The soaring price of hay & animal feed of all kinds has made headlines more and more lately. There has even been an epidemic of people abandoning their horses all across the South due to what is being called a "perfect storm" of a slow economy, sky-rocketing feed prices, and the recent national outlawing of slaughtering unwanted horses. This is a mammoth crisis - thousands of horses being left to waste away in fields and paddocks across the country. Google it; it will tear your heart out.
Meanwhile, here in NYC, the carriages carry on. Our horses have the same high standard of feed, shelter, and vet & farrier care that they are used to. But things are getting increasingly difficult. Surely, you say, the carriage rides are as popular as ever? Thank goodness, that is true; however, the NYC carriage industry has not had a rate increase in almost 20 - that's right, 20 - years. While the cost of everything from gas to groceries to health care to hay and oats has gone up and up and up, the cost of a trip through the Park has remained the same as it was when ladies with big hair and shoulder pads climbed in a carriage after a matinee of When Harry Met Sally in 1989.
Why, you ask? Why wouldn't the city powers-that-be grant an obviously needed rate increase to a beloved and iconic industry?
Why indeed.....
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1 comment:
But, but -- was maple syrup involved??
Oh, wrong movie...nevermind.
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