Long time, no see!

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

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!

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."

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!

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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>>>>>>

On Our Brethren Carriage Horses Down in Charleston

I happily stumbled upon a delightful article this morning, written by a Dr. Edward M. Gilbreth of Charleston, South Carolina.

In the piece published by The Post and Courier, Dr. Gilbreth lays out a cogent, comprehensive, and fact-filled argument in favor of protecting Charleston's carriage industry from the humaniacs at PETA. Dr. Gilbreth's flair for writing is a bonus; the article is both entertaining and colorful, giving us glimpses of the history and character of Charleston itself.

Because I am unsure of the copyright situation, I will not reprint the article here on my blog, but you can read it here.

But I will take the liberty of posting, what is to my mind, the most delicious line:

"It's the skewed ideology negatively impacting humanity while providing no net benefit to animals that I protest."

This is the crux of all that is wrong with the humaniac 'movement'; it needs to be understood and repeated often.

I'd like to thank Dr. Gilbreth for making my day.

Long live the Charleston carriage industry!

Victory for NYC Horse Carriages!

So very sorry to have left my faithful readers without an update for so long; it has been over a week since our VICTORIOUS hearing at City Hall!

I have been busy catching up with the rest of my life (which was sorely neglected during the run-up to the hearing), and also preparing for the next phase of the fight - getting our bill actually voted on and passed.

Quick summation of the hearing: We TROUNCED the humaniacs LOL

I actually feel a little silly being so prideful, because it really was no contest - more or less like an elephant squashing a dung beetle ;-)

The carriage industry had authoritative speakers (veterinarians, equestrians, reps from NYC Tourism Board, the Teamsters, the Dept of Health and the Dept of Consumer Affairs), and informed and supportive elected officials (CMs Jim Gennaro, Oliver Koppell, Leroy Comrie.)

Most importantly, the many members from our ranks who also spoke did so with intelligence & clarity, provided provable facts, and easily communicated their dedication and experience to the Council Committee. I was (am!) so proud :-D

We may be one big dysfunctional family lol, but we are a mighty force to be reckoned with when push comes to shove. Every owner or driver had something different to offer - from the history of our business to descriptions of multi-generation carriage families; from the excellent countering of malicious lies with rock-solid facts to the personal stories of hardship that this witch hunt has had on our families. All was spoken with dignity and courage. We were a sight to behold.

I want to thank ALL our well-wishers out there for your support, prayers, and general kindness. Thank YOU!!

To our detractors I would like to say - the next post is for you. ::evil grin::