Thank you everyone so much for your generosity today! And a special thank you to Jennifer G for donating $1,000 for the rescue and care of auction horses this Sunday. We only have $675 left to raise, we are confident that it will happen thanks to you, our supporters! Jennifer is having a birthday tomorrow, how unselfish to be giving the gift of hope to horses for her birthday.
Jason spent the morning painting on the office. He finally got a color for the trim that Tawnee and the other staff/volunteers approve of. It just needs a few touch ups here and there and it will all be finished.
A previous adopter came out today, but it was not an equine adopter. They came out to see Freckles, they had previously placed a hold on her and were finally able to come out and meet her. They fell in love with her and are going to schedule a vet check to make sure that she is healthy before taking her home. Thank you so much for coming back to add even more members to your family. Any guesses on who that cute dog is?
Yup, that's right, it's Hugs. As you all know, she had 9 puppies shortly after they adopted her. They have a close circle of friends who gave great homes to all of the puppies. Ruby, the girl pictured below, did all the hard work of cleaning up after the puppies and helping her mom find them homes. They asked everyone who adopted one of the puppies to make a donation to Ruby to give to Norcal to help save horses. Ruby presented us with $165 dollars today for the auction fund. Thank you so much for being so generous.
Ron has been gone on a short job, but now he is back again evaluating horses while waiting for another job to appear. Thank you so much for coming out and spending your time with the horses, we really appreciate it!
We got some comments about the movie Blinders that we told you about yesterday from a coach owner/operator telling us that we needed to find out the truth about the carriage industry. So, being open minded, we checked out his Youtube video's. But now we really have some concerns. Let us review his video's.Click here for the first video. At 6:55 he enters the stable that he is extremely proud of that the horses spend about 14 hours a day or more in. Apparently there is no decent lighting, in fact, it was too dark to see much of anything. We found it a little humorous in the video, when he is opening the door into the stall, right at 7:55 you will see a quick shot of the water bucket filled with hay, a bad video edit at 7:57 and suddenly it is all clean and full of nice water.
Click here for the second video. It is so wonderful that for 4 months out of the year (no tourists?) the horses are allowed to stand on dirt and soak up some sunshine and be able to actually roll. And we mean roll. The horses can't roll enough it seems. But you have to understand they most likely have not rolled or stood on grass for 8 months. And most of the time they have spent their days in the dreary stalls seen below.
Click here for the third video. This is the carriage owner/operator verbally assaulting people video landmarks and horse drawn carriages in New York from a public sidewalk as if he has something to hide. He says they are stalking him, but it looks like he is stalking them.
And, lastly, Click here for the fourth video. Here he is harassing and screaming at some poor little guy trying to take pictures of the pretty horses. Really folks, if you have nothing to hide, let people film without making yourself look foolish.
So, our opinion? It would be great if horses did not have to spend 15+ hours a day in dark, damp conditions, and it would be great if they did not have to pound their joints out on pavement whenever they are working. From our research the average carriage horse only lasts about 4 years at the job. That is terrible. It would be great if the carriages could be stored in the city, and the horses could be trailered to and from the city every day so the horses can live in fresh air and have nice stalls and runs. Since a horse only sleeps about 3 hours out of 24, they must be mighty bored looking at the same dark stalls. Below is a screenshot of one of his stalls.
As said yesterday, horses + cars = extremely dangerous. If the horses only had to stay in the park it would be so much safer for all.
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8 comments:
Wow.
An open mind? All evidence to the contrary.
The videos from Peeba (not me):
Stable lighting - did it ever occur to you that it is the camera, and not the stable? There is also a video where all of outdoors including the people and sky look GREEN. All of our stables are well-lit.
Verbal assault - that man "taking pictures of the pretty horses" is a humaniac who harasses and harangues us and our passenggers every single day.
What makes you assume that the men videoing are tourists LOL? They happen to be 2 PETA members from Virginia, one of them is Jason Bayless, you can look up his blog, he describes all of his activities against us.
The horses don't live in dark, damp (?) conditions - they have lovely big dry stalls in excellent stables.
Your "research" is based on the rantings and lies of people who think and say our horses would be better off dead.
Trailer horses in everyday? Obviously you don't know the stats of injuries involving trailering - why would we ever put our horses through that kind of daily stress and extra likelihood of being injured?
And um - there are cars IN Central Park, all the roadways are open to vehicles.
Our safety record is SPECTACULAR - 68 carriages with 2 shifts of different horses each going back and forth to the stables X approx 300 days a year = 76,600 trips a year X 25 years = OVER 2 MILLION TRIPS IN TRAFFIC, and in all those years we have had THREE equine fatalities due to traffic accidents (one in '85, one in '90, one in '07). There isn't another horse industry or pursuit that even touch that record!
It's so easy to say "horses + cars = extremely dangerous", even when the facts don't bear it out.
And the horses don't "pound the pavement" - they are at a walk nearly 90% of the time, they have rubber shoes or rubber pads & borium shoes, and their job is much less demanding than racing, eventing, jumping, or even being ridden at a hack stable.
Would it be nice if every horse in the world had every possible amenity? Sure - just like it would be nice for every child and human being and pet. The reality is, we all live in different worlds. And our horses have a darned good world.
Would you rather they add to the numbers of unwanted horses going to slaughter? Regardless of what the humaniacs say, ALL of our horses are retired to forever homes.
And I didn't see ONE word about my blog, or the facts put forth in it.
Neither did I see you respond to the other poster's saying that she works with horse rescues here on the East Coast.
Sorry, but I reached out to you in an honest, direct way, but it seems like you are too invested in your previously held beliefs to really hear anything.
And that's a pity.
One more thing - I have worked with horses since I was 15. I love them and they are my life. Can you imagine what it is like to have people lie about you everyday? Spit on you, tell you that you should die from cancer? That's what we live with.
Here's a little video from a local news station of one of their demonstrations the other day - can you imagine what they are like when the cameras are NOT on??
http://www.vmsdigital.com/MyFiles_Detail.aspx?mediaId=277130&onum=4745845D-26A7-4524-8F92-782AE13AD49B
Its clearly obvious that Norcal has unfairly formed a opinion against the licensed,insured certified owners and stable owners and drivers of horse drawn carriages in NYC.Now as a stable owner of a family opration over 41 yrs,i'd like to think you would be a little more fair and a little less biased.Speaking of my own practice,we have many working horses over the 4 yr job mark as you claim.This as you must know can be varified.And the horses that you do see that work 4 yrs on a average is generally due to the fact in my own case,as I obtain older drafts that get the rehab on my farm and the proper care that might have been missing in their past career,and I make them productive animals again.They usdually are older 15-20 yrs,so if my choice is to license them and work them a few yrs and donate them to my favorite equine rescue,ac4h,that should be commended not ridiculed.AC4H,is a rescue that understands horses,espercially Draft WORK horses deserve ''another chance''.Expierience with Draft work horses will show that these type horses do far better having something to do rather than be forgotten in a pasture.To slander the owner who taped some of these videos in his stable only wanted to show the ultimate care that is given to the horses in nyc.Maybe his camera lighting was poor,not the stable lighting,again this conclusion was unfair to judge so quickly.As for hay in a bucket that you saw,did you ever think that horses do dunk hay in their buckets?Besides this stable has automatic waterers.No NYC Carriage horse has NEVER been cited for dehydration,or being too thin,or abused,EVER.It may be your vision horses shouldn't have a job,as its mine and many of the millions of passengers riding in horse drawn carriages across the world that a working horse is not a cruel thing to own or participate in.It is wrong to accuse a industry of poor maintaince,abuse or neglect,when it simply isn't true.
Thank you for this unbiased, well-informed look at the conditions under which New York Carriage horses work and live. You are right about the average of 4 years on the job, as official documents from the city do confirm. The industry has some success at duping the general public, which for the most part is not knowledgeable about horses. But anyone with the slightest knowledge about horses, their health needs, and their behavior can see that their "work" in NYC is terribly inhumane, and their "home life" is just plain sad. It also contributes to their less-than-ideal health and often rapid decline on the job. After which, their fates are more grim.
I am glad that you found a color of paint that everyone liked. I know that can be very difficult. Good job on the new office. Hopefully you guys get some rest before your big auction day on Sunday.
After reading the comments on NorCal's website,I feel very compelled to clarify several misconceptions that they listed.First,there are ''no dark damp stalls'',we have 24 stable staff that supplies the stalls several times a day with new woodshavings,& hay,we have automatic waterers.There is no dark stalls,as our electric bills can varify lights are on 24/7 with our stable staff on duty.The aspca comes regularly at all hrs and al stables pass every inspection.The Dept of Health comes in the stable at all hrs as well,again,5 stables pass inspection.There is no possible way any accusation like what was said by Nor Cal makes any sense.In my stable in NYC we host the NY Theraputic Riding Center.We certified instructors from NARHA and tons of volenteers walking thru our barn which we are extremly proud of.We donate our retired carriage horses to AC4H,a wonderful Pa rescue.We also have wonderful friends in a other equine rescues that are well aware NYC Carriage Horses are not abused in any way by the condition they recieve them in.To say the average working life of a carriage is 4 yrs is another ridiculous statement.First of all,there many older horses who come in our business,so we decide to rehab them,use them and then donate them to rescues after a few yrs,nothing is wrong with that.Second,some owners buy horses use them a few yrs and resell them to other owners for other jobs,like riding,showing,breeding.Its not fair to accuse people's horses as only lasting 4 yrs,when you don't have the 1st clue on the work that goes into training a horse in a urban enviornment.
As the owner of the horses and stable in my videos I just have to say you are the most unobjective person ever! My videos were intednded to show how our horses live, not for porpaganda. Yet, you seem to have found somthing wrong with EVERYTHING. Which is insane to me! The camera has no light attached to it, so indoors it is not a good shot. My horse puts his hay in the automatic waterer on purpose. Doesnt mean there is no water. Its automatic! And yeah, my horses like to roll. They do so in our stable too. Our box stalls are 10x10. And peta was harrassing us for weeks. Did you not READ anything on any of my videos? WOW! You have obviously been fed so much b.s. you dont even know whats what. I truely feel sorry for people like you!
Abigail says: "Our box stalls are 10x10."
At 7:49 on your video you say you have a 16.2 hand horse in the stall. It is not illegal, but it is unethical to house a 16.2 hand horse in a 10x10 stall for a minimum of 15 hours a day. It is so sad that there are so many large horses living in such small stalls. We would expect that your horses would have at a bare minimum 12x12 stalls. We were surprised to see you admitted they are living in 10x10 stalls. A 10x10 stall is for ponies and small horses under 900 lbs, a Warmblood or small draft needs a bare minimum of 12x12, and a large draft requires a 16x16 stall. It is sad that you choose not to provide this for your horses.
Again, it is not illegal to house a large horse in a small stall, but it is unethical.
Hey, Tawnee and Jason ~ Deanna from A Chance for Bliss here ~ I don't get to catch up on your site often and was interested in this bit. I checked the comments to look for indication that you were aware the links have been removed from your blog for "violation of terms" ~ no worries, however, we with the information you've provided, it won't be hard to find this goo floating out there in cyberspace.
AS always, my hat is off to you. We all wonder when you find time to sleep!
XOXOXO
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