It's been more than a year since I posted here on The Whiffle Tree -- many apologies to my readers.
As my grandmother would say, I have "a lot of irons in the fire" these days.
But The Whiffle Tree is officially resurrected, as of today.
I'd like to start off with an offering from a new venue I have been fortunate enough to participate in; I am now the NY Urban Horse Examiner for Examiner.com!
Please take a few minutes to read my very first article, published today.
Would love to hear your feedback!
http://www.examiner.com/urban-horses-in-new-york/a-complete-guide-to-your-nyc-carriage-ride
Saturday, October 1, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Congratulations to the NYC Horse and Carriage Industry!
This past week the NYC Council passed our bill, Intro 35A with a vote of 46-4 with Mayor Bloomberg expected to sign it into law in the coming days!
2+ years of hard work on the part of many of our members has paid tremendous dividends for both us and our horses, as this bill codifies our high standards, and gives us our first rate increase in 21 years!
We will now be able to go ahead with our pro-active agenda, both for the horses and the industry as a whole. The rate increase plus the fact that the time-consuming work of getting the bill passed is over, will now allow us to tend to our business, and also loosens our purse strings with regards to improvements.
Make no mistake; all provisions in this bill were carefully handcrafted jointly by the industry, the NYC Rental Horse Advisory Board, and Councilmembers. The media is reporting this story as if the horse care provisions were "forced" on the industry -nothing could be further from the truth. *WE* were the ones who wanted to standardize the quality of care our horses receive - there is nothing in this bill that we either didn't suggest or agree with.
A very special THANK YOU to Teamsters Local 553 - we could not have done this without your dedication and help!
Another big THANK YOU to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, for standing up for what is right in the face of ridicule, abuse, and harassment by the "animal rights" contingent.
A hearty THANK YOU to all the Councilmembers who voted for us.
A horsey THANK YOU to our brethren carriage operators across the country for your loyalty and moral support!
Most of all, a resounding THANK YOU to the most important people - OUR CUSTOMERS. You are the reason for our existence, your patronage is highly appreciated, and allows us to continue being ambassadors for NYC.
I'll post more on the bill later, including a link to the actual legislation.
For now, I just want to say (with apologies to Robert Duvall):
"I love the smell of horse manure in the morning....it smells like -
Victory."
2+ years of hard work on the part of many of our members has paid tremendous dividends for both us and our horses, as this bill codifies our high standards, and gives us our first rate increase in 21 years!
We will now be able to go ahead with our pro-active agenda, both for the horses and the industry as a whole. The rate increase plus the fact that the time-consuming work of getting the bill passed is over, will now allow us to tend to our business, and also loosens our purse strings with regards to improvements.
Make no mistake; all provisions in this bill were carefully handcrafted jointly by the industry, the NYC Rental Horse Advisory Board, and Councilmembers. The media is reporting this story as if the horse care provisions were "forced" on the industry -nothing could be further from the truth. *WE* were the ones who wanted to standardize the quality of care our horses receive - there is nothing in this bill that we either didn't suggest or agree with.
A very special THANK YOU to Teamsters Local 553 - we could not have done this without your dedication and help!
Another big THANK YOU to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, for standing up for what is right in the face of ridicule, abuse, and harassment by the "animal rights" contingent.
A hearty THANK YOU to all the Councilmembers who voted for us.
A horsey THANK YOU to our brethren carriage operators across the country for your loyalty and moral support!
Most of all, a resounding THANK YOU to the most important people - OUR CUSTOMERS. You are the reason for our existence, your patronage is highly appreciated, and allows us to continue being ambassadors for NYC.
I'll post more on the bill later, including a link to the actual legislation.
For now, I just want to say (with apologies to Robert Duvall):
"I love the smell of horse manure in the morning....it smells like -
Victory."
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Cruelty: City Carriage Horses vs Their Country Cousins
As I have described before on this blog, currently in the U.S. there is what amounts to an equine emergency - a "perfect storm" formed by the economic recession and soaring feed prices. People losing their jobs, homes, and land, or just having taken such a hit financially that they can no longer keep or care for their horses.A simple Google search will reveal hundreds of news articles about surrendered, abandoned, or neglected horses. The reports often include interviews with horse rescues and animal shelters across the country, all stating the same thing: that they are full to capacity and overwhelmed by this phenomenon.
Pictured here is a starved purebred Arabian horse, one of the dozens seized by the local SPCA from a ranch in Texas. This is the link to the story~~> Deal done over 77 Arabian horses Horsetalk - International horse news
You see, out in the "country", the only place that many do-gooders and animal rights fanatics think horses should be allowed to live, it's fairly easy to starve or abuse or neglect a horse. Horses are on private property; no municipality has the resources to check on every single one. Kept from the public eye, this horror show plays out all the time in the lovely "country". This has never - and COULD never - happen to a NYC carriage horse.
Here's why:
---EACH AND EVERY NYC carriage horse is checked multiple times a month by either the DOH or the ASPCA. These agencies have full access to every animal whenever they want it;
---Our horses must be vetted and given a clean bill of health every year;
---Our horses are in the PUBLIC EYE everyday!
Our carriage horses' poor country cousins have something else working against them - they have no JOBS. The hundreds of thousands of horses whose owners can no longer afford them - these horses were kept as pets or for pleasure. A horse with a JOB is helping to earn it's own keep; a horse with a viable job will be the LAST horse to feel the recession.
As you can see, anyone who wants to take jobs away from horses is NO FRIEND TO THE HORSE.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO THE MISGUIDED DO-GOODER OR HARDENED HUMANIAC: Consider trading in your constant efforts to shut down the NYC carriage industry with some hands-on help at a horse rescue, or better yet - put your money where your mouth is and adopt one of these homeless, unwanted creatures. This way you'll actually be DOING something for a horse, other than hurting it.
Monday, July 13, 2009
A Little Carriage Horse Poetry ;-)
Came upon another hand-wringing humaniac today - only this one expressed herself in, um, poetry.
You can read said author's offerings here ~~~> Horses in traffic (poem) by JASMIN HORST E. P. SEILER on AuthorsDen
Of course this puerile, ghoulish poem elicited more than a few chuckles from those of us 'in the know' - including my good pal Lisa from South Carolina, a life-long equestrian and horse owner.
Lisa offered up her own take on Jasmin the Poet's grim, turgid lines - easily countering her obviously-unacquainted-with-horses hysterics:
NYC Horse
Shiny Shoes and bales of hay
some oats and grain just for a neigh
A happy life of work I do
I pull a carriage and meet a few
My body is strong, my mind is set
I'll pull this carriage to the park - you bet!
Those silly activists cry foul and shame
but stupid dumb *****, they are so lame
They think I am human, those nerdy turds
I'm not of course,
I'm just a horse
with a job to do, for him and for you
I pull this carriage, that's my life,
A place, some care, with little strife
Thank you, Leese!
You can read said author's offerings here ~~~> Horses in traffic (poem) by JASMIN HORST E. P. SEILER on AuthorsDen
Of course this puerile, ghoulish poem elicited more than a few chuckles from those of us 'in the know' - including my good pal Lisa from South Carolina, a life-long equestrian and horse owner.
Lisa offered up her own take on Jasmin the Poet's grim, turgid lines - easily countering her obviously-unacquainted-with-horses hysterics:
NYC Horse
Shiny Shoes and bales of hay
some oats and grain just for a neigh
A happy life of work I do
I pull a carriage and meet a few
My body is strong, my mind is set
I'll pull this carriage to the park - you bet!
Those silly activists cry foul and shame
but stupid dumb *****, they are so lame
They think I am human, those nerdy turds
I'm not of course,
I'm just a horse
with a job to do, for him and for you
I pull this carriage, that's my life,
A place, some care, with little strife
Thank you, Leese!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Carriage Horse Chuckle from Charleston
Re: my previous post concerning Charleston's carriage trade...seems someone down there understands PETA's, um, position perfectly. Look closely ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>>>>>>
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