New York City and Urban Horses

The pubic use of horse drawn carriages, gained more public attention because of an tragic accident that occurred on January 2 2006. A horse pulling a carriage was spooked and caused a fatal accident. The use of horse drawn carriages should not be permitted in New York City and other major urban areas. New York City is densely populated and polluted area. It causes health risks and mobility risks to humans and the horses.


There is no longer an economic or social need for these types of vechicles to be in operation in an major ubran environment. Originally, the need for horse drawn carriages was vital to the life of the pre-industrial society. Even then, the elite, comprising only a small portion of the population, utilized this form of transportation. The progress of new transportation, effectively operating subway in the early 1900’s and then the automobile, caused the need for these carriages to become no longer needed. Now, the New York population uses cars, trucks and buses (along with mass transit) for major forms of transportation, causing the horse drawn carriage to become a novelty and a tourist attraction. Horse carriages cause a mobility risk for motorists, people on bikes and pedestrians.

Many feel that heritage tourism, would be negatively affected if horse drawn carriages were banned. This would not be true. Numerous other historical attractions are available in the city. In addition, it would only be a historical representation of how the upper class experienced mobility around the city. A walking tour or even subway ride would be a better way to experience the true historical operations of the city. This industry only comprises 5% of the economic revenue. There are opportunities for the operators of horse drawn carriages can get other low wage jobs. An alternative would be to create more walking tours of the city. Other major cities have banned the use of horse-drawn carriages and managed to survive economically, including Paris, London, and Las Vegas.

Approximately 80% of horse drawn carriage accidents are caused because of the horse being spooked by noise pollution. Noise pollution in this major city cannot be filtered to create a stable environment for the horses to work in. This puts not only the horse at risk but people. The physical design of the horses used in the city causes them to be subject to unhealthy working conditions. There nose is level with the exhaust pipes of cars. Also, these urban horses are made to work in all climates and weather conditions. Proper drinking water, food and footing are usually not available. These urban horses only are used for less then 4 years then are euthanized, while police horses are used for 15 years and have a retirement program. It is easy to obtain a license to operate this type of business, which causes many of the operators not to be properly trained.

If horse drawn carriages must remain in operation, they should be severely regulated. Only a certain number of carriage operations should be allowed. This would make evaluation the working conditions easier, less expensive and less time consuming.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/vet/vet4.shtml

http://www.transportation.njit.edu