You know it’s bad when your own wackos turn against you….
The NY Post reports that “An NYPD cop-turned-animal-welfare agent is stepping forward to charge that the ASPCA is cutting ethical and legal corners in its attempt to abolish the city’s horse-carriage industry.”
Halleluiah! It’s about time someone came to their senses in the crackpot that is the ASPCA. Don’t get me wrong I am all about ridding the world of animal abuse, but not at the cost of an industry that is dependent on the welfare of their animals. For instance, it’s really tough to run a carriage company if there are no horses. I also whole heartedly believe in the ASPCA’s mission statement, but find them seriously lacking in the execution.
“The ASPCA Animal Behavior Center is dedicated to promoting balanced, respectful and enriched relations between people and pets through graduate and post-graduate programs for aspiring animal behaviorists; continuing behavioral education for shelter personnel, trainers, veterinarians, and other animal professionals; and the provision of practical, humane advice on pet behavior for owners.”
Perhaps if they spent more time worried about this:
Rather than this:
Secrets of the Carriage Industry
I worked about two years in the carriage tour industry. No, not in New York City, believe it or not carriage tours run everywhere from Denver, Colorado to Charleston, South Carolina. When I started I knew next to nothing about carriage horses and driving; by the end I could maneuver a young team around a cement mixer without missing a beat in my story. I’m not saying I know everything about the industry, just my little corner.
We ran our carriages out of a converted warehouse about a 20 minute drive (by carriage) from where our tours started. An ideal setting? It was certainly not picturesque, but it had safe, large stalls, a paddock out back and a lock on the door (and yes the fire department had a key). Our barn manager lived five minutes away (did I mention he was our farrier too?) We had 14 horses in the barn, and ran two six hour shifts of carriages, horses and drivers daily. Our horses were our co-workers; on average we spent more time with our equine co-workers than our people ones.
Feed: We fed timothy hay and grain 3x daily. The high protein pelleted grain was always soaked, and topped with each horses’ supplements.
Hoof Care: Each horse was shod every 4 weeks on average (the pavement wears out shoes faster than sand). Each horse was shod as an individual without using stocks (almost unheard of for drafts), but for the most part we used steel shoes with borium studs for traction. Why didn’t we use rubber shoes? A few reasons: the rubber stops the natural slide of a horse’s foot upon landing, the rubber tends to wear unevenly and the added height of the rubber can cause soreness. If a horse lost a shoe during a shift we had easy boots on hand to protect their hoof until they made it back to the barn.
Time Off: Our horses all had days off and nobody worked if they weren’t sound. On days off our horses were often turned out in the back paddock while their stalls were cleaned. The owner also had property outside of town that we hauled out to if horses were on extended leave (we had a mare that took every summer off simply because she didn’t do well working the heat). My first two months at the company we had a Belgian that didn’t work at all; he wasn’t sound enough. The horse had naturally crumbly feet. So every day for months in addition to his feed supplements, the staff painted his feet with hoof hardener.
Illness: It happens, to everyone. We certainly weren’t immune. One evening I pulled my team for the evening out of their stalls only to see that they were covered in hives, no work for them that night and each got a nice shot of dex. The problem? A new shipment of shavings that had a bit of cedar in them. We (the drivers) took our horses temperatures between each tour and tracked their average. If anyone was over 102 they didn’t go out on tour and the driver spent the hour cold hosing the horse. We actually cancelled tours because of this. One evening my horse began to act colicky, we cancelled the tour and headed back to the barn. I didn’t even get half way back when the owner of the company was dropped off by the barn manager and rode with me back to the barn. The manager was ready and waiting we I pulled into the barn, my horse was unhitched and unharnessed before I stepped off the carriage. Nobody left that night until we were sure he was feeling better. Oh and did I mention the owner had company in town and left in the middle of dinner to meet me?
In the two years I worked for the company we had one horse die, he was 26 and retired. It was the saddest week I had at the company; everyone loved that feisty old guy.
Working for that company was one of the best jobs I had, certainly one of the most educational. Is this how every company is run? Probably not, but the good ones certainly don’t deserve to be dumped into the ASPCA’s crackpot. Let’s focus on the individuals rather than the whole.
The Equine Muse 