HORSE SENSE
Periodic updates about issues and actions concerning New York City's Carriage Horses +
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
www.banhdc.org
Horses Without Carriages International
www.horseswithoutcarriages.org
PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ** ** new article on One Green Planet ** billboard trike ** carriage trade stoops to new low **
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Happy Holidays and New Year to all our supporters. May this be THE year!
NEW YORK CITY CARRIAGE HORSES NEVER HAVE HAPPY HOLIDAYS
One Green Planet article
New York City Carriage Horses Never Have Happy Holidays by Elizabeth Forel.
It's the winter holiday season in New York City. The smell of chestnuts roasting, joyful ice skaters, magical store window displays on Fifth Avenue, the glamorous Rockettes at Radio City, an "ahhh-inspiring" Rockefeller Center Christmas tree - and Central Park's "famous" horse-drawn carriages.
It's advertising hype that keeps the carriage business going because the reality is far different than the fiction.
The number of holiday customers has dwindled in recent years, either because more tourists are becoming educated to the harshness of this institutionalized cruelty or it's too expensive at $50 plus tip for only 20 minutes.
A carriage ride through Central Park is a traffic jam of horse carriages, one lined up right after the other - sharing the road with bikers, roller skaters and joggers on weekends and all that plus cars and taxis during the week. The ride is not smooth, the view is one of congestion, and the only amenity is a blanket that is used over and over again.
Most tourists are not even aware of the horses. It's just something they need to check off their list and say that they've done it - like going to Times Square on New Year's Eve - a touristy thing to do. I've seen them get into the carriage, often with young children in tow, oblivious to the horse-who could be a machine for all they cared. Often the young child looks sad to see pictures of downed horses on posters held by the many activists who continue to protest this business. The kids understand it. At the end of the ride, passengers often pose for pictures in the carriage with the driver leaving his horse unattended while he photographs them. The horse is ignored - thought to be "just a horse" - an enslaved beast of burden, with no mind or intelligence of his own. CONTINUED
BILLBOARD TRIKE
The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages hired a roving billboard - a Billboard Trike - to travel around midtown Manhattan on Friday and Saturday, December 21st and 22nd. The message: "Horse-Drawn Carriages are unsafe and inhumane. Please don't patronize them. "
Please see the pictures on Flickr Click here.
POEMS + EQUINE ADVOCATES HOLIDAY GREETING
In this holiday season, several supporters have tried their hand at poetry. We would like to share it with you. Please click here.
And this lovely holiday song on Youtube is from Equine Advocates. Click here. Bobby II Freedom is shown at the begging and the end. Bobby is a former NYC carriage horse rescued by the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and Equine Advocates in June 2010. Read about Bobby's rescue in the NY Times.
CARRIAGE TRADE SINKS TO A NEW LOW
Evoking the horrific tragedy at Newtown to call attention to their issue and trying to liken activists to terrorists, the carriage drivers have reached a new low. The comments on Facebook are inflammatory - suggesting that they would have preferred the shooter to come to the hack line and shoot us. This is just one example. "To bad the guy choose a school instead of a certain group standing near the hack line...just sayin'"
NYC Carriage Trade Sinks to a New Low. Click here for the blog.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS - BANHDC MERCHANDISE + HORSE ART
We have three "stores" on Cafe Press with a variety of merchandise available from t-shirts to mugs to i-pod covers. Click here and scroll to the middle of the page where three links are provided. Delivery is generally quick from Cafe Press.
Beautiful horse art is available by Teresa Vecere. Please click here to view.
HELP OUR ORGANIZATION BY SHOPPING ON LINE
Also check out Cafe Press to purchase CBHDC merchandise
Through a free registration with iGive, when you buy merchandise on line, your purchase will help us. There are over 700 stores that include such popular ones as Amazon.com, Staples, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. Even Cafe Press is available if you purchase some of our merchandise. Click here to get started.
On iGive - the name of our organization is "The Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc." We also have three stores on Cafe Press with great t-shirts, bags, hats, mugs, mouse pads, etc. Purchasing this merchandise helps our organization. Click here.
"Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever
has." Margaret Mead.
