Carriage accident raises questions about role of horses today
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Carriage accident raises questions about role of horses today
Amy Worden, Inquirer Staff Writer
This is one of my favorite animal images of all time. Why? Because it shows that when modern technology fails and the weather is threatening to win, animals save the day.
One icy winter's morning a year or two ago in central Pennsylvania a milk truck slid into a ditch. Wait for the gas-powered tow truck to arrive? Nope. Belgian tow team to the rescue!
This four-horse team belonged to an Amish farmer who harnessed up, extricated the truck and sent it on its way.
The image of the Belgians came to mind after I heard about another bad traffic accident involving a tourist carriage and a vehicle, this time in Philadelphia. On Friday, a carriage driven by a 21-year-old woman spooked at an intersection and bolted into cross traffic, hitting a Jeep. The carriage driver is recovering from injuries she suffered after being thrown into a car's windshield. The horse, named Dutch, an unidentified draft breed, suffered a leg injury, but is responding to treatment, owners said.
The incident renewed calls to ban carriages from the streets of Philadelphia (Peace Advocacy Network will hold an anti-carriage rally on July 22). In New York City a similar battle has raged for years, with national outcries rightly made over horses collapsing in the midtown traffic.
The battles raise questions about the role of horses in society today. Should horses not be worked at all? Should they exist only as large lawn ornaments? Healthy horses need to work. They want to work. Remember the adage you can lead a horse to water? Horses want to perform. They are equine athletes. They get bored standing around. Some horses, like thoroughbreds, are built to run. Belgians, like other draft horses, are built to pull things, like carriages.
The Amish have used - and many have sadly abused - draft horses and mules for centuries. But there is a revival of sorts going on in farming and even light industry in the use of horse power. Why? They don't use gas and they leave a smaller hoofprint then motorized vehicles.
Or maybe some farmers and loggers choose the sounds of hoofbeats, harness hitches clanking and horses breathing over the sound of a diesel engine in the forest or field.
Utility companies use horses to clear trees for power lines in sensitive environments. Maple sugar farmers and loggers use them for similar reasons.
Is there a way to give tourists a pleasant way to see urban historic attractions like Central Park or Independence Park without endangering horses, drivers or passengers?
Horses are animals with a strong flight drive. If something scares them they bolt. Draft horses are generally less skittish around loud noises and traffic commotion than other breeds, but they are not immune to it.
How about horse only lanes or at least designated lanes that are well marked? I don't know where Philadelphia's carriage horses are stabled - though this most recent accident apparently happened as the driver was taking the horse back to the stable - but in New York horses travel a dozen blocks to their stables to the park. How about a stable in Central Park? Is the idea of a new building there a blasphemous notion? Imagine a historic reproduction, a post-and-beam barn in the middle of America's most famous urban park. I think it would add to the landscape, and eliminate the street exposure of the carriage horses.
Then animal welfare activists could focus their attention on ensuring horses that provide public transportation like Dutch get quality veterinary care and create safe havens for these horses when their working days are done, ensuring they don't end up at the meat auction as many do today.
Better idea: Ban cars from downtown areas. - Aren't mules less skittish than horses, would they be better for tourist buggies?— Joe D- Man simply has to stop assigning purposes to every living being! They have their own God Given Purpose here on earth! They are our fellows/equals! We are all just earthlings! We are not Gods! We need to leave all of the animals alone! Stop the breeding, using, abusing, assigning tasks and purposes, stop making them perform for our entertainment and our pleasure, stop zoos, stop fur trade, stop live animal trade, stop cageing birds, etc...Allow others to be free and you will feel liberated too! Go Vegan! It's a lifestyle of compassion. If you want to hear more about this tune in to VEGANPALOOZA going on all week, finishing up today with a great line-up of educated and informed speakers! Expanding your circle of compassion to include all living beings.! All the best! — Anne Vegan Walker
- It's a worthy question to stop all humans assigning purposes to animals, all those things you list. May I offer my view, as a practicing horseperson, that the interaction is not at all one-sided. When you have the opportunity to interact with a horse, you find they are willing to interact with you, I think this is how they became domesticated in the first place. You can't "make" a horse do anything it doesn't want to do. You have to practice a long long time to eliminate usual human reactions and re-learn the horse's way in order understand how they want us to work for them. The actual pulling or carrying part of it is just an application of function, as they are so strong, that this task is merely incidental to the spark both horse and handler get when they are in sync. I hope some day you get to feel this. It is unfortunate that humans have taken over the area of earth so much that free space for horses is so limited, that your proposal will reduce horse population very small. Will try VEGANPALOOZA to see if there is recognition that free horses will mean the loss of one of the most amazing versions of interspecies communication, and that we may agree in the end, this human humbling horse-wisdom they give to us, should not be destroyed because you have not yet experienced it and yet are ready to destroy it. — BStork
- Not really sure what Ms. Worden's point is. Clearly, she's focused on the "humane" regulations, which are already in place and are either not abided by, or do little to address the issues surrounding the exploitation of the carriage horses. Bottom line - this is a 100% unnecessary industry and is no different from forcing animals to perform in circuses.
The carriages are not operating as a mode of transportation, they're a form of self-indulgent entertainment. In fact, this "tradition" began in 1976 here in Philadelphia and DOES NOT date back hundreds of years, as many falsely claim. We need to stop exploiting these animals, get them to sanctuaries, and stop breeding them for no reason other than to serve humans. Let's replace the carriages with things like pedicabs and bring Philadelphia into the 21st century!
I wonder how much Ms. Worden was paid by the carriage companies to write this piece? Seems a little odd that the "pro-animal" blogger would be so for the continuation of abuse and exploitation of the carriage horses. Maybe she'd feel differently if they were dogs, since she writes the "Philly Dawg" column.— Edward Coffin - Such a personal attack as this is just another a pitiful attempt to besmerch the reputation of anyone who isn't totally anti-carriages, and it is typical of some of the most radical animal rights activists.
Horses have been dred for centuries for people to ride and drive. Today's domestic horse is dependant upon human caretakers for their health and well-being.
The relationship between horses and people has evolved to of a symbiotic nature now. Travel by carriage as well as by bicycle and foot is recognized by the courts as being as legitimate a "right of locomotion" as travel by motor vehicle.
Travel by carriage is a delightful experience especially in hstoric districts and towns. Instead of trying to ban carriages, we need to provide horse-drawn carriages as well as cyclists and pedestrians with protection from motorists, who often act as if only they and their vehicles have a right to use our roads.
Horses are the original green transportation. They do not pollute the environment with cancer-causing emmissions, they are a renewable resource and they have a smaller carbon footprint than motor vehicles.
Instead of demanding a ban on carriages, people should be demanding safety measures like designated traffic lanes and signs reminding motorists to give the horses the space and respect they deserve-- and that includes prohibiting aggressive driving like tailgating, passing closely to the horse and carriage, cutting into the horse's lane abruptly and honking horns at the horses.
There are already laws on the books in most cities designed to protect horses from neglect or overwork, and these need to be taken seriously and enforced.— Carriage Horse Lover - How arrogant to assume that horses exist only for humans to use.— Michael Harren
- You've really got to be deranged if you have been to downtown Philly in bumper to bumper traffic and continue to think that horse drawn carriages are the least bit appropriate. If you are trying to make us believe that Philly drivers obey the laws in downtown traffic, you're even more deranged (and most likely ought to seek mental help, quick). There is no place for horse drawn carriages in this area. If you are so desperate to keep the horses (or to "work" the horses as you put it, since, horses are here for humans entertainment and "work") why dont you do both drivers, humans, and the animals a favor and block off a specific section for them where NO cars are permitted. And while were at it, its call out the Philla police to do their job. They need to enforce traffic laws. It would be nice if they enforced laws that protected animals (such as having to provide water for the hoses in hot water) but thats obviously NOT going to happen (history speaks for itself, good work, Blue, be proud!). Hell, if this is such a good idea, why don't you get out there and pull some desperate tourists and romantic city dwellers around for a few blocks?— PhilaBlowsChunks
- You'll be trying to convince us to support dog burnings next. Seriously. Where do you draw the line?— PhilaBlowsChunks
- "Peace Advocacy Network will hold an anti-carriage rally on July 22". I appreciate you mentioning that in this article. More information at http://www.peaceadvocacynetwork.org/ A good opportunity for animal lovers to learn more about this heartbreaking issue.— Matt Jisa
- There's draft legislation ready to get this ban going! Head over to www.tinyurl.com/phillyHDCban to voice your support to Mark Squilla and Michael Nutter by signing the petition on Change.org!— Edward Coffin
- See historic Philadelphia by signing up for a walking tour or a bus tour. If you want adventure, try Ride-the-ducks. There is no need for archaic carriage rides that stress horses by placing them in the middle of city traffic. Horses should not be forced to work alongside the frightening sights and sounds of trucks and buses, booming radios and impatient lane-changers. The carriages are unnecessary and only snarl traffic while placing humans and horses in danger.— Snazzy1
- The author writes, "How about horse only lanes or at least designated lanes that are well marked?"
The author also concedes that no horse is immune to the propensity to be spooked by sudden or loud noises. So what, pray tell, would a special traffic lane do to provide safety to horses, passengers, or drivers alike??
So long as horses are being forced to work on city streets, they will be spooked and inspired to bolt. Horse-only lanes do not alleviate the problem. Only a ban on horse carriages can.— dlovitz - Two points - 1) Contrary to AVW's comment, some animals, through, wait for it - EVOLUTION - instinctively do things that you might think can only be achieved through training. For example, a border collie will instinctively herd things at around 6 mos of age. It wasn't trained to do it, it just does. And 2) do you think the only one benefiting from this relationship is the human, through the horse's work? Does the human handler/trainer feed, shelter, and care for the horse? Yes, he/she does. This is a symbiotic relationship, which has happened many times in the course of, here's that word again - EVOLUTION - that benefits both parties. Don't kid yourselves that the animal doesn't recognize this fact.— uncle meat
- This is a surprising article. The arrogance of thinking that horses are built to work astonishes me. Humans did not build horses, and animals do not exist for our purposes. That the alternative this author sees is to make horses "lawn ornaments" shows that she can only conceive of an animal's existence as it suits human purposes: either to work/pull/entertain us or to decorate our lawns. Try thinking more progressively and respecting animals as beings with their own self-worth that exists independent of humans. I think that is the first step for you to understand the reasons that animal-exploiting industries must be banned and non-human animals must be allowed to live free from human oppression.— Eeyore76
I'm pretty sure the stables are in Northern Liberties, near Girard ave.— Pelti
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