Yay, We Won!!

Yay, We Won!!
Now Where's My Carrot??

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Here It Is: The New Law for the NYC Horse & Carriage Industry

As promised in my last post, here is the link to our new legislation for anyone who is interested:

http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=649931&GUID=A94F649F-F5BA-4F19-AE0A-69866F5E697C&Options=ID|Text|&Search=carriage+horse

I'd be delighted to answer any questions!

2 comments:

Belle's personal assistant said...

I have a few questions about the new legislation. The manure bag,(we have affectionatly called it the poop bag) it is not allowed to be attached onto the horse, is it attached onto the shafts, then, not the Harness? I am also curious about the wording of this section

All other horse-watering troughs on streets and public places in the city shall likewise be provided with the piping and fixtures necessary to enable the filling of pails with water at all times, and the use of the water for that purpose shall be paid for.
Paid for by whom? paid for each time the bucket is filled?

Are the horses required to wear the rainblankets when its raining? If so,do you have to stop wherever you are and throw it on?

Do the horses wear the blankets while working? If so, won't they sweat?

You really had to have legislation to increase rates? That seems really odd.

Why did this get written? Was it to protect the horses? Were there abuses that needed to be addressed? I am all for less legislation, so I would prefer to not be boxed in by legislation, but if the need was really there, than so be it. Was it just to get Animal Rights Activists off of your backs?

I know that things can be a little different back East. I lived in PA for a year and was shocked at the Animal rights activists that harrassed the 4-H horse show that I attended. They limited us to two classes per horse. I saw little kids terrified of the picket lines. It was insane. And that was 20 years ago.

Thanks for your time to read and possibly answer my questions. I was a carriage driver, but now me and Belle just do our own thing.

thevolunteerhorsemen said...

Hello MichaleenFlynn,

This is thevolunteerhorsemen, or Jimmie Stewart in progress. Slow progress. I need to update the Saddle Harness and Allied Trade Association ( ShopTalk magazine) on what has happened, but temporarily lost your email. ShopTalk published my long letter, after that big council hearing where last year, on just how destructive the romanticized city dwellers imaginary version of what a horse's life is supposed to be, can actually be to the horse. I warned all the horse owner's out there that the argument may hold some water in a city, for a while, because nobody knows anything about horses otherwise, and also anticipated the guffaws of laughter they would have, if the arguments made in NYC were trotted out in any place where people actually work with, translation: accept poverty for maintaining horses in use other than fabulous showcase competitions which require much funding from more than the ordinary job, the ol' "I grew up with horses" perspective. Many of the harness and saddlemakers deal with the horsemen who do use horses in their jobs. Hear the recent " Speaking of Faith" broadcast http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/land-life-poetry/ where the guest, Ellen Davis, describes the romanticization of agrarian work and life, and that urban dwellers have gotten all off track on what it's really all about, and that city dwellers should stop getting glued to an ideal picture prefect vision of farm and animal handling, and maybe start talking to the actual farmers who actually do this work to find out the real deal. And that there are no farmers, none, who are not facing severe struggle financially, just to continue. No farmers anywhere, from the largest agribusiness, to the smallest private artisan farmer, all are fighting to survive. Well lets' just ban farming too because it's and an "anachronism". As we all get uppity if we have to get "bilked" on a gallon of milk. We should all just work in marketing or something that involves a computer all day long. Then there will be no more messy grey areas of un-neatness, like a manure stain on a hock, god forbid. Or one of those open wounds we call chestnuts.

Your last post is great for me to start my letter to ShopTalk, but I want to know where we go from here. I'll be looking for your email meantime.