make the first cart and then sometime around 1300BC when we had the genius idea
to show a piece of metal between the teeth of a horse to control them better. Fast forward
a good deal and the first stagecoaches for hire we introduced in London as early as 1625.
It wasn’t until around 1825 that regular stagecoaches services were established in
the United States, with Hansom cabs operating in major cities and stagecoach lines running
on regular schedules throughout the east by the 1840’s. So that’s a pretty long-held
tradition as far as the United States in concerned. You see, we think a hundred years is incredibly
long ago.
So you see, horse-drawn carriages are a time-honored tradition. And guess what? So is the animal
abuse. According to Lee Siegel’s engaging article “Clomping Towards Oblivion,” “The
[horse-drawn carriage] business was constantly being regulated and reregulated, but abuse
of the animals was common practice.” Interestingly enough, it was brazen cruelty like drivers
whipping their horses openly that spurred the formation of the now well-known ASPCA,
or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866. And while the
ASPCA did make headway in ensuring a higher standard of treatment for carriage horses,
they also became the leading killer of horses in the city as insurance companies wouldn’t
pay for lame horses if the policyholder shot them- so the ASPCA operatives would.
With the rise of the automobile, by the twenties, horse-drawn carriages were becoming more of
a romantic luxury or quaint and charming activity. In New York City the carriage horses were
limited to the area around and inside Central Park in 1989. Since then, multitudes of various
rules and ragulations have come and gone. Temperature and time limits, vacation mandates,
and the like.
So, let’s look at the arguments for and against the horse carriage industry. Opponents
cite the sobering array of horse-drawn carriage accidents resulting property destruction,
and the severe injury or even death of horses and humans alike. The majority of the accidents
are cause by horses spooking- meaning being frightened and taking off or acting erratically.
A survey of national carriage horse accidents found that 70 percent of the time there was
a human injury, and 22 percent of the time there was a human death. The survey also found
that in New York City, which has the highest carriage horse accident rate in the country,
98 percent of the horses who "spooked" became injured. Injuries and fatalities resulting
from collisions between cars and carriage horses have occurred in almost every city
that allows carriage rides. Carriage horses also sometimes collapse from heat exhaustion,
which can be fatal.
I’ve linked to an incidents fact sheet in the blog post for this video along with other
articles and resources if you want to look further into this subject the blog post is linked in the video description below.
Aside from the incidents and injuries, horse-drawn carriage opponents also cite the objectionable
living and working conditions. While there are supposed to be time and temperature limits
for carriage horses, the spokeswoman for the New York City carriage industry, Christina
Hansen, was caught on tape in July 2013 giving a carriage ride after the city had suspended
drivers due to the extreme heat.
Horses are afforded no federal protection under the Animal Welfare Act, so the responsibility
of looking out for horses’ welfare falls to local animal control officials, who often
simply don’t have the time, resources, or even interest to properly enforce city mandates.
These horses are working 9 hour days breathing in exhaust fumes and trudging along on hard
pavement. Veterinarian Jeffie Roszel states that, “tracheal washes and samples from
respiratory secretions of these horses showed enormous lung damage, the same kind of damage
you would expect from a heavy smoker,” adding that carriage horses are “truly…living
a nose-to-tailpipe existence.”
Sadly, their off hours aren’t much brighter. In New York City in particular, carriage horses
live in a multi-storied stable that they have to walk up and down to their sometimes windowless
60 square foot stalls. Raids on stables have found standing excrement, rotten floorboards
leading to broken legs, land lack of fresh water and food. This is not to say all carriage
horse stalls are in deplorable conditions, but regardless, these animals go from walking
in circles on concrete in clouds of exhaust to walking up several stories to closed in concrete stalls.
With the constant walking and standing on hard surfaces, veterinarian Holly Cheever
states that, “lameness and hoof deterioration are inevitable.”
So, what happens when these horses’ bodies finally betray them? Like most failed racing
horses, the final destination for many carriage horses is slaughter. They are sent to auction
to be sold for a pittance, shipped to Canada or Mexico and slaughtered for pet food or
overseas human consumption. .
It’s a terrifying, painful and thankless end to their life of servitude.
So, what are the arguments for keeping this industry around? Well…carriage rides are…kinda
fun. Okay that’s not the only reason given. Those fighting to save the industry mainly
cite tradition and the jobs of the carriage drivers, and are sure to mention that in New
York City, carriage horses have a mandated five weeks a year in open pastures. Talk about
your lavish vacation, eh?
Making the news many times, actor Liam Neeson is surprisingly passionate about this issue,
telling Jon Stwart that, "These guys treat these horses like their children,” to which
Stewart aptly responded would not be seen as good parenting by the Division of Youth
and Family Services.
The stronger argument from this camp, in a sense, of this camp is that the horse carriage drivers will
be jobless with the dissolution of the industry. This argument is often used against a worldwise
shift to veganism- what would the workers of the animal products industry do? Well,
with progress comes the loss of certain jobs, but the creation of others. Think about technology
and all the jobs it has displaced, yet simultaneously created. There are people whose job it is
to manage social media accounts. They are paid to tweet. Who saw that coming?
On another note, think of it this way- if we found a way to cure all diseases in this
world, doctors would be out of work. If we found a way to end crime, law enforcement
would be out of work. If we cured mental illness, therapists would be scrambling to support
themselves. And hell, if we abolished all forms of exploitation, I’d have to make
videos about…cats or something. And also, just because you can make money from something,
doesn’t make it right.
The fact that people will lose their jobs and have to find alternative employment after
the dissolution of an unjust industry does not make the industry just. We’re talking
dollars to lives. You can get another job, but these horses have but one life, and it’s
not meant to be spent like this.
I’d love to hear from you on this topic- where do you stand in the debate? Let me know
in the comments. If you find these educational videos effective and helpful, please help
them continue by supporting Bite Size Vegan- you can chck out either of the support links
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a subscriber. And hey, while you're here, check out some of my other related videos from the horse ethics playlist
and everything that I've mentioned is on the screen right now and it also linked in the description below
for all of you on a phone or a tablet and can't do the clicking
Now go live vegan, and I’ll see you soon.
So if Liam Neeson thinks that the way carriage horses are treated is how you treat your children…someone
should really check on his kids.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community